I want to buy a second hand laptop, how to get the real technical specifications of a used laptop?

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Tool to get installed components on a PC

I want to buy a second hand laptop. I need to examine a laptop's configuration before I make a decision to buy it. I know the information the information about the components of a laptop can be intentionally fabricated.So the information I go through my computer/properties/hardware/device manager to see may not be reliable. So how can I get the real technical specifications of a second hand laptop?

Steven

Posted 2010-12-24T11:29:52.873

Reputation: 51

Some vendors may fiddle the information on device manager. – Steven – 2010-12-24T11:34:51.667

1Don't buy out of the back of a van (or anywhere similar) and you shouldn't have to worry about fake specs. – ubiquibacon – 2010-12-24T12:15:02.000

Most of the information can be found at the manufacturers website, for hard drive and memory you can open the access doors and inspect model numbers on the parts. – Moab – 2010-12-24T21:18:27.627

Answers

It's highly unlikely that they would be fabricated, as in many cases fabrication of the device name would require modification of the device BIOS, or if it doesn't have one, its identifier... that's very unlikely. It would take a some effort by someone who knows what they are doing (we're not talking about your average computer user).

Pretty much all Windows applications use the same service/interface to access system information, so if you're concerned about fabrication on a software level, boot into a live CD of some sort and see what it says about your hardware. If you really, really want to make sure, open up the laptop and look at the components inside, often they will be marked. If you are even more paranoid than that, disassemble the individual components and look at the data sheets on them (if available).

But to be honest, it's more than likely they're not going to fabricate the information being given to you. It's too much hard work, and too easy to demonstrate that they've done it.

Matthieu Cartier

Posted 2010-12-24T11:29:52.873

Reputation: 3 422

For example, the real memory is 512M,but it may be fabricated to 1G. – Steven – 2010-12-24T11:45:29.703

Lying to the operating system about the size of memory in the machine would cause a significant amount of problems. If you're talking about just lying on their specifications to you, you could just use a tool like Speccy ( http://www.piriform.com/speccy ), SANDRA ( http://www.sisoftware.net/ ), HWMonitor ( http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html ) or Everest ( http://www.lavalys.com/ ), which would tell you the specifications it detects.

– Matthieu Cartier – 2010-12-24T11:48:11.113

Are the specifications detected by Speccy always reliable? – Steven – 2010-12-24T12:26:40.447

1If the operating system isn't lying, yes. If the operating system thinks there's 1G of memory and there is 512MB, though, that would result in a very unstable system, so it's unlikely (at least on a memory front). – Matthieu Cartier – 2010-12-24T12:37:59.170

I have heard a 160G hard disk space can be fabricated, the real hard disk space is 80G though. – Steven – 2010-12-24T13:51:52.807

You can fake the size of the disk by forcing the disk to report it is larger than it is. If you format the disk again it will overwrite this. So in answer, just format the disk and it will return to the right size. Other than that, look at it with fdisk. – Matthieu Cartier – 2010-12-24T14:12:32.387

Basically, there's nothing you can spoof that wouldn't cause problems elsewhere and/or be way more trouble than it's worth. You can fake the partition size, but that's easily detected. You could probably tweak the reported clockspeed, but it's easy to see what the CPU is ACTUALLY running at, etc. Your paranoia is well-founded but there's really nothing to worry about here. – Shinrai – 2010-12-24T15:36:01.253

Read this site first and or sites like it.

Your concern was about being ripped off and how to guard against it, and you are not alone. It's possible to do what you have described but it is a lot of work for little gain and generally you will have no problems. If you're still unsure, take it to a computer repair store and they can test the parts for a fee. These tests, with general questions - "where/when did you buy? Any major/minor troubles, change any parts?" will help you.

Run this free test, which tests the memory and gives you details on what is installed: memtest86

Place it on a CD and run the test. Most info comes up very quickly and it's a fair test to run anyway.

Start computer and press delete or F1 to open BIOS and check the info and that it matches.

On the users desktop, click on the menu, then accessories, then in 'Run', type 'cmd' in and tap enter or type 'cmd' in search. Click on it to open.

In the cmd panel type - systeminfo - this gives you the system info.
Also in the cmd panel type 'dxdiag' and click "yes" to drivers. It will need an Internet connection (if you want to know if the drivers are signed). This also provides more info, such as sound, system, and display.

From the Internet, you can have a test run and go to the 'one care scan' Microsoft site. Click on the full scan and they will ask to test if it is a legal copy to do the scan. Click 'ok' and you will not have to use the scan. It tests before the full scan starts.

You can open the machine and look at the stickers to make sure they match system info (small screw driver set required). They will be in good condition as they are not exposed to sunlight. Is the age about right? There is only so much you can do.

mic84

Posted 2010-12-24T11:29:52.873

Reputation: 2 313