================================================================================ PC REPORTER - USER GUIDE Computer Info Bits Limited - computerinfobits.com ================================================================================ PC Reporter is a Windows desktop application that gathers detailed information about your computer's hardware, monitors live temperatures and fan speeds, visualizes disk usage, checks drive health, and produces clean, shareable reports. This guide explains every feature and how to use it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. GETTING STARTED -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Launch "PC Reporter". The main window opens with a row of tabs across the top and an Export / Refresh button pair in the top-right corner. - The app reads most information automatically the moment it starts. A few slower data sets (the full driver list, the power plan, the AI/NPU and TPM details) load quietly in the background a second or two after launch. - RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR (recommended): Some sensors and SMART health data are only available with administrator rights. If you start the app normally and a yellow notice appears along the bottom of the window ("Running without administrator rights..."), close it and re-launch using "Run as administrator" for the most complete results. - LIVE DATA: Temperatures, fan speeds, load and power readings refresh automatically every few seconds while the app is open. - REFRESH BUTTON (top-right): Forces an immediate re-read of all hardware and re-checks the recommendations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. THE TABS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The application is organized into six tabs: Overview A summary of the whole system at a glance. Temps & Fans Live temperature and fan-speed monitoring. Hardware Details Full breakdown of CPU, GPU, memory and storage. Disk Usage A visual map of what is using space on a drive. Drivers & Power Installed device drivers and the active power plan. Recommendations Automatic suggestions based on what was detected. Each tab is described below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1 OVERVIEW -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Overview tab shows the headline information for your PC in one place: - Operating system, build number and motherboard. - CPU model, core/thread count, current load and temperature. - Graphics card(s) with load, temperature and video memory. - Installed memory (RAM): total, in-use, speed and channel configuration. - Storage devices with capacity and free space. Use this tab for a quick health check or to read off your main specifications. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2 TEMPS & FANS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This tab is a live monitor. It lists every temperature sensor the app can read - CPU package and individual cores, GPU, storage drives and motherboard sensors - alongside every fan and its current speed in RPM. - Readings update automatically every few seconds. - Color and bar indicators show how close a component is to its safe limit (cool / normal / warm / hot). - A fan shown as "Stopped" is either idle (zero-RPM mode under low load) or not reporting a speed. Note: The range of sensors visible depends on your motherboard, chipset and whether the app is running as administrator. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3 HARDWARE DETAILS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A complete, itemized breakdown of the system's core components: - CPU: model, cores, threads, frequency, load, package and maximum core temperatures and package power draw. - GPU(s): model, load, temperature, total and used video memory, core clock and power. - Memory: total capacity, amount used, speed, number of slots and channel configuration (single / dual / quad channel). - Storage: each drive with its capacity, free space, temperature and - where available - SMART health attributes and an overall health score (Good / Fair / Poor / Critical). - AI & Security: Whether a dedicated AI processor (NPU) was found, the AI-relevant CPU instruction sets your processor supports, and your TPM (Trusted Platform Module) version, status and manufacturer. See section 3 for what each of these means. SMART health: For SSDs/NVMe drives the score is based on wear level and spare capacity; for traditional hard drives it is based on reallocated/pending sectors and power-on hours. "Unknown" means the drive did not provide enough health data to score (often the case without administrator rights). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.4 DISK USAGE (visual disk-space map) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This tab shows what is taking up space on a drive, drawn as a "treemap" - a grid of colored rectangles where the size of each rectangle is proportional to the amount of space that folder uses. It is similar in purpose to tools such as WinDirStat. HOW TO USE: 1. Choose a drive from the "Drive:" dropdown at the top. IMPORTANT: No drive is scanned until you select one. This keeps the application fast to start. As soon as you pick a drive, the scan begins automatically and the map fills in as folders are measured. 2. Watch the map build. A thin progress bar runs across the top while the scan is in progress, and the status text at the bottom-right shows how many top-level items have been found. 3. Read the map: - Each rectangle is one top-level folder (or "[Files at root]" for loose files sitting directly on the drive). - Bigger rectangle = more space used. - Hover over any rectangle to see its name, size and percentage. - The legend along the bottom lists each folder with its color and size. 4. Drill down: Click a rectangle to open a pop-up listing the subfolders inside it, sorted by size, so you can see exactly where the space has gone. Click the dark area around the pop-up (or the X) to close it. 5. Right-click a rectangle for shortcuts: - Open in Explorer - Open in Terminal (Windows Terminal, or Command Prompt as a fallback) - Open in PowerShell RESCAN: The result for each drive is remembered for the session, so switching back to a drive you have already scanned is instant. Click the "Rescan" button to force a fresh measurement (for example, after deleting files). Tip: Run as administrator so the scan can measure protected system folders. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.5 DRIVERS & POWER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - DRIVERS: A list of installed device drivers (similar to Device Manager), grouped by device class, showing each driver's version, date, provider and whether it is digitally signed. Drivers older than two years are flagged so you can spot candidates for an update. This list loads in the background shortly after the app starts, because reading every driver from Windows can take a few seconds. - POWER: The currently active Windows power plan (for example Balanced, Power saver, High performance or Ultimate). The Recommendations tab will suggest a change if the active plan is holding back performance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.6 RECOMMENDATIONS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The app analyzes everything it detected and lists practical suggestions, each marked by severity: Critical Needs attention soon (e.g. failing drive health, very high temps). Warning Worth looking into (e.g. low free disk space, an old driver, a power plan limiting performance). Info General advice and observations. Each item includes a short description and a suggested action. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. AI CAPABILITIES & TPM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Both the Hardware Details tab and the exported reports include an "AI & Security" section with: - NPU / AI Accelerator: Whether a dedicated AI processor (NPU) was found, and its name. Modern "AI PC" chips include one - for example Intel Core Ultra ("Intel AI Boost"), AMD Ryzen AI (XDNA / IPU) and Qualcomm Snapdragon X (Hexagon). "Not detected" means no separate NPU was found. - CPU AI Instructions: The AI-relevant instruction sets your processor supports (such as AVX2, AVX-VNNI and AVX-512). These accelerate AI and machine-learning workloads that run on the CPU itself. - TPM (Trusted Platform Module): Whether a TPM is present, its version (for example 2.0), whether it is enabled, and its manufacturer. A working TPM 2.0 is required for Windows 11 and for features such as BitLocker. These details appear in the Hardware Details tab and in the HTML and PDF reports (see section 4). The NPU and TPM details load in the background a second or two after the app starts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. EXPORTING & SHARING -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Click the "Export" button (top-right) for a menu of output options: - Save as HTML Report - A styled web-page report covering the system, CPU, AI & security (NPU / AI instructions / TPM), GPU(s), memory, storage with SMART data, and the recommendations. Opens automatically after saving. - Save as PDF Report - The same report as a print-ready PDF document. - Save as PNG Screenshot - An image of the current application window exactly as shown on screen. - Copy Summary to Clipboard - A short plain-text summary of your key specs, ready to paste anywhere. - Share on X / LinkedIn / WhatsApp / Reddit - Opens the chosen service in your browser with a ready-made post of your PC specs. Reports are saved with a dated file name (e.g. PC-Report-YYYY-MM-DD) to a location you choose. Tip: For the most complete report - including full SMART drive health and all sensors - run the app as administrator before exporting. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. TROUBLESHOOTING -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Some temperatures, fans or drive health data are missing. A: Re-launch using "Run as administrator". Availability also depends on your motherboard and hardware support. Q: The driver list / power plan / AI / TPM details are blank right after launch. A: They load in the background a second or two after start. Give it a moment, or press Refresh. Q: The Disk Usage tab is empty. A: That is expected until you choose a drive from the dropdown. Selecting a drive starts the scan automatically. Q: A disk scan looks lower than the drive's used space. A: Folders the app cannot access (protected/system locations) are skipped. Running as administrator gives a more complete measurement. Q: NPU shows "Not detected" but I have a new PC. A: Only PCs with a dedicated AI processor (NPU) report one. Many systems still accelerate AI through CPU instructions instead - check the "CPU AI Instructions" line in the report. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PC REPORTER Author: Marlo Strydom (c) Computer Info Bits Limited - computerinfobits.com The application's version number is shown in the bottom-left status bar. ================================================================================