Someone already mentioned CPU-Z. It shows mostly processor info but also
shows a little about your memory and chipset. All of these other tools are
small and compatible with Win98.
EVEREST Home Edition would be my first choice for general system information
and benchmarking.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
It's no longer available at
www.lavalys.com. They did away with freeware,
but MajorGeeks still has it on their site. Last version I have is 2.01.347.
If there is a later version, please let me know.
FreshDiagnose
http://www.freshdevices.com
http://www.freshdiagnose.com
This is my second choice, next to EVEREST. You have to enter an email
address in order to get your free registration code and the download. You
only need to do that once. For future updates, just click "Skip this step. I
have done it before" to get to the download. The same registration code will
on future updates. The program is updated frequently.
AIDA32 v3.93 (Windows)
AIDA16 v2.12 (DOS)
AIDA32 came in three versions: Personal, Network, and Enterprise. The DOS
version came only in one version. The original owner did away with these and
wrote EVEREST. AIDA is flagged by some spyware programs as having an
exploit. Everest does not have that exploit. AIDA is still available for
download on a few sites. MajorGeeks has the Personal version for Windows.
The Network and Professional versions and DOS versions are a little harder
to find. I researched this a while back. Go to the Freeware/Open Source
thread in the ABIT forum where I posted some of the places where you can
still find them. This is the exact post, so you should not have to search
the entire thread.
http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?p=515293&highlight=aida32#post515293
SIW (System Information for Windows) by Gabriel Topaka
This program was not as good as the others, and its website is no longer
valid. Maybe some other site still carries it. Last version I have is 1.53.
CD-DVD Speed
CD Drive Speed
http://www.cdspeed2000.com/
These are the same versions used in Nero, but they are free on this site. I
believe this is the original author, and that Nero uses his freeware in
their programs.
For USB diagnostics, there is no good freeware alternative to USBInfo
(
http://lpt.usbfireinfo.com/USB_Info_Software/usb_info_software.htm). I wish
there was! If someone ever makes one, let me know. I'd like to add that to
the alt.comp.freeware WISHLIST. We NEED a freeware alternative! (Note:
USBInfo started at $140, Pro version only. Then they made a Personal edition
for $40. Now it's down to $19.95.)
CDCheck
ASPI Check
ASPI Drivers
ForceASPI
http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_utils_5.shtml
ASPI is needed for many of today's CD/DVD drives even if there are no SCSI
drives in the system. There are some other free CD-DVD utilities here as
well.
If you have an Intel processor or Intel chipset, there are free utilities at
the Intel Download Center that are compatible with Win98.
- Intel Processor Frequency ID Utility (PII, PIII) ** Bootable version or
Windows version
- Intel Processor ID Utility (P4) ** Bootable version only (Windows version
requires Win2k or higher)
- Intel Chipset ID Utility
- Intel Security Driver
