Home > PC Communication > VideoChat > System specification - How to check
Your PC hardware and software specification can either be confirmed by your systems Administrator or by your PC supplier. Alternatively, please click below for the answers to commonly asked questions about checking your system configuration ...
Q. How do I check what hardware, software and driver versions I am running?
Q. What version of Internet Explorer am I running?
Q. How do I check Free Disk Space?
Q. How do I check the speed of my Internet Connection?
Q. How do I know if I have Windows Media Player installed?
Q. How do I check what hardware, software and driver versions I am running?
A. Click the Windows Start button, then Run
In the dialog box which appears, please type the word DXDIAG and click OK.
This will launch the Microsoft DirectX diagnostic tool. If your version of Windows does not have this tool then you will need to update your version of DirectX. You can do this by clicking here to reach the Microsoft Windows Update website.
The DirectX diagnostic tool looks like this:
Under System Information your PC details are displayed, here you can confirm Operating System, Processor, Memory and DirectX version. If you have a version of DirectX which is older than DX8.1, then you will need to upgrade free of charge to the latest version from Microsoft. Please click here to do so.
To check the Video Graphics Card click the Display tab and the following will indicate the Name and Manufacturer of your Graphics Card the Approx. Total Memory available together with software Drivers information as shown below:
If a secondary graphics card is present (not very common on more modern PCs) the Display 2 will relate to this on your PC. You can safely check these are working OK by clicking the Test DirectDraw and Test Direct3D buttons and this will do a quick check for you. Software Drivers are available from your graphics card manufacturer if your current ones require upgrading.
The presence of a sound card can be checked by clicking the Sound tab, again Device and Driver information is available from here.
Q. What version of Internet Explorer am I running?
A. Open Internet Explorer and click Help then About Internet Explorer (as shown below), the version you are running is displayed.
Q. How do I check Free Disk Space?
A. Open Windows Explorer and highlight drive C: then right click and select Properties.
The Free space: is displayed in MB or GB.
Q. How do I check the speed of my Internet Connection?
A. Usually when you connect to the internet, an icon will appear in your system tray which tells you the speed at which you have connected. Buzz 3D VideoChat supports speeds from dial-up modem (56kbits/sec), to Broadband DSL (256Kbits/sec) and even LAN (512Kbits/sec). However, although you may have a set speed between you and your Internet Provider, this may not be the true speed of your connection, depending on traffic between where you are, and where you are attempting to contact on the Web. You can more accurately test your internet speed by clicking here for further instructions.
A standard phone line - slow, ISDN - fast and ADSL - very fast, all are adequate although the faster the connection the quicker video images and audio can be downloaded to you.
Q. How do I know if I have Windows Media Player installed?
A. On the Start menu, click Programs and then look for a link to Windows Media Player, click it to start the program. To check the version when the program has opened click Help and then About Windows Media Player and this information is displayed. If you do not have Windows Media Player installed or you require an update you can obtain this from the Microsoft web site at http://www.windowsmedia.com/mg/home.asp
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