How to Get System Information with PowerShell

When you pick up an unfamiliar server, the same handful of questions come first. This is the block I keep for answering all of them at once.

The Summary Block

$os = Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem
$cs = Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem

[pscustomobject]@{
    ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
    OS           = $os.Caption
    Version      = $os.Version
    Manufacturer = $cs.Manufacturer
    RAM_GB       = [math]::Round($cs.TotalPhysicalMemory / 1GB, 1)
    CPUs         = $cs.NumberOfLogicalProcessors
    LastBoot     = $os.LastBootUpTime
}

Which returns something like this:

ComputerName : APPSRV01
OS           : Microsoft Windows Server 2022 Standard
Version      : 10.0.20348
Manufacturer : HP
RAM_GB       : 64
CPUs         : 16
LastBoot     : 18/08/2026 23:17:03

Uptime

Uptime is not a property, it is a subtraction, which is why people struggle to find it:

$os = Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem
$up = (Get-Date) - $os.LastBootUpTime
"Up for {0}d {1}h {2}m" -f $up.Days, $up.Hours, $up.Minutes

Disk Space

Get-CimInstance Win32_LogicalDisk -Filter "DriveType=3" |
    Select-Object DeviceID,
        @{N='SizeGB'; E={[math]::Round($_.Size / 1GB, 1)}},
        @{N='FreeGB'; E={[math]::Round($_.FreeSpace / 1GB, 1)}},
        @{N='Free%';  E={[math]::Round($_.FreeSpace / $_.Size * 100, 1)}} |
    Format-Table -AutoSize

DeviceID SizeGB FreeGB Free%
-------- ------ ------ -----
C:        106.2   28.4  26.7
D:        369.1  281.8  76.3

DriveType=3 means fixed local disks, which keeps network drives and USB sticks out of the answer.

Serial Number and Model

Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS | Select-Object SerialNumber, Manufacturer
Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem | Select-Object Model, Domain

Running It Against Another Machine

Every Get-CimInstance call takes -ComputerName, so the same block works remotely with WinRM enabled:

Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem -ComputerName APPSRV01, APPSRV02 |
    Select-Object PSComputerName, Caption, LastBootUpTime

Related

• Get a Folder Size in PowerShell
• Get-Service in PowerShell
• Check Your PowerShell Version
• PowerShell Complete Guide

If SQL Server is part of your day job, my current work lives over at sqldba.blog: production DBA scripts, an error library and the SSMS guide.