One popular category that Belarc Advisor excels at is providing software license information. This means you can use it to find the correct product key or serial number for your installed programs.
Belarc Advisor Basics
Similar to other system information programs, Belarc Advisor gathers information regarding things like any software installation, video card, CPU, RAM, software update, as well as motherboard and network information. Belarc Advisor works on 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8 (including Windows 8.1), Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. Windows Server operating systems are supported as well, including Server 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008, and 2003.
Belarc Advisor Pros & Cons
There’s little not to like about Belarc Advisor: Pros:
Small 4 MB download size and installation footprintCompletely freeComputer analysis is very fast considering the data being gatheredNo toolbars, adware, or spyware included during installationResults display in your default browserCan copy data out of the results page with easeComputer profile is not stored online, only locally (good if you’re concerned about privacy)
Cons:
No summary page No portable version (i.e., must be installed to use) Computer profile is not stored online, only locally (bad if you want to easily share your data or want it stored in the cloud)
Our Thoughts on Belarc Advisor
We really like Belarc Advisor and we’ve been using it for a long time. We’d consider it the “original” system information program. We’re not aware of any similar program that’s been available and continuously improved upon, for anywhere near the length of time that Belarc Advisor has been. We used it way back in the Windows 95 days! Obviously, it’s great that it’s a completely free program but that’s not at all why we love it so much. Belarc Advisor is quick, accurate, and produces more detailed information that many similar programs, some of which dare to charge for a similar feature set. If you’re in need of a program that can quickly and accurately produce detailed information about your computer, Belarc Advisor is an excellent choice. We’d also recommend that you use Belarc Advisor for any product key finding needs you might have, especially for Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office licenses.
What Belarc Advisor Identifies
Basic details like the name, language, and installation date of Windows, as well as the computer make and model, if available, and whether or not you have virus protection CPU(s) installed on your motherboard Motherboard make, model, and serial number, plus BIOS data Hard drive and optical drive data, including total capacity and free space, as well as volume details like the drive letter and file system Total amount of RAM, plus number of modules installed Mapped network drives Local user and system accounts, last logon time stamps, and locked/disabled status Installed printers and which port each is using Storage controllers Video card and monitor make, model, and serial number data USB, eSATA, and similar controller data Sound card or other audio hardware Anti-malware program installed program and definition version data, last scan time stamp, and current status Group policy data Service tag of the computer model, and possibly a support link to the manufacturer’s website Networking, Bluetooth, and other communication hardware and protocol data List of other hardware devices Device name, serial number, and first and last used timestamp for USB storage used in the past 30 days If the UEFI boot mode is enabled or disabled Virtual machine data including time stamp Local IP addresses, device type, device details, and device roles for currently connected network devices List of updates from Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, and other vendors that have not been installed List of product keys and serial numbers used to install the programs and operating system List of installed programs including version numbers and general time frame of last use List of previously installed updates from Windows Update
