Few days ago I found an interesting new program: Astra 32 – the Advanced System Information Tool. It’s used to test your computer’s components’ health and check for faults. If you suspect that one of your peripherals doesn’t work 100% or you just want to make sure all your PC’s components are running the way they should, then this little tool can help you.

I wanted to make sure that my 4 year old motherboard was still fully functional because I noticed some bulging capacitors, but I didn’t know of any motherboard diagnostic tools. I stumbled upon the Astra32 by googling for such software. I found and installed the Astra32 setup file quickly and I ran the program. To my surprise, it found no faults on the motherboard, but it showed that my primary hard drive’s health was poor! It suggested that I run a HDD diagnostics utility provided by the HDD manufacturer.

Astra32  is free and easy to use. It provides all information on the hardware and its health status, system summary, network information, BIOS and all software (operating system and installed programs) information and diagnostics capability. You can even create full reports based on your selection – the inbuilt report wizard can output information in several formats, such as HTML, plain text file, XML and CSV.

Astra32 also includes a driver troubleshooter. If your computer is missing a driver for one of the components, Astra32 can provide information on the type and model of the part and help you locate the driver.

The sofware is free to use, but if you buy it, you get access to some additional features. Please visit the Astra32 Web site for more information.