Winsat, or Windows System Assessment Tool, is a Windows program that benchmarks various components of machines when run.
The main file that is run to benchmark the device is winsat.exe, and you find the executable file in the system32 folder of the Windows installation.
Microsoft introduced Winsat back with Windows Vista, and shipped any new version of Windows (up to Windows 10) with the tool as well.
The company used Winsat in Vista and Windows 7 to compute the Windows Experience Index (WEI), which measures the computer's hardware and software configuration.
Tip: You can run the assessment on Windows 8 and Windows 10 as well, and hack the results.
The Windows Winsat command needs to be run from the command line. It is best if you do so from an elevated command prompt, as the results window will be closed otherwise automatically when the tool completes the assessment.
Winsat can run several assessments, each with their own parameters. The main assessments that the tool can run are listed below.
The commands above will run the assessments with their default configuration. You can specify custom parameters when you run assessments to customize the tests.
The command is winsat dwm -parameters. The following parameters are available:
Example:
winsat dwm -fullscreen -normalw 25 -time 50
Runs the Desktop Windows Manager assessment in fullscreen with 25 normal windows for 50 seconds.
The command is winsat d3d -parameters. The following parameters are available:
Example:
winsat d3d -fullscreen -totalobj 25 -totaltex 20 -alushader -time 50
Runs the d3d assement in fullscreen with 25 total spheres and 20 rendered textures, using the alu shader and a running time of 50 seconds.
The command is winsat mem -parameters. The following parameters are available:
Example:
winsat mem -up -rn -mint 5.0 -maxt 10.0 -v
Run the memory assessment with on thread, a minimum run time of 5.0 seconds, a maximum run time of 10.0 seconds, in normal priority and verbose the result.
The command is winsat disk -parameters. The following required parameters are available:
The following parameters are optional:
Example:
winsat disk -flush -drive d
The command assess the flush performance of the D drive.
The command is winsat cpu -parameters. The following required parameters are available (only one required):
The following parameters are optional:
Only two of buffersize, nbr and brs can be used in assessments).
Example:
winsat cpu -encryption2
Runs the cpu assessment using a SHA1 hash.
The command is winsat media -parameters. The following parameters are available:
Example:
winsat media -input c:\test\test.wmv -xml test.xml
The command assess the performance when decoding the text.wmv file, and saves the results to the test.xml file.
The command is winsat mfmedia -parameters. The following parameters are available:
Example:
winsat mfmedia -input c:\test\test.wmv -nopmp
Run the mfmedia assement using the test.wmv file without Media Foundation Protected Media Pipeline (MFPMP) support.
All versions of Windows come with a scheduled Winsat tasks. You can manage that task in the following way:
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Ghacks is a technology news blog that was founded in 2005 by Martin Brinkmann. It has since then become one of the most popular tech news sites on the Internet with five authors and regular contributions from freelance writers.
There must be a dependency that I have disabled.
“winsat formal” gives “Error: Failed to start NT Kernel Logger”.
Thanks for the informative article, Martin!
In addition, according to an article in Redmond Magazine (https://redmondmag.com/articles/2015/06/15/windows-for-use-with-ssd-storage.aspx), the command
Winsat formal -V
will optimize Windows 8.1 to work with SSD drives.