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{rw_text}Giveaway of the day for October 22, 2009 is:
Version reviewed:
v2.03
System Requirements:
Windows NT4/2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista/Server 2008/Windows 7/XP x64/Server 2003 x64/ Vista x64/Server 2008 x64/Windows 7 x64/95/98/ME
Software description as per GOTD:
ASTRA32 – Advanced System Information Tool is an ideal solution for providing comprehensive information about the configuration of your system. Not only does ASTRA32 provide a detailed analysis of your system it also offers diagnostics and comes with some powerful unique features such as a Drivers Troubleshooter and a quick HDD Health Status checker.You will appreciate the accuracy with which ASTRA32 acquires the information about the detected devices as it mostly refers directly to the hardware not to the Windows Registry. ASTRA32 uncovers even undocumented data. You can be sure that the obtained information about the computer hardware and device operational modes is precise irrespective of the installed drivers.
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{rw_good}
- Displays detailed information about user’s computer from hardware to installed software and everything in between.
- Allows user to output “reports” in multiple different formats.
- Has hard drive and drivers “diagnostic” features.
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{rw_bad}
- I will let you know if I find one.
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{rw_score}
{for=”Ease of Use” value=”10″}Point and click really. However be warned these “system information”/”diagnostic” tools display a lot of information; most of this information will be Greek to the average user.
{/for}
{for=”Performance” value=”10″}Works just like it claims and does not work slowly either.
{/for}
{for=”Usefulness” value=”6″}Eh. These types of tools are nice to have around but I don’t see many users using them very often.
{/for}
{for=”Arbitrary Equalizer” value=”10″}This category reflects an arbitrary number that does not specifically stand for anything. Rather this number is used to reflect my overall rating/verdict of the program in which I considered all the features and free alternatives.
{/for}
{/rw_score} –>
{rw_verdict}[tupr]
{/rw_verdict} –>
Astra32 is a system information/PC diagnostic tool. Like all other system information tools, Astra32 detects and displays information about the hardware and software of a user’s computer:
Astra32 displays information about the following:
Furthermore, Astra32 allows you to create “reports” about your computer’s hardware/software:
Other than that, to be honest, there is not much else to say about Astra32 in terms of features and what it does: Astra32 is a (very) comprehensive system information tool, nothing more, and nothing less.
There is one thing that bothers me about Astra32 though: it does not specify what architecture (32-bit or 64-bit) the user is running. I was going to list this as a “The Bad” but I noticed many system information programs don’t do this (only Everest and Fresh Diagnose in my experience do) and you can easily find out what you are running by opening “System” from “Control Panel”.
This review was conducted on a laptop running Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. The specs of the laptop are as follows: 3GB of RAM, a Radeon HD 2600 512MB graphics card, and an Intel T8300 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor.
{rw_freea}
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{rw_verdict2}For what it does, Astra32 is one of the best. I give it a thumbs up and recommend it to anyone that needs it. However, if it was not free on GOTD I would never pay for Astra32 because there are tons of free software that do the same thing. If I had to pick my favorite out of all the ones I listed under “Free Alternatives” it would have to be Fresh Diagnose. The only problem with Fresh Diagnose is it does not have a portable version; if you are looking for a free portable diagnostic tool, WinAudit is for you.
{/rw_verdict2} –>
