Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line
The WMIC (Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line) provides a command-line interface to WMI. It allows administrators to query system information, manage hardware and software, and perform system configuration tasks without needing a graphical interface.
Think of WMIC as a Swiss Army knife for system information gathering. Need to know what CPU is installed? What software is running? Which services are active? WMIC can answer all these questions and more. It's invaluable for scripting, remote administration, and creating detailed system inventories.
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Gather detailed information about CPU, RAM, disks, and other hardware.
List installed programs, their versions, and installation dates.
Query and manage Windows services and their states.
View running processes with detailed resource usage information.
wmic bios get /format:list Display detailed BIOS information in list format.
wmic cpu get name,numberofcores Show CPU model and number of cores.
wmic os get caption,version Display operating system name and version.
wmic service where "state='running'" get name List all running Windows services.
wmic process list brief Show running processes with essential information.
wmic product get name,version List installed software and versions (may take time).
WMIC is deprecated in Windows 11 and later versions. Microsoft recommends using PowerShell cmdlets instead:
# Instead of: wmic bios get Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_BIOS # Instead of: wmic cpu get Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Processor However, WMIC still works on most systems and remains useful for quick queries and legacy scripts. Consider learning PowerShell equivalents for future-proofing your skills.
Practice WMIC commands in the interactive terminal below: