Every Windows 10 and Windows 11 laptop has built-in tools that check the battery, memory, drive and stability, whatever the brand. Here are the ones worth knowing.
Battery report
- Right-click Start and open Terminal or Command Prompt.
- Run powercfg /batteryreport.
- Open the saved battery-report.html and compare Full charge capacity with Design capacity. 80% or more is healthy.
Windows Memory Diagnostic
- Press Windows + R, type mdsched and press Enter.
- Choose Restart now and check for problems.
- The results appear after Windows restarts. Errors mean faulty RAM.
Check the drive
- Open Terminal as administrator and run chkdsk C: /scan.
- For drive health, run Get-PhysicalDisk in Terminal (Health Status should say Healthy) or use the drive maker’s app.
Reliability Monitor
Press Windows + R, type perfmon /rel and press Enter. Red crosses show crashes and hardware errors by date, which helps find a failing driver or component.
Device Manager
Right-click Start and open Device Manager. A yellow warning icon on a device means a missing driver or a hardware fault. A webcam, Bluetooth adapter or fingerprint reader that is missing altogether may be turned off in the BIOS or broken.
What Windows can’t test
None of the built-in tools check the keyboard, touchpad, webcam, microphone, speakers, screen pixels or ports. Run the free MxMob laptop test in Edge or Chrome for those, and the keyboard test for keys that don’t register or type twice.
Test the parts built-in tools miss
Manufacturer diagnostics check that hardware is connected, but they rarely test everything you use. The MxMob laptop test runs in the browser and checks each key on the keyboard, the trackpad, the webcam, speakers, microphone, real Wi-Fi speed, USB ports and overheating, then gives you a shareable report. Buying used? Follow the used laptop checklist.
Diagnostic guides for other brands
Frequently asked questions
Does Windows have a built-in hardware test?
Windows has separate tools for the battery (powercfg /batteryreport), memory (mdsched), drive (chkdsk) and stability (Reliability Monitor), but no single test for the keyboard, webcam, speakers or ports. The MxMob laptop test covers those in the browser.
How do I find my laptop model and serial number in Windows?
Open Settings › System › About for the model and specs. For the serial number, open Terminal and run (Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS).SerialNumber.
What should I check before buying a used Windows laptop?
Run the battery report, test the hardware with the MxMob laptop test, check Settings › System › Activation, and make sure the seller has removed their Microsoft account and turned off BitLocker so a reset won’t lock you out.