Sometimes you need to run WMI queries on older Windows machines or in Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) environments. So with powershell its really easy, Get-WMIObject -Class win32_WhatYouWant. So now you are stuck without Powershell, lets use the old WMIC command instead. WMIC has been available from Windows 2003.WMIC has alternative WMI names to “simplify” things. But you can with the use of the “path” command use real WMI class names. For instance “wmic path win32_Operatingsystem get InstallDate” will show you the date you installed your computer system.
These are of the ones I use from time to time.
| Command | What it retrives |
|---|---|
| wmic COMPUTERSYSTEM get model | Retrives the model of the computer hardware. |
| wmic COMPUTERSYSTEM get manufacturer | Retrives the system HW manufacturer. |
| wmic partition get BlockSize, StartingOffset,Name, Index | Information relating to disk HW |
| wmic volume get id, blocksize | Blocksize selected during formating |
| wmic csproduct get uuid | Shows your computers UUID |
| wmic OS get LastBootUpTime | System boot time |
| wmic OS get InstallDate | System install time |
| wmic product get name,version | Returns installad software and version (Add/remove programs) |
