Discussion on:

Tracking down uptime in Windows XP

Windows XP Professional, SP2. The "systeminfo" info includes:

System Up Time: N/A

Jim

Just a set of codelines flashing and then there was nothing. I tried to add /V to the command, but then I got the "complete" info, unfiltered...

Works ok for me, XP professional SP2

System Up Time: 0 Days, 2 Hours, 23 Minutes, 16 Seconds

wierd that it works on some machines and not others...??

I got nothing the first time I ran it as well. Make sure you type "Up Time" like so... it is case sensetive.

Open the run window (press the window key and the "R" simultaneously) then type CMD and press . This opens a command (CMD) window. At the prompt type

systeminfo | find "Up Time"

exactly as it is here, it's case sensitive (the "U" and the "T" in Up Time MUST be upper cased) with a vertical (pipe) line (not a slash) including spaces before and after the pipe and you'll get the up time of the PC

THANX

Actually, I tried the command in all the configurations that I could think of, and the only critical variable seems to be the case-sensitive "Up Time". For example, the command worked fine for me without spacing before and after the pipe.

Is there a way to find out the total time the Windows XP has been running since it was installed?

Maybe check the folder properties of the windows directory? You might need to do maths though.

Mine says: "Created: Thursday, 26 May 2005, 6:17:19 AM" Which is about the time I last installed XP...I don't know about the 6:17 am business though! I must be missing some overtime pay, working at that hour!

I have noticed that M$ software assumes Pacific time until you tell it otherwise.

Using built-in function for example:

'Date installed
I3: =Now()-Datevalue("11/24/03")
'Convert to number of days since installed
I4: =I3/365

Hi did not work!
Message reads, systeminfo not a recognized command either internal or external.
Regards
Prof. Bevan

Yes i agree, it's a bit stupid for a command line to work only in Case sensitive mode, but it works..

Doesn't work for me - title is my output. Also, systeminfo piping to file also produces same results.

it appears to be gathering all the information, but then doesn't display it. I tried "CD\" which took me to the "C" prompt and entered:
"systeminfo | find Up Time"
After gathering information, it went right back to the "C" prompt without displaying the info.

I tried it but nothing. DOS Prompt reads:
'Systeminfo' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
I typed it several different ways thinking I wasn't doing something right. I typed it exactly as I was told.

Systeminfo | Find "Up Time"

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Systeminfo | Find "Up Time"
'Systeminfo' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\Systeminfo | Find "Up Time"
'Systeminfo' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\Systeminfo | Find "Up Time"
'Systeminfo' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

First instead of putting C:\Systeminfo Find "Up Time"
In the Command Line in imitation dos just type
SYSTEMINFO only then it gives the information.

I tried as you instructed -

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\>SYSTEMINFO
'SYSTEMINFO' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

I'm not sure why I seem to have so much trouble with such an easy command.

Thanks!

I tried in my system the commad line which you have mentioned i worked. But the same thing can be found if your system is connected to network
as my system is peer 2 peer configured and this information can be seen in local network icon double click .
But any way this way to get info is worth if you are running stand alone.

You can also set the processes view in the task manager to show cpu time since last reboot.

Here is what you need to do.

1. Goto Run. Type CMD
2 Type Exactly the next line number.
3. systeminfo | FIND "Up Time"
4 Note: You must type the exact characters it is case sensitive!!!

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\systeminfo | FIND "Up Time"
'systeminfo' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

I typed it exactly as you instructed verbatim.

You don't need it as a prefix.

Just type:

systeminfo | find "Up Time"

without any prefixes.

systeminfo |find "Up Time"
System Up Time: 1 Days, 15 Hours, 32 Minutes, 23 Seconds

I think that it's great that it DOES work for you. But please don't think that we're all idiots out here who can't read directions. I have typed it in exactly, and, yes, I made sure that the U and the T were capitalized. This has nothing to do with my not being able to get this to work. I keep getting the message "'systeminfo' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable system or batch file". NOW, is there anyone who can give us some tips, hints, info that would relate to this problem? Thank you.

My script should do it for you.

What version of XP are you running? Home or Pro?

works for me exactly as described.. is case sensitive tho.. all of you bashing the author.. i have serious doubts about your NT command skills

the people having problems are NOTstupid dude. listen xp home guys.. go in 'my network places', find your 'Local area connection' icon (view network connections, link on left pane), open it up and in the general tab you'll be in it will show you the connection's duration..which *should* be equal to your uptime if you've got a broadband connection and haven't had to disconnect it or been dropped since yor last reboot. thats the only way i've found that is relatively simple for winxp HOME users to see their uptime. i'm sure some software out there will give this info too, but its not worth it wasting time.... anyway a high uptime really says how much of a laid back pc nub you are... most likely a low up speaks to how hard you tweak your system rather than a bragging point of having a high number,,so its really pretty worthless..and almost embarassing to have the "23 day uptime" like mine.. heh i R a ?beRn?bie

Doesn't work for me either. /Find is an invalid argument for sytemteminfo.

It's not a "slash" find, it's a "pipe" Find

Cant find the pipe.Where is it?

Dude, step away from the keyboard. Take your boss to lunch and thank him for paying you anything above burger flipping rates. I sincerely hope you are making a weak attempt at humor...

hold shift, press backslash key (over the Enter key)

Not all pipes are over the backwards slash key.

D|fferent languages have different layouts.

It's not / - it's | - it's a pipe, to direct input into another command. You GUI people sicken me - get out of the prison once in a while, you'll get some work done.

The pipe symbol may not be familiar to some people. The character is a vertical bar usually typed as a shifted backslash (\) Some keyboards show the pipe as a vertical line while others show the pipe with a small space in the middle of it. Think of a colon (:) with a line drawn straight up from the upper dot and another line drawn straight down. This is the way the character appears in the command box. This character when entered on the command line causes the OS to pass the output of one command as the input to the next command. In this case passing the output of sysinfo as the input to the find command.

THe french keyboard has the pipe by the 6 I believe and spanish pipes share real estate with the 1 key.

To quote Magritte:
Ce n'est pas une p|pe
or in spanish:
Esto no es una p|pa

Maybe you'll be surprised to know that some people are reading this to better understand command line among other things except just the GUI facet of these machines. You might be real suprised to know that even MY keyboard does NOT have a pipe key on it! Some don't. For the GUI only people it's not a needed key. So the manufacturer of certain keyboards, (Sony is guilty of this, I have one!) don't see the need of wasting the space. So instead if getting a pissy attitude, Get out of your own cubicle and know what the *%*(# YOUR talking about! Not quit reading this and YOU go get back to work!!!

Here's a neat trick for those of you without the pipe character on your keyboard. Use ASCII character 124.

Here's how:
From the command prompt, hold down the key and type 1-2-4 on the 10-key pad, and then let go of the button. You should see the pipe (|) character on the command line.

Enjoy!

I have a pipe key, but didn't know about inserting other ascii characters. Thanks.

who cares how long the box has been running ?
If you can't remember rebooting, then it's time to.
I can't believe all the time wasted on this.
I would just open taskman to see running time.

A better article would have been to talk about the main command, systeminfo, and list the switches used with it.

A lot of people (myself included) are part of TechRepublic not because we think we already know everything, but because we know that we don't. Asking a question to gain information that you don't already have is a pretty smart thing to do. I'm sure that kgould didn't know what a pipe was until he learned what a pipe was. That's what learning is.

Just because the average home computer user didn't write launch codes in commodore 64 when they were 8 like you and I did, or just I did, doesn't mean you flip out at them for not knowing the command line.

Most people found it a pain in the arse to just put in "win" and hit enter back in the day.

The GUI is made for normal people to be able to utilize computers, it's spoon fed to them so there is more buyers of technology, giving them more interest, without that we wouldn't have GUI's that make things more simple.

Though we'd still have big corporations tossing out the idea of home computers.

If we didn't have the huge market we have of all these spoon fed people we wouldn't have so many advancements in technology because there wouldn't of been a need for it since no high-end graphics cards are needed at text prompts like dos or ssh.

We definitely wouldn't have videos, or H264 video for that matter either, or flash games.

You can definitely throw DVDs out, Bluray discs, HDTVs and Satellites cause you just want plain old analog things.

from the original article to get it EXACTLY right, Pipe and all, and it STILL doesn't work on some XP systems like mine.

Open a command prompt window;
(Start, All Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt")
Then type;
Systeminfo | Find "Up Time"
exactly as above.
On a fast machine running it from the "Run" command opens the window, runs the program and shuts the window too fast to see the result.
Good Luck
David

tell me whre to find the pipe command?

Shift "\"

A simple 'uptime' command can be typed at the C:\ prompt with this handy EXE from M$:

http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/management/uptime/default.asp

Download it, copy it to the root of C:\ and forget about case sensitivity!!!

This finally worked for me - had to download the "Intel 86" version and copy it to the Windows folder on the C drive.