laptop-genuineness

Extra Commands: manual checks, stress test, GPU monitor (laptop-genuineness)

Use these if:

you can’t run check.ps1 (no internet, no USB allowed), so you type commands yourself, or
you want to re-check one thing on its own, or
you want to run the stress test.

Run everything in PowerShell as Administrator (Win + X → Terminal (Admin)). Every command here only reads information, except the stress test, which just loads the CPU for 5 minutes and then stops.

Tip: in PowerShell, right-click pastes. Press Ctrl + C to stop any running command.

1. Stress test (fans, stability, temperatures)

Run this in two PowerShell windows at the same time.

Window 1: load every CPU thread for 5 minutes

$j = 1..$env:NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS | % { Start-Job { while ($true) {} } }; Start-Sleep 300; $j | Stop-Job; $j | Remove-Job

Part	Meaning
`1..$env:NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS \\| % { Start-Job {...} }`	Starts one background job per CPU thread (this laptop’s real thread count)
`while ($true) {}`	An endless empty loop that keeps that core at 100 %
`Start-Sleep 300`	Waits 300 seconds (5 minutes). Change it to `600` for 10 minutes
`$j \\| Stop-Job; $j \\| Remove-Job`	Stops and cleans up all the jobs, so the CPU goes back to normal

If you need to stop early: press Ctrl + C, then run:

Get-Job | Stop-Job; Get-Job | Remove-Job

Open Task Manager → Performance → CPU while it runs. Usage should show close to 100 %.

Window 2: watch the GPU live (NVIDIA laptops only)

nvidia-smi -l 2

Refreshes every 2 seconds. Press Ctrl + C to stop.
Check that the GPU name matches the spec sheet, then watch the temperature and power numbers.
On AMD or Intel-only laptops, use Task Manager → Performance → GPU instead.

For a short one-line view instead:

nvidia-smi --query-gpu=name,temperature.gpu,power.draw,utilization.gpu,clocks.gr --format=csv -l 2

To load the GPU too, play a game or a 3D demo the store has installed, or open a WebGL demo in the browser while the CPU test runs.

What to look and listen for

Pass	Fail
Fans spin up loud but smooth	Rattling, clicking, grinding or whining fans
No freeze, crash or shutdown	Freezes, blue screen, or sudden power-off
Keyboard deck gets warm, but you can still touch it	Bottom gets too hot to touch within a minute or two
GPU temperature settles (often 70–85 °C under gaming load)	GPU reaches about 90 °C+ quickly and keeps climbing

Tip: switch the brand’s control app to its highest performance mode first (MSI Center, Armoury Crate, Lenovo Vantage, OMEN Gaming Hub…), so you hear the fans at their worst.

2. Battery

Full battery report (HTML)

powercfg /batteryreport /output "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\battery-report.html"; Start-Process "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\battery-report.html"

Saves the report to the Desktop and opens it. Compare DESIGN CAPACITY with FULL CHARGE CAPACITY, and note the CYCLE COUNT. Delete the file when you’re done.

Quick health % in the terminal

$d = (Get-CimInstance -Namespace root\wmi -ClassName BatteryStaticData).DesignedCapacity; $f = (Get-CimInstance -Namespace root\wmi -ClassName BatteryFullChargedCapacity).FullChargedCapacity; "Design $d  Full $f  Health {0:N1} %" -f (100*$f/$d)

Needs Admin. Look for 90 % or more.

Unplugged drain check

Unplug the charger and run this. It shows the charge level every 10 seconds, and Ctrl + C stops it:

while ($true) { (Get-CimInstance Win32_Battery).EstimatedChargeRemaining; Start-Sleep 10 }

The number should drop slowly. A big sudden drop, or a shutdown, means a bad battery.

3. SSD

Get-PhysicalDisk | Select FriendlyName, BusType, MediaType, @{n='SizeGB';e={[math]::Round($_.Size/1GB)}}, HealthStatus

Shows the drive name, type and size (about 954 GB is normal for “1 TB”), and HealthStatus should say Healthy.

Get-PhysicalDisk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter | Select Wear, PowerOnHours, Temperature, ReadErrorsTotal, WriteErrorsTotal

Needs Admin.

Wear = % of the SSD’s life already used. Want 0–2.
PowerOnHours will be high on a display unit. That’s normal.
Errors should be 0.

For “total host writes” and the PCIe link speed, or if these come back blank, use CrystalDiskInfo (portable version, from the official site) on your USB.

4. Model, serial, specs

Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem | Select Manufacturer, Model

Model should match the exact model code you’re paying for (e.g. Crosshair 16 HX AI D2XWFKG…).

Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS | Select SerialNumber, SMBIOSBIOSVersion

The SerialNumber must match the sticker under the laptop, the box and the bill.

Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor | Select Name, NumberOfCores, NumberOfLogicalProcessors

Should match the advertised processor and core count (e.g. Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, 24 cores).

Get-CimInstance Win32_PhysicalMemory | Select DeviceLocator, @{n='GB';e={$_.Capacity/1GB}}, Speed, Manufacturer, PartNumber

Total size and speed should match the spec sheet. Two rows = dual channel.

Get-CimInstance Win32_VideoController | Select Name, CurrentHorizontalResolution, CurrentVerticalResolution, CurrentRefreshRate

Should list the advertised dedicated GPU (if any) plus integrated graphics. Resolution and refresh rate should match the advertised display.

nvidia-smi

NVIDIA laptops only. Shows the GPU name, driver version and VRAM (e.g. an 8 GB card shows about 8151 MiB).

5. Display panel info

Get-CimInstance -Namespace root\wmi -ClassName WmiMonitorID | % { [pscustomobject]@{ Maker = -join ($_.ManufacturerName | ? {$_} | % {[char]$_}); Code = -join ($_.ProductCodeID | ? {$_} | % {[char]$_}); Week = $_.WeekOfManufacture; Year = $_.YearOfManufacture } }

Maker is a 3-letter code for the panel manufacturer (for example BOE, AUO, CMN, SDC).
Week / Year is when the panel was made. That tells you how old the stock is.

6. Windows: install date, accounts, activation

Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem | Select InstallDate, LastBootUpTime

InstallDate is when Windows was set up on this machine.

Get-LocalUser | Select Name, Enabled, LastLogon

Lists the user accounts. Extra personal accounts mean someone has been using it.

Get-CimInstance SoftwareLicensingProduct -Filter "PartialProductKey IS NOT NULL AND Name LIKE 'Windows%'" | Select Name, LicenseStatus

LicenseStatus 1 = activated.

7. Crash and hardware-error history

(Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; ProviderName='Microsoft-Windows-WHEA-Logger'} -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).Count

WHEA hardware errors (CPU, RAM, PCIe). Should be 0. Anything above 0 is a red flag.

(Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; ProviderName='Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power'; Id=41} -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).Count

Unexpected shutdowns (power cuts, crashes, hard resets). A few is okay on a store unit; many is not.

(Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; ProviderName='Microsoft-Windows-WER-SystemErrorReporting'; Id=1001} -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).Count

Blue screens. Should be 0.

To see the actual WHEA errors (date and message), if the count is above 0:

Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; ProviderName='Microsoft-Windows-WHEA-Logger'} | Select TimeCreated, Message -First 10 | Format-List

8. Faulty or missing devices

Get-PnpDevice -PresentOnly | Where-Object { $_.Status -ne 'OK' -and $_.Status -ne 'Unknown' } | Select Class, FriendlyName, Status

Should print nothing. Anything listed is a device with a driver or hardware problem.

Get-PnpDevice -PresentOnly -Class Net, Bluetooth, Camera | Select Class, FriendlyName, Status

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the camera should all show OK.

9. Find your USB drive letter

Get-Volume | Where-Object DriveType -eq Removable

10. Built-in Windows tools (no commands)

Tool	How to open	What to check
Task Manager	Ctrl + Shift + Esc → Performance	CPU, RAM (size, speed, slots used), GPU, disk
Display settings	Settings → System → Display → Advanced display	Advertised resolution and refresh rate available
Device Manager	Win + X → Device Manager	No yellow warning icons
Reliability Monitor	Start → type reliability	A crash/error timeline. Lots of red X’s is a bad sign
Activation	Settings → System → Activation	“Windows is activated”
Camera	Start → Camera	Webcam works
Sound Recorder	Start → Sound Recorder	Mic works