Remember the Windows Experience Index? Windows experience Index was a quick way for Windows users to understand their PC's overall performance and any immediate problems.
Microsoft has removed the graphical version of the Windows Experience Index (WEI) in Windows 8.1. But the underlying tool, the Windows System Assessment Tool, is still alive. You can easily access the old performance scores of your machine.
Here's how to test the Windows Experience Index in Windows 10.
Step 1: Run WinSAT to create the Windows Experience Index
The Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT) remains hidden in Windows 10. You can use WinSAT to create a Windows experience index for the processor, graphics card, memory speed, and more.
To do this type open a command prompt as an administrator and enter the following command: winsat formal
If you don't know how to open a command prompt, type in search the word “Command Prompt”, in the results right-click on “Command Prompt – Application” and select “Run with administrator rights”.
Step 2: Wait for the process to complete. When done, you can find the XML file in C: \ Windows \ Performance \ WinSAT \ DataStore.
Look for a set files containing the date you ran the test. Open the XML file that looks like “[test date] Formal.Assessment (Recent).WinSAT.xml”.
When prompted, select your web browser to view the XML file. Your browser will make the XML data readable. The Windows Experience Index is located near the top of the file.
Alternatively you can use Windows PowerShell to read the results. It works about the same and gives you a much more readable read.
Type powerhell in the Start menu search bar, right-click Windows PowerShell, and select Run as administrator. When PowerShell opens, enter the following command: Get-CimInstance Win32_WinSat
The overall Windows experience index is listed with WinSPRLevel.
There are other ways to view the third-party Windows 10 Experience Index on the Internet, such as the Winaero WEI, or even stand-alone solutions that create and present their own benchmarks, such as SiSoftware Sandra or UserBenchmark.
Is the Windows Experience Index useful and reliable?
For some reason Microsoft doesn't advertise the Windows 10 Experience Score. Also, Microsoft has remove the Windows Experience Index from Microsoft's game board. As you can see, you won't find your score unless you do all of the above.
The Windows Experience Index was a commercial failure as it is essentially aimed at users who do not have much experience with computer hardware. In addition, in Windows 7 and Vista it was registered in the properties of the system, where no novice user had a reason to go there. It was not very useful anyway, even for the users who discovered it.