Give your sick computer a free AI checkup (without handing over your files)
Before you pay the Geek Squad $100 or panic-buy a laptop you don’t need, let AI read your computer’s own health report. Works on Windows and Mac. And it never touches your files.
⚡ TL;DR
- Your PC and your Mac keep a hidden health report.
- Hand it to AI and get a plain-English diagnosis in two minutes, free.
- Know what’s wrong without calling tech support.
📖 Read time: 3 minutes
ChatGPT/Kim Komando
I need your help: Add Komando.com as a preferred source on Google
This is one of those things in life no one will tell you but me.
Say your computer’s been acting up. Slow to boot, fans roaring, that spinning circle mocking you.
So you haul it to Best Buy, where the Geek Squad charges about $100 to tell you what’s wrong before they fix a single thing. A virus? That’s another $175. Then, the squad master talks you into panic-buying a $700 replacement you might not even need, along with a $200 annual membership.
Here’s what I want you to know.
Your computer can hand you a full health report in two minutes, and AI will read it for you, free. No tech in a polo shirt. No files handed over. No stranger poking through your photos.
🩺 The free house call
Every Windows PC and every Mac keeps a detailed report on its own guts: the processor, the memory, the storage, the security settings, the parts that are quietly failing. You just have to pull it out.
🪟 On Windows:
- Press the Windows key and R at the same time.
- Type msinfo32 and hit OK.
- Click File > Export, name the file and save it.
You’ll get a text report (mine ran 3.4 million characters, which is exactly why a human shouldn’t be the one reading it).
🍎 On a Mac:
- Hold the Option key and click the Apple menu in the top-left corner.
- Choose System Information.
- Click File > Save.
It drops a file where you select it to go. I vote for right on your desktop.
🔒 Your power move
Remember, this is a first opinion, not surgery. If the AI flags something scary, don’t go deleting drivers or messing with your BIOS. Run your updates, check your storage and for a work machine, loop in your IT person. The whole point is knowing what’s wrong before you pay anyone a dime to fix it.
Now open ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok. Upload that file, and paste this:
You are a PC and Mac health expert for everyday people. Read this system report in plain English. List anything Critical, anything that Needs Attention and anything Optional. Skip the normal stuff that isn’t a problem, and don’t suggest anything risky like registry edits or reinstalling my operating system. Then give me safe next steps.
It spits back a triaged checklist a fifth grader could follow. That’s your hundred bucks, saved.
I asked my computer guy why the fan gets so loud when my PC starts up. He said don’t worry, it’s taking a second to get its bearings.
📩 Send this to someone who’s one slow morning away from buying a computer they don’t really need. Use those handy links below. That’s why they are there. For your convenience.
