Determining the manufacturer of your computer is a two-part process:

  1. What brand is your computer, i.e., the manufacturer that put the computer together? You can usually look at the front or side of your computer’s case for the manufacturer’s logo or name. Examples of computer manufacturers are Acer, Apple, HP (Hewlett Packard), Compaq, Lenovo, Dell, Sony, and Gateway. The picture is an example of a sticker on the side of an HP computer. HP is the manufacturer and “Pavilion P6000 Series” is the model of the computer.

Alternatively, if you are running Microsoft Windows you can open the System Information utility to show the System Manufacturer. However, keep in mind that the computer manufacturer is not the manufacturer of all of the computer’s components.

The front of your case may have an AMD, Intel, or Microsoft Windows sticker. These are not the manufacturer of the computer, but the manufacturer of your processor and operating system.

With desktop computers with a monitor and a separate computer make sure to look at the computer and not the monitor.

  1. Although a computer manufacturer puts everything together in the computer, all of the components within a computer may not be made by that computer manufacturer. A computer has a CPU, motherboard, sound card, video card, disk drives, and other components all from different companies.

Many of the manufacturers of the hardware devices in your computer are in the same System Information screen mentioned earlier. The motherboard, BIOS, and CPU is in the System Summary screen, and all other components are in the Components section. See the link below for further information about identifying hardware in your computer.

  • How to find what hardware is installed in the computer.
  • See the manufacturer definition for further information and related links.
  • Computer hardware help and support.