How To Find What Kind of Machine You Have

One of the challenges with social distancing is getting help with our technology. Since we can’t have visitors, it’s hard to get help with our devices. When you ask for help over the phone, the person helping you starts to ask you all these questions that you don’t know the answers to. Today, we are going to find the answers to some of those questions, so the person helping you can help you better. We are going to determine the kind of device you have so that your tech support person can help you better.

We are going to help you answer the following questions:

• Do you have a smartphone, tablet, or computer?
• What is the make of your device?
• What is the operating system?
• What is the model of your device?
• Which version of the operating system?

Smartphone, tablet, or computer?

Get a piece of paper and your machine. Write down the information we gather, so you have it ready when your personal tech support starts asking. We are going to start with an easy one by looking at the exterior of the device to see if we can determine if it is a smartphone, tablet, or computer. You may want to go find a ruler.

• Is the device small, about 5” x 2.5” to 7” x 3”, and fits in your hand? Does it have a phone number and can make cell phone calls? You have a smartphone.
• Is it the size of a book, either paperback or hardcover? It doesn’t have a phone app and it didn’t come with a keyboard or mouse? You have a tablet.
• Is the screen 13” x 8” or even bigger? Did it come with a physical keyboard and mouse/trackpad? You have a computer.

Do you have a smartphone, tablet, or computer? Write it down.

What is the make or brand of your machine?

Next, we are going to try to determine the brand of the device. You may need to take it out of the case. On your car is a logo that determines that brand of your car, we are trying to find this for your machine. What are some of your options? (These are not complete lists.) Does it say other words like “Chrome”? Do you see a sticker that details what kind of machine it is? You may need a magnifying glass to read it.

• Smartphones and Tablets
  • Apple logo
  • Samsung
  • Moto
  • Google logo
  • LG
  • Other
• Computers
  • Dell
  • HP
  • Apple logo
  • Acer
  • Asus
  • Lenovo
  • Other

What brands names and logos appear on your device? Write it down.

What is the operating system?

Based on the current information we have, we can determine what the operating system (OS) of your machine.

Smartphones and Tablets

• Do you have a smartphone or tablet with an Apple logo? Then you have an iOS. We call these Apple devices. Or for the smartphones, we say iPhone and tablets are iPads.
• Do you have a tablet with an Amazon logo or the word Kindle? Then you have a Fire OS. We call these Kindle or Kindle Fires.
• All other smartphones and tablets are Android OS. We call these Android devices. s

Computers

• Do you have a computer with an Apple logo? Then you have a Mac OS.
• Do you have a computer with the word Chrome or Chromebook? Then you have a Chrome OS.
• All other computers are Windows OS.

What is your operating system? Write it down.

What is the model?

Now we are going to find the model and version of your operating system. You will need to turn the machine on for this part. We need to find the About page of your machine. This will be hidden in the Settings of your machine. The Settings icon is a gear icon. Here are some step by step directions.

Smartphones and Tablets

• For Apple devices, go to Settings > General > About
• Kindle and Android devices, go to Settings > About. (Note: you may need to scroll down to the bottom of the left-hand side list.)

Computers

• If you have an Apple computer, click on your Apple icon in the upper left corner and choose “About this Mac”.
• If you have a Chromebook, click on the circle icon that allows you to access all your programs and choose Settings,
• If you have a Windows machine, click on the Windows icon in the bottom left corner, click on Settings, choose System.

Do you see a list of information that details the make, model, operating system and version?

The model may be under model, device name, or it may just say it at the top. Or it may be easier to find it on the sticker that we located earlier. Let’s look at a few examples.

Smartphones and Tablets

• On the About section of my smartphone, you can see the model under Model & Hardware: Pixel 2.
• On the back of my child’s iPad, it says:
• On the About section and on the back of my Android tablet, Model: Lenovo Tablet TB-8504F.

Computers

• On the About section of my personal Lenovo computer, it is at the top of the list: Yoga Pro 2.
• On the sticker of my classroom Lenovo laptops, it says: A53Z
• On the sticker of my child’s school computer, it says Acer Chromebook R11.

What is the model of your machine? Write it down.

What is the version of your operating system?

In this same section, you can find the current version of your operating system. If you find the version on the sticker, that is the version it came with, not necessarily what it currently has. The version of your operating system changes as updates are applied. This changes over time.

Smartphones and Tablets

• On the About section of my smartphone, you can see Android Version is 10
• On the About section of my child’s iPad, it says:
• On the About section of my Android tablet, Version is 7.1.1.

Computers

• On the About section of my personal Lenovo computer, it says edition is Windows 10 Home and Version is 1903.
• On the sticker of my classroom Lenovo laptops, it says Windows 10 Home and Version 1903.
• On the sticker of my child’s school computer, it says Google Chrome OS Version 79.0.3945.119.  

What is the version of your operating system? Write it down.

Put it all together. Do you have a smartphone, tablet, or computer? What is the make and model of your computer? Which operating system and which version do you have? The next time someone asks you these questions, you can now answer.