Windows Experience Index (WEI), one of the hundreds of features introduced with Windows Vista, is designed to help you better understand your computer’s capabilities. It scans your computer hardware and assigns it a score after running a number of tests. These ratings help users in purchasing software and games.
For instance, a base score of 5.2 means that the PC will run an application or a game if the WEI score of the game or application is less than, or equal to 5.2.
Windows Experience Index in Windows 8.1
In Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, Windows Experience Index could be accessed by right-clicking on the Computer icon and then clicking Properties. However, in Windows 8.1 Microsoft has partially dropped this feature and it doesn’t appear in Computer Properties.
Even though most users don’t refer to the base score of WEI before installing software and hence will not miss this feature in Windows 8.1, some users who refer to WEI score might want to know how to get back the feature or at least how to check Windows Experience Index ratings in Windows 8.1.
As we mentioned already, there is no perfect workaround to add WEI to Computer Properties. However, since Microsoft hasn’t completely removed this feature from Windows 8.1, there is a way to check WEI score.
UPDATE: We recommend you check out our 3 free tools to get Windows Experience Index in Windows 8.1 guide to know all three free tools out there to get the missing feature in Windows 8.1.
Update: If you’re on Windows 10, please check out how to get Windows Experience Index in Windows 10 guide.
Method 1:
Step 1: Head over to this page and download ChrisPC Win Experience Index software. It’s free!
Step 2: Install the program and run the same to view the Windows Experience Index score for your PC.
Follow the given below instructions to check the WEI score in Windows 8.1 without the help of third-party tools:
Step 1: Sign-in to your account and navigate to the following folder:
C:\Windows\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore
(Where “C” is your Windows 8.1 installed drive)
Step 2: Locate the file titled Formal.Assessment (Initial).WinSAT and double-click on the file (if you have multiple files, please open the latest one) to open up the XML file in your default web browser.
Step 3: Once the file is opened in the web browser, you can view the date on which the file was generated, and also the score for your hardware, such as system score (base score), memory score (RAM score), CPU score, graphics score, disk score, and gaming score (gaming graphics).
And if Formal.Assessment file isn’t present in DataStore folder, you need to follow the below-mentioned instructions to generate the file and view it:
Step 1: Open Power Shell or Command Prompt as administrator. To do this, you can either type CMD on the Start screen followed by Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys, or you can right-click on the Start button and then click Power Shell (admin). If you want to get Command Prompt (admin) to Start button right-click menu, follow our how to add Command Prompt option to Win+X Menu in Windows 8.1 guide.
Step 2: In the elevated prompt, type the following command and press enter key:
Winsat formal
Your system might take a few minutes to complete generating the report.
Or you can use the following command to update the score (useful for users who would like to update the score after changing a hardware or updating drivers):
Winsat format -restart
Your system may take a couple of minutes to re-run all assessments.
Step 3: Next, navigate to the following folder:
(“C” is your Windows installed drive)
Step 4: Double-click on the file titled date.time.Formal.Assessment.XML to open it with the default web browser.
Step 5: Once the file is opened in the web browser, you can view the system score (base score), memory score (RAM score), CPU score, graphics score, disk score and gaming score (gaming graphics). That’s it!
Let us know if you are having any difficulties in following the above guide by leaving a comment.
Thanks to Faikee for the tip.
Update: A free tool called Windows Experience Index is now available to easily view WEI scores in Windows 8.1. Read our Windows Experience Index for Windows 8.1 for more info and download the software.
