By James Alan Miller

Even with Windows 95, gathering system information can turn into a wild goose chase. TouchStone's CheckIt Diagnostic Kit can help keep your PC ducks in a row.

CheckIt includes CheckIt 4 for DOS as well as WinCheckIt Pro. It comes with Qualitas' RAMexam memory testing utility, McGraw-Hill's CD-ROM Technical Reference Library and some old-fashioned system tools: Phillips and flathead screwdrivers, as well as loopback plugs that attach to serial and parallel ports.

The Windows portion of CheckIt focuses on a central control panel, divided into several sections that give you access to all the included software tools. A System Summary section offers configuration data on bus, processor, memory, BIOS, ports, video adapter and so forth. The Resource Monitor section graphically displays CPU usage, swap file info, free memory and remaining disk space. A Change Detector section lets you see modifications to hardware, system and performance configurations.

I had only one significant problem with the kit, which otherwise performed as advertised. Although the manual offers lots of information, it sometimes has trouble making distinctions between 16-bit Windows and Windows 95-which could be a potentially serious problem for novice users. And, at $129.95, it's a bit pricey for what it does.

Still, this is a good choice for augmenting Windows 95's own diagnostic tools, or for filling in the diagnostics gaps of older operating systems.

--Info File--
CheckIt Diagnostic Kit
Price: $129.95
Pros: Extensive info-gathering
Cons: Confusing manual; expensive
Platforms: Windows 95, 3.1x, DOS
Disk Space: DOS, 2MB; Windows, 8MB
RAM: 4MB (minimum)
TouchStone Software Corp.
800-932-5566, 714-969-7746
WinMag Box Score: 4.0