HOW TO: Get Windows Status Information from Windows API in Excel 2000

In Microsoft Excel you can programmatically obtain system status information and display it in a worksheet. This step-by-step article provides a sample Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Sub procedure that displays the following information by using Windows API functions:

• The Windows version number with the GetVersionEx API function.
• The CPU processor type with the GetSystemInfo API function.
• The amount of free memory with the GlobalMemoryStatus API function.

Sample Code to Get Windows Status Information

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs.
If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or Microsoft Advisory Services. For more information, visit these Microsoft Web sites:

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For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS To get Windows status information by using Windows API calls, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Excel, and then create a new workbook.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Visual Basic Editor (or press ALT+F11).
3. On the Insert menu, click Module.
4. On the module sheet, type the following code:

   Option Explicit
   
   Type SYSTEM_INFO
       dwOemID As Long
       dwPageSize As Long
       lpMinimumApplicationAddress As Long
       lpMaximumApplicationAddress As Long
       dwActiveProcessorMask As Long
       dwNumberOrfProcessors As Long
       dwProcessorType As Long
       dwAllocationGranularity As Long
       dwReserved As Long
   End Type
   
   Type OSVERSIONINFO
       dwOSVersionInfoSize As Long
       dwMajorVersion As Long
       dwMinorVersion As Long
       dwBuildNumber As Long
       dwPlatformId As Long
       szCSDVersion As String * 128
   End Type
   
   Type MEMORYSTATUS
       dwLength As Long
       dwMemoryLoad As Long
       dwTotalPhys As Long
       dwAvailPhys As Long
       dwTotalPageFile As Long
       dwAvailPageFile As Long
       dwTotalVirtual As Long
       dwAvailVirtual As Long
   End Type
   
   'The following three Declare lines must be each entered on a single
   'line.
   
   Declare Function GetVersionEx Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetVersionExA" _
                (LpVersionInformation As OSVERSIONINFO) As Long
   Declare Sub GlobalMemoryStatus Lib "kernel32" (lpBuffer As _
               MEMORYSTATUS)
   Declare Sub GetSystemInfo Lib "kernel32" (lpSystemInfo As _
                 SYSTEM_INFO)
   
   Public Const PROCESSOR_INTEL_386 = 386
   Public Const PROCESSOR_INTEL_486 = 486
   Public Const PROCESSOR_INTEL_PENTIUM = 586
   Public Const PROCESSOR_MIPS_R4000 = 4000
   Public Const PROCESSOR_ALPHA_21064 = 21064
   
   Sub SystemInformation()
   Dim msg As String         ' Status information.
   Dim NewLine As String     ' New-line.
   Dim ret As Integer        ' OS Information
   Dim ver_major As Integer  ' OS Version
   Dim ver_minor As Integer  ' Minor Os Version
   Dim Build As Long         ' OS Build
   
         NewLine = Chr(13) + Chr(10)  ' New-line.
         ' Get operating system and version.
         Dim verinfo As OSVERSIONINFO
         verinfo.dwOSVersionInfoSize = Len(verinfo)
         ret = GetVersionEx(verinfo)
         If ret = 0 Then
             MsgBox "Error Getting Version Information"
             End
         End If
   
         Select Case verinfo.dwPlatformId
             Case 0
                 msg = msg + "Windows 32s "
             Case 1
                 msg = msg + "Windows 95/98 "
             Case 2
                 msg = msg + "Windows NT/2000 "
         End Select
   
         ver_major = verinfo.dwMajorVersion
         ver_minor = verinfo.dwMinorVersion
         Build = verinfo.dwBuildNumber
         msg = msg & ver_major & "." & ver_minor
         msg = msg & " (Build " & Build & ")" & NewLine & NewLine
   
         ' Get CPU type and operating mode.
         Dim sysinfo As SYSTEM_INFO
         GetSystemInfo sysinfo
         msg = msg + "CPU: "
         Select Case sysinfo.dwProcessorType
             Case PROCESSOR_INTEL_386
                 msg = msg + "Intel 386" + NewLine
             Case PROCESSOR_INTEL_486
                 msg = msg + "Intel 486" + NewLine
             Case PROCESSOR_INTEL_PENTIUM
                 msg = msg + "Intel Pentium" + NewLine
             Case PROCESSOR_MIPS_R4000
                 msg = msg + "MIPS R4000" + NewLine
             Case PROCESSOR_ALPHA_21064
                 msg = msg + "DEC Alpha 21064" + NewLine
             Case Else
                 msg = msg + "(unknown)" + NewLine
         End Select
   
         msg = msg + NewLine
   
         ' Get free memory.
         Dim memsts As MEMORYSTATUS
         Dim memory As Long
         GlobalMemoryStatus memsts
         memory = memsts.dwTotalPhys
         msg = msg + "Total Physical Memory: "
         msg = msg + Format(memory \ 1024, "###,###,###") + "K" + NewLine
         memory = memsts.dwAvailPhys
         msg = msg + "Available Physical Memory: "
         msg = msg + Format(memory \ 1024, "###,###,###") + "K" + NewLine
         memory = memsts.dwTotalVirtual
         msg = msg + "Total Virtual Memory: "
         msg = msg + Format(memory \ 1024, "###,###,###") + "K" + NewLine
         memory = memsts.dwAvailVirtual
         msg = msg + "Available Virtual Memory: "
         msg = msg + Format(memory \ 1024, "###,###,###") + "K" + NewLine
   
         MsgBox msg, vbOKOnly, "System Info"
   End Sub
   					

5. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.
6. Click SystemInformation, and then click Run.

The macro returns a message box that shows your system information.

For more information about how to use the sample code in this article, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about how to use Windows APIs in Microsoft Visual Basic, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: