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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.

In Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, Windows Experience Index could be accessed by right-clicking on Computer icon and then
clicking Properties. Now we can see that it’s not in the Windows 8.1 either. After seven years, it looks like Windows’ built-in benchmark has finally
been laid to rest.
The idea behind the WEI, as originally implemented in 2006, wasn’t a bad one. After five years of XP, it provided a handy, albeit rough, guide to the
hardware demands of Microsoft’s next-generation OS. A
still-live page on the Microsoft website helpfully explains that Vista systems scoring 1.0 to 1.9 will support “business programs, web browsers and
email programs”, with performance and graphical capabilities improving as you move up the scale.
It was also hoped that WEI would serve as a universal, easy-to-understand way for software developers to communicate system requirements. It has to be
said, “this game needs a WEI score of at least 4.0 to run smoothly” would probably have been more accessible to the man in the street than a big list
of GeForce and Radeon model numbers.
WEI never caught on, and there are probably several reasons for that. For one, the score, tucked away in the System properties window, wasn’t easy to
find – at least not for the non-technical users it was primarily aimed at.
It was always doubtful how closely WEI scores reflected the user’s real-world experience What’s more, the headline score wasn’t particularly informative.
The WEI process tested five aspects of PC performance, namely 2D graphics, 3D graphics, CPU, disk and memory speed. But the “base” score – the one shown in
the System properties – merely reflected the lowest of these subscores. A heavy-duty graphics workstation with a mechanical hard disk would thus get a lower
score than a lightweight Ultrabook with an SSD.
For a slightly more informative overview of your system’s capabilities, it was possible to dig into the subscores. These were hidden behind a link, but
they were there. However, since the exercises were wholly synthetic, and tested each aspect of performance in isolation, it was always doubtful how closely
these scores reflected the user’s real-world experience.
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 know how to get back the feature or at least how to check Windows Experience Index ratings in Windows 8.1.
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.
Follow the given below instructions to check WEI score in Windows 8.1:
Step 1: Sign-in to your account and navigate to the following folder:
%WINDIR%\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore
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 Command Prompt as administrator. To do this, type CMD on the Start screen, then right-click on the Command Prompt icon
and then click on “Run as administrator”. If you are on the desktop, move the mouse pointer to the lower right corner of the screen to evoke the
Charms menu. Click on the Search icon and then type CMD. Again, right-click on the Command Prompt icon and then click on “Run as administrator”.

Step 2: In the elevated prompt, type the following command and press the Enter key: Winsat formal

This will start the benchmarking operation. Do not use the computer until the computer finishes generating the report. This might take a few minutes.
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 formal -restart
Your system may take a couple of minutes to re-run all assessments
Step 3: Next, navigate to the following folder: %WINDIR%\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore
Step 4: Double-click on the file titled <date.time>.Formal.Assessment (Initial).WinSAT.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).

If above too complex you can use my
System Monitor II gadget to do all of these
Go to flyout and if you see question marks ("?") instead score and string "Your Windows Experience Index has not yet established." you must click
on WinSAT link to run Winsat formal -restart

Your system may take a couple of minutes to re-run all assessments After finish go to flyout again and see your system score.

Enjoy ;)
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