An automatic system for controlling the operation of a diffractometer intended for structural studies of liquid metals is described. The system consists of an updated GUR-8 goniometer, an SC-03 scintillation detector, and a computer-based control unit. The control program, operating in a Windows '95 medium, is used to adjust the goniometer and the single-channel analyzer, to take up backslash of the x-ray tube, to align the specimen, and to record x-ray diffractograms. ©1999 Plenum Publishing Corporation.