Best computer PC/network inventory software

On Mar 16, 12:20 pm, "Anthony" wrote:
> You are asking for the best. That's a difficult question. There is an
> extremely wide field of software that will produce an inventory of hardware
> and software. That's because it is exposed by WMI and DMI and therefore
> freely accessible. You can start with Freeware like OCShttp://ocsinventory.sourceforge.net/. That gives you a baseline of
> functionality that is easy to implement (not free if you add your time to
> implement it).
> SMS is excellent of course if you are primarily a Windows environment, and
> particularly if your Select licensing already includes SMS CALs.
> My view is that Inventory really needs to be integrated with the rest of
> your systems management, for example: software deployment; helpdesk;
> monitoring etc. Typically you get a call to the helpdesk to resolve a
> problem or to install software, and the first question is: what is the
> hardware asset? You don't want to go and look in a different system to find
> out. Altiris is an excellent solution for this, and has specific services
> for Dell computershttp://www.altiris.com/Partners/AlliancePartners/DellAlliance...tner...
>
> Anthonywww.airdesk.co.uk
>
> wrote in message
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hello,
>
> > What is the best PC/network inventory software that will audit
> > computers right over the network, automatically?
> > I am looking to capture the following:
>
> > 1) Automatically capture PC info over the network, without having to
> > manually run PC audit's for every computer
> > 2) Capture as much hardware and software info as possible
> > 3) We are a Dell shop, so it would be great to capture the Service Tag/
> > Express Service code/computer model of each computer automatically, w/
> > out having to add it in manually.
> > 4) Ability to manually add a custom asset tag to each machine
> > (unfortunately, the asset tag is dictated by the finance team and we
> > want our systems to reflect that)
> > 5) Capture other devices, like printers, network switches, etc.
>
> > Please let me know your knowledge and or experience with any software
> > that fits close to the above. Thanks so much!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks Anthony-
 >> Stay informed about: Best computer PC/network inventory software 

On Mar 16, 11:12 am, "Herb Martin" wrote:
> wrote in message
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hello,
>
> > What is the best PC/network inventory software that will audit
> > computers right over the network, automatically?
> > I am looking to capture the following:
>
> > 1) Automatically capture PC info over the network, without having to
> > manually run PC audit's for every computer
> > 2) Capture as much hardware and software info as possible
> > 3) We are a Dell shop, so it would be great to capture the Service Tag/
> > Express Service code/computer model of each computer automatically, w/
> > out having to add it in manually.
> > 4) Ability to manually add a custom asset tag to each machine
> > (unfortunately, the asset tag is dictated by the finance team and we
> > want our systems to reflect that)
> > 5) Capture other devices, like printers, network switches, etc.
>
> SMS is good -- there are others. These things tend to be expensive.
>
> > Please let me know your knowledge and or experience with any software
> > that fits close to the above. Thanks so much!
>
> --
> Herb Martin, MCSE, MVPhttp://www.LearnQuick.Com
> (phone on web site)- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks Herb-
 >> Stay informed about: Best computer PC/network inventory software 

wrote in message

> Hello,
>
> What is the best PC/network inventory software that will audit
> computers right over the network, automatically?
> I am looking to capture the following:
>
> 1) Automatically capture PC info over the network, without having to
> manually run PC audit's for every computer
> 2) Capture as much hardware and software info as possible
> 3) We are a Dell shop, so it would be great to capture the Service Tag/
> Express Service code/computer model of each computer automatically, w/
> out having to add it in manually.
> 4) Ability to manually add a custom asset tag to each machine
> (unfortunately, the asset tag is dictated by the finance team and we
> want our systems to reflect that)
> 5) Capture other devices, like printers, network switches, etc.

SMS is good -- there are others. These things tend to be expensive.

> Please let me know your knowledge and or experience with any software
> that fits close to the above. Thanks so much!


--
Herb Martin, MCSE, MVP
http://www.LearnQuick.Com
(phone on web site)
 >> Stay informed about: Best computer PC/network inventory software 

You are asking for the best. That's a difficult question. There is an
extremely wide field of software that will produce an inventory of hardware
and software. That's because it is exposed by WMI and DMI and therefore
freely accessible. You can start with Freeware like OCS
http://ocsinventory.sourceforge.net/. That gives you a baseline of
functionality that is easy to implement (not free if you add your time to
implement it).
SMS is excellent of course if you are primarily a Windows environment, and
particularly if your Select licensing already includes SMS CALs.
My view is that Inventory really needs to be integrated with the rest of
your systems management, for example: software deployment; helpdesk;
monitoring etc. Typically you get a call to the helpdesk to resolve a
problem or to install software, and the first question is: what is the
hardware asset? You don't want to go and look in a different system to find
out. Altiris is an excellent solution for this, and has specific services
for Dell computers
http://www.altiris.com/Partners/AlliancePartners/DellAlliancePartner.aspx.

Anthony
www.airdesk.co.uk




wrote in message

> Hello,
>
> What is the best PC/network inventory software that will audit
> computers right over the network, automatically?
> I am looking to capture the following:
>
> 1) Automatically capture PC info over the network, without having to
> manually run PC audit's for every computer
> 2) Capture as much hardware and software info as possible
> 3) We are a Dell shop, so it would be great to capture the Service Tag/
> Express Service code/computer model of each computer automatically, w/
> out having to add it in manually.
> 4) Ability to manually add a custom asset tag to each machine
> (unfortunately, the asset tag is dictated by the finance team and we
> want our systems to reflect that)
> 5) Capture other devices, like printers, network switches, etc.
>
> Please let me know your knowledge and or experience with any software
> that fits close to the above. Thanks so much!
>
 >> Stay informed about: Best computer PC/network inventory software 

Yes, these things do tend to be expensive.

But, there are a couple of options you might try:

1. SpiceWorks - http://www.spiceworks.com/
2. System Information for Windows - http://www.gtopala.com/siw_buy.html
(free for home use, scriptable with TONS of information returned and
relatively inexpensive for corporate use).

Neither program does everything you want, but you can usually work
around things that they don't - for example, creating a script and
running that script remotely on all systems to add Asset Tag info.

And then there are the more commercial programs - SMS, MOM, and numerous
others.

-Lee


wrote:
> Hello,
>
> What is the best PC/network inventory software that will audit
> computers right over the network, automatically?
> I am looking to capture the following:
>
> 1) Automatically capture PC info over the network, without having to
> manually run PC audit's for every computer
> 2) Capture as much hardware and software info as possible
> 3) We are a Dell shop, so it would be great to capture the Service Tag/
> Express Service code/computer model of each computer automatically, w/
> out having to add it in manually.
> 4) Ability to manually add a custom asset tag to each machine
> (unfortunately, the asset tag is dictated by the finance team and we
> want our systems to reflect that)
> 5) Capture other devices, like printers, network switches, etc.
>
> Please let me know your knowledge and or experience with any software
> that fits close to the above. Thanks so much!
>
 >> Stay informed about: Best computer PC/network inventory software