Monitor Software use?

[kesomir]

I want to know what software is being used and what isn't.

Is there an easy way to get stats on this?

[srochford]

One way is to monitor when a program starts and ends. You can change the start menu icons so they point to scripts which do the actual launch and also log start/stop to a database - this page is my attempt to describe what we do.

[rrichmond]

I want to know what software is being used and what isn't.

Is there an easy way to get stats on this?

If you were using a Novell Network, Zenworks Asset Manager does exactly this...along with other goodies.....

[RabbieBurns]

we use Net Intelligence for this and our internet monitoring. It works well, but I dont know how much it costs.

[VaVaVoom]

Have a look at Centennial Software solutions for SAM, IT audit & Data Loss Prevention they do a range of Software Asset Management tools.

[benIT]

If you install all your apps via Softgrid (MS) - see posts on edugeek.

You can perform full reporting on times / users etc

[fafster]

I use Spiceworks. It's free so it might be worth you giving it a go.

[richard.thomas]

You could always looks at the XP "Add/Remove Programs" and look at the usage... It's very acurate

[kesomir]

Ideally it would be centrally accessable - ie run an app on a machine and receive aggregate dasta from all stations regarding use.

The shortcut idea is ingenious, but not what I want to do.

I have spiceworks, but I'm not impressed with it.

I don't use softgrid.

I run a combination of ranger and a demo of abtutor (won't be buying it yet though as the terminal service monitoring doesn't work for me - which is mainly what I want it for).

Would be so useful to see at a glance where the money was well spent and where it's wasted.

[SpuffMonkey]

I run a combination of ranger and a demo of abtutor (won't be buying it yet though as the terminal service monitoring doesn't work for me - which is mainly what I want it for).

Shame - we find ABTutor is fine on our thin clients

[kesomir]

Shame - we find ABTutor is fine on our thin clients

There's a bug in abtutor that stops monitoring (logging security data via a policy) on terminal servers / thin client sessions. I had this issue confirmed with another member on here.

Connecting to and watching ts screens is not a problem - works ok, but it's the logging-monitoring that I want.