Monitoring Application Usage

[SpuffMonkey]

Not sure if this is the best forum - but...

 

We run 2003 and XP, and like most of you (I guess) we have ended up with dozens, if hundreds, of tacky educational applications loaded for all the different departments. I want to monitor how often they are used, with a view to getting rid of the unused apps. I 've tried quizzing the departments, but alawys get that they are all needed - though this is demonstrably not true as we found a couple of apps that had failed after upgrades and no one had even noticed.

 

Can anyone recommend any software that does this? I've thought of scripting "wrappers" for the calls to the apps - but haven't had time to do it - so an easy solution is to be favoured.

 

Cheers

[ninjabeaver]

I would also be interested in something like this.

[maf_001]

I found this to be a nightmare problem, I worked around the problem by installing as many apps as i could onto a app server and then searched the folder once a year for folders that had not been modified in the last year then removed the apps.

 

I aslo used to get the HOD to fillin forms with the programs they wanted on the network, then if the app was not on the list it got backed up and removed until someone complained. The first year i removed about 70 small apps and found that only 4 needed to be reinstalled which was no big problem.

 

Hope this helps

[pete]

Assuming locally installed apps, enable auditing on the executables? You're looking at the Traverse folder/Execute file access right.

 

This doesn't scale well manually, but Google tells me (given a list of executables/paths) this is scriptable via Powershell at least.

 

You'll probably want the machines pointed at a logserver for collating the info, and a filter to grab just what you care about. Kiwi syslog server should work

[srochford]

Launching a program links to a script I wrote ages ago. Basically, you replace the icons on the start menu with links to a script to launch your apps. As part of the process, it writes to a database each time an app is launched (records username, computer name, launch time and end time)

[SpuffMonkey]

Launching a program links to a script I wrote ages ago. Basically, you replace the icons on the start menu with links to a script to launch your apps. As part of the process, it writes to a database each time an app is launched (records username, computer name, launch time and end time)

 

Thanks for that Steve - though as I say - I was rather hoping to avoid doing a load of scripting - though might have to resort to it, if I can't find an alternative.

 

I did attend your "Scripting 101" at one of the first Edugeek get togethers - very useful - thanks.

[altecsole]

Launching a program links to a script I wrote ages ago. Basically, you replace the icons on the start menu with links to a script to launch your apps. As part of the process, it writes to a database each time an app is launched (records username, computer name, launch time and end time)

 

Thanks. Very interesting.

 

Looking at your script it seems that your vbscript remains open waiting for the application to close and return to the script? How do you cope with someone just logging off without closing applications? Does control still get returned to the calling vbscript with enough time to write to the database?