Computer And Software Inventory!! HELP!

[joshjacklin]

Hello, im wonder if someone has got some advice for me one of my jobs here at the school is to do a hardware and software inventory, now ive got all this information in excel and stuff which i have written down as well and i want to put it in an easy to access format where I can pull up any information that management wants when ever they want it, microsoft excel with visual basic is amazing except i dont know visual basic and the time it would take me to play around with it is a waste of time, I also have thought of access but of course im not too familiar with it, when i have looked on google as you do, its all companies wanting you to install software which will scan your network and do an audit, which is all well and good if it actually tells me what I want to know and is either open source or freeware.

 

to give you an idea of the information i have got, we use a logging system here where we provide allocation numbers to equipment, so we have seton labels and have our company name and then a number like 100512 and then in excel that will have 100512 Video Seven Monitor, Model Number, Serial Number, Location and Previous location. which is all well and good, however I want to put in a technical specification for the machines and things i need it to be really indepth as they have got a thing on at the moment and i want to provide them with more information than they can shake a stick at but at the same time in an easy way.

 

For example if I wanted to say x amount of machines are failing this is the technical specification, doing a simple ram upgrade may increase the speed of the machine but of course this is not the way forward when your doing an upgrade hirachy, new at the top rolling the older machines down the chain to get rid of the obselete equipment on a shoe string budget. before you laugh we have shuttle x machines here, and the power supply has a fault if it is off for a long period of time it fails, shuttle know about this only suggest to buy a new part £50 a psu, times 3-4 maybe even 5 machines a week failing its not cost effect just replacing psus i could provide a chart or graph.

 

yes thats off on a tangent a little bit but im trying to give as much information as i can to get the best possible help

 

i just need to know how to go forward before i waste a stupid amount of time.

Thank You! -Josh Jacklin-

[3s-gtech]

From a scan read of what you want - Spiceworks. Yes it installs and scans, but it's free (for the version you'll need) and it's superb. I have it running on an old DC so it just ticks along in the background.

[ReverentCreature]

Unless you are familiar with Access you wil be better sticking with Excel. I would take time to learn access thoguh as its exactly what you need. You can add tick boxes, list boxes and create reports that filter your information differently. It sounds like you only need once tabel though. Just one big long list of information. So I would stick with Excel if you jusdt want to sort and filter your columns. Youc an do this from the Data menu.

[Ric_]

Another free option is GLPI - open source and you can enter all your information to produce reports. It is quite feature rich mind and if you don't integrate with OCS-NG (to do a scan and audit of your hardware) it will take you ages to populate the database.

[Pete10141748]

Another vote for Spiceworks here, it scans everything connected to your network, gives you all information you'll need for an audit and lots more besides.

[lordasb]

spice works again here 2

[m25man]

Lansweeper is my favourite.

[Nexus-6]

We've been using SysAid from Help Desk Software by SysAid since 2006, which is a helpdesk with extra's.

[Dos_Box]

If you have the money, NetSupport DNA is the way to go. It's network and IT support on steroids: NetSupport DNA: The latest evolution in Asset Management and PC Remote Support

[sparkeh]

Spiceworks will do everything you need and more, free and stunning.

[Osprey]

Spiceworks gets my vote. I use it for inventory purposes, as a help desk, as a central database for all equipment. It is excellent for generating reports of what is installed or what is not installed on workstations. My only gripe is that there seems to be an update every five minutes! Mind you, there is nearly always a nice new feature or an increase in speed.

[Elison]

I've been using 10-Strike Network Monitor. It does everything you need: scan and audit the system, create differant kinds of reports and warn you if changes have been made.

[pete]

I use GLPI and OCS-NG. The agent is installed on the base images, so any hardware that's imaged adds itself to the database as soon as it realises it's on new hardware.