Collecting system details across the network
Collecting system details across the network
Hello everyone, welcome! I'm just starting out as an IT Admin Assistant and currently managing around 20+ computers in the office. My role involves gathering computer specifications like CPU, RAM, storage, and IP addresses. Most of these PCs have static IP settings, which are only viewable by administrators—something I don’t have access to. I was asked to perform this task as a test, but it’s been challenging for a few days. Can I get the information without using any third-party software? My supervisor suggested using a script, though I’m not very familiar with it. Here’s what I know about my PC: IP 171.10.10.58, Gateway 171.10.10.1, DNS 171.10.10.169 and 170.
Visit each computer, launch Task Manager, note the details. Then run the terminal (or CMD) and type `ipconfig`, recording the IPv4 address. It seems a straightforward script might not work easily without prior configuration on the devices, but manually checking around 20 machines should be feasible.
That’s what I considered for the top position, but my supervisor advised against it because I’d need to allocate users’ time while they’re working first. Second, since our company is in finance and I don’t have access to their PC passwords, doing this during their absence wouldn’t be feasible.
All 20 computers are linked to a domain, making each user account part of an Active Directory group.
Third-party tools are also capable of this, and they just want to test the Windows environment first.
Script to gather each PC's data and save it line by line into a new file. Read IP addresses from a text file, loop through them, process each one, and write formatted CSV entries. For AD users, run a startup script that outputs a timestamped line to a file, then refresh the query in Excel automatically.
Lansweeper and possibly PRTG might handle this task. It’s free for limited assets, though there doesn’t seem to be a built-in method on Windows. You could create a PowerShell script and distribute it via GPO so it runs at startup, logging the required data to a shared text file. This approach would likely be more efficient, and ChatGPT can assist greatly with the process.