How to do a Desktop Machine Inventory on a DOS Machine

Building

This is the number of the office where the computer is located. Look on the door, in Dial or on a campus map.

Name

Person's name. Separate the first and last names for sorting purposes. The name usually can be found on the office door, desk, or in Dial. Check the spelling.

Department

This is the department the computer is assigned to...usually defined by the user. This information can be found in Dial or from department members.

Phone #

The phone number can be found in Dial, from the phone itself or by calling someone (the operator is a good candidate) and asking what number you are calling from.

Platform

The platform (typically MAC or DOS) can be determined by observation.

Type

On the DOS platform, the type of machine can be found by booting (starting) the machine. The type and speed of machine usually will show up on the BIOS screen (inside the box that appears during startup. Look carefully because it scrolls by quickl y.) If you are using Windows or DOS 5.0 or higher, there is a program called MSD.EXE that will give this info. It can be run from the C:>.

RAM (Random Access Memory)

Most machines count RAM during the RAM test when the machine starts up (a cold boot). Also, MSD will give this info.

Harddrive

Hard drive size. The easiest way is to run Checkdisk (chkdsk.exe). This will not only tell you how big the hard drive is, but how much space is available. MSD also will give this info, as well as how many drives there are.

Other

This is for recording info like if there is a CD ROM, Zip drive, or any other accessory that is not "normal".

Printer

Type of printer physically attached to the computer...the type can be determined by inspection. Note that this could be a building or department printer.

Network

This indicates whether there is a network connection or not. Determined by looking on the back of the machine for a twisted-pair or thin-wire connection. Twisted pair looks like a telephone cord; thinwire is a thicker, round cable. I have not reco rded the card type.

Recent Upgrade

This indicates whether the machine is a recent upgraded. This is strictly arbitrary.

Monitor

Use this column for the type of monitor in terms of VGA, EGA, CGA, etc. This info is usually on the monitor. By booting the machine you can tell if it is color or monochrome. A VGA monitor has a 15 pin connector going into the back of the compute r. An EGA has a 9 pin connector same as a Mono, but the mono has fewer pins used.

CPU Tag

This is a MCCD bar code tag affixed to the CPU somewhere. There is no convention for tagging CPUs; just look until you find it.

Monitor Tag

This is on the monitor somewhere.

Printer Tag

This is on the printer somewhere, but not all printers were tagged.

IP (Internet Protocol) Address

This will appear after you log into A1. It will be what follows the line of text saying, "Please note that you are on server/port:", and will look like: maxson.gc.maricopa.edu

Other

Any other info you might want to include.