Windows Vista Hardware Assessment

As you test Windows Vista™ with a view to developing an able migration plan from Windows XP, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment is a tool you should, without a doubt, use to take a census of the hardware in your inventory.

This tool, with a public release of Version 1.0, and a public beta of Version 2.0 available, is an agent-less hardware assessor that very quickly scans your systems and delivers an incredibly detailed report of the state of your hardware, its ability to run Windows Vista™, and, surprise, surprise, the ability of the same hardware to run Microsoft Office.

At Logikworx, leading up to the release of Windows Vista™, we developed a forms-based template for the hardware survey of our clients systems, managed or unmanaged.

Since we had established a baseline for hardware capabilities that would enable the full Windows Vista™ experience, we wanted to find out what each client company required in order to deliver it to them.

If only the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment had been available at that time, it would have saved us countless site visits.

I had only given the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment a cursory look in Version 1.0 as all I wanted to see if the results from an official Microsoft assessment tool validated our baselines for delivering the full Windows Vista™ experience to our clients.

However, the release of the beta of Version 2.0 so soon after the release of version 1.0 prompted me to try out the new version, starting with our own systems. The results have left me impressed, especially with the phenomenal range of data returned to the administrator.

What does the Assessment tool do?

1) It performs a speedy (I kid you not!), scan of your network, from a single workstation

2) It creates a summary of the results of the scan, with the following lists:

· Windows Vista Ready Computers with and without any hardware upgrades;

· Windows Vista Ready Computers with recommended hardware upgrades;

· Computers by Hardware Upgrades Recommended for Windows Vista;

· Computers by the Number of Required Hardware Upgrades;

· A count of Device Drivers by Driver Sources;

· Number and count of operating systems found through the Assessment; and

· The top installed software applications

3) It also creates a spreadsheet detailing the results of the scan. This report provides an even more level of information, with detailed information for each workstation, including – but not limited to – IP addresses, subnet masks, service pack level, Windows Vista Experience capability, BIOS data, known device compatibility issues. (Microsoft) Office and server assessment, and virtual machine inventory are also detailed in the report.

The WVHA uses Microsoft SQL Server Express edition, and allows the assessor a choice of using a local copy, or downloading a copy from Microsoft.com.

As an added bonus, WVHA requires Microsoft Word and Excel to operate.

Based on our internal results, we are confident enough with this tool that we are using it to rescan our clients’ computer inventory in order to see if a) our baselines need to be adjusted, and b) any errors were made.

My belief in this product was further bolstered by a phone call I had Wednesday, June 20, with a PM on the WVHA team, who turned me on to several more uses and functionality in the tool I had not discovered. (Thanks, Baldwin!)

The incorporation and use of this tool in your enterprise is a no-brainer. I also believe that the product provides enough usefulness to be a permanent member of your IT admin toolbox. Moreover, you cannot beat the price: free!

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment downloaded is here, while the public beta of version 2.0 can be found at Microsoft Connect (registration required).

How did or are you performing your hardware inventory? Let us know here or email me at John.Obeto@AbsoluteVista.com

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