Network Inventory Expert Editor's Review

Network Inventory Expert is a network tool designed to help you monitor your subnet's machines.

The program is very simple to use, but you have to be careful before running it for the first time, as it needs some extra Windows configuration. You might want to carefully read the help section.

The program uses WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) through DCOM RPC, so this service needs to be started on all machines. In addition, of course, you cannot use the program if you don't login with administrator rights. When I used it to monitor machines, I had to reconfigure my Windows firewall in order to open TCP ports 135 and 445.

If you finished the necessary configuration, the program works like a charm. You can manually add the computers on your subnet or you can set the program to scan automatically for computers by IP range. The gathered data is divided into three sections: 'System', 'Software', and 'Process'.

In the 'System' section, you will find data regarding the OS, hardware, services, sharing, local accounts, startup programs and hot fixes. The 'Software' section provides data regarding each and every piece of software installed on that machine including version and product key. The 'Processes' sections, obviously, present a list of the running processes.

After configuring the machines, the program ran properly, but I didn't like the fact that it didn't display the Workgroups. Otherwise, I liked the fact that I could create report and export them in HTML, XML, XLS, and VDX file format.

Pluses: in case you want to, you can export the report to an MS SQL server using the program's built-in feature.

Drawbacks / flaws:

In conclusion: A useful program, which can provide plentiful information about your computers in a subnet.

version reviewed: 3.4.2