Inventory time. That time of the year where property control (or whatever they call it in your business), wants to know where everything is, usually for tax or insurance purposes.
There's a good chance you already have a means for easily finding a computer if you have its serial number, several products will make it so that it's at least not too hard, and you may even have your own records for the computers. If you don't already, I have a script for that, that I'll post latter. However property control wants to know about everything, not just the tower unit, but furniture, metal detectors, TV's, monitors, etc...
I can't help you for most of those things, but if you got property control asking you where are your different monitors, because they're hooked into the computer, or maybe you did some moving or replacing of the monitors, I have something that may help, if they have the serial numbers for the monitors.
I've only ran this on dell computers with dell monitors with admin rights to all the computers, but if you have a different setup, you can still try this script, no guarantees though.... If you still can't find your monitor, make sure the computer is on, and that it's not in a store room somewhere unplugged.
remember, on dell monitors at least, it only pulls approximately the last half of the monitor's serial number.
this is the batch file that has all the computers you want to check for monitors on, and runs a vbscript on each one, which saves the monitor information into a csv file.
rem the first line of the csv file so you know what's in each column.
rem the list of the computers are in the parenthesies for the following lines, if you have
rem a lot of computers you can add more lines, or have multiple copies of this bat file
for %%C in (server reception secretary manager boss comp1 comp2 comp3 comp4 ) do cscript %progpath%mon-serial-num-v2.vbs %%C >> %csvfile% //nologo
for %%C in (comp5 comp6 video guard) do cscript %progpath%mon-serial-num.vbs %%C >> %csvfile% //nologo
Some modifications were made to make it work with my batch file above.
'--------------------------------------------------------------
Option Explicit
Dim WshShell
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim strComputer, message
Dim intMonitorCount
Dim oRegistry, sBaseKey, sBaseKey2, sBaseKey3, skey, skey2, skey3
Dim sValue
dim i, iRC, iRC2, iRC3
Dim arSubKeys, arSubKeys2, arSubKeys3, arrintEDID
Dim strRawEDID
Dim ByteValue, strSerFind, strMdlFind
Dim intSerFoundAt, intMdlFoundAt, findit
Dim tmp, tmpser, tmpmdl, tmpctr
Dim batch, bHeader
batch = True
'most of this script is stolen from: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/da-DK/ITCG/thread/18f72e8d-d3ee-4e51-a55d-aa5fd26db974
If WScript.Arguments.Count = 1 Then
strComputer = WScript.Arguments(0)
'batch = True
Else
strComputer = wshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("")
strComputer = InputBox("Check Monitor info for what PC","PC Name?",strComputer)
End If
If strcomputer = "" Then WScript.Quit
strComputer = UCase(strComputer)
If batch Then
Dim fso,logfile, appendout
logfile = wshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%userprofile%") & "\desktop\MonitorInfo.csv"
'setup Log
Const ForAppend = 8
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
If Not fso.FileExists(logfile) Then bHeader = True
set appendout = fso.OpenTextFile(logfile, ForAppend, True)
If bHeader Then
appendout.writeline "Computer,Model,Serial #,Vendor ID,Manufacture Date,Messages"
End If
End If
Dim strarrRawEDID()
intMonitorCount=0
Const HKLM = &H80000002 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
'get a handle to the WMI registry object
On Error Resume Next
Set oRegistry = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "/root/default:StdRegProv")
If Err <> 0 Then
If batch Then
EchoAndLog strComputer & ",,,,," & Err.Description
Else
MsgBox "Failed. " & Err.Description,vbCritical + vbOKOnly,strComputer
WScript.Quit
End If
End If
sBaseKey = "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\DISPLAY\"
'enumerate all the keys HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\DISPLAY\
iRC = oRegistry.EnumKey(HKLM, sBaseKey, arSubKeys)
For Each sKey In arSubKeys
'we are now in the registry at the level of:
'HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\DISPLAY\<VESA_Monitor_ID\
'we need to dive in one more level and check the data of the "HardwareID" value
sBaseKey2 = sBaseKey & sKey & "\"
iRC2 = oRegistry.EnumKey(HKLM, sBaseKey2, arSubKeys2)
For Each sKey2 In arSubKeys2
'now we are at the level of:
'HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\DISPLAY\<VESA_Monitor_ID\<PNP_ID>\
'so we can check the "HardwareID" value
oRegistry.GetMultiStringValue HKLM, sBaseKey2 & sKey2 & "\", "HardwareID", sValue
for tmpctr=0 to ubound(svalue)
If lcase(left(svalue(tmpctr),8))="monitor\" then
'If it is a monitor we will check for the existance of a control subkey
'that way we know it is an active monitor
sBaseKey3 = sBaseKey2 & sKey2 & "\"
iRC3 = oRegistry.EnumKey(HKLM, sBaseKey3, arSubKeys3)
For Each sKey3 In arSubKeys3
'Kaplan edit
strRawEDID = ""
If skey3="Control" Then
'If the Control sub-key exists then we should read the edid info
oRegistry.GetBinaryValue HKLM, sbasekey3 & "Device Parameters\", "EDID", arrintEDID
If vartype(arrintedid) <> 8204 then 'and If we don't find it...
strRawEDID="EDID Not Available" 'store an "unavailable message
else
for each bytevalue in arrintedid 'otherwise conver the byte array from the registry into a string (for easier processing later)
strRawEDID=strRawEDID & chr(bytevalue)
Next
End If
'now take the string and store it in an array, that way we can support multiple monitors
redim preserve strarrRawEDID(intMonitorCount)
strarrRawEDID(intMonitorCount)=strRawEDID
intMonitorCount=intMonitorCount+1
End If
Next
End If
Next
Next
Next
'*****************************************************************************************
'now the EDID info for each active monitor is stored in an array of strings called strarrRawEDID
'so we can process it to get the good stuff out of it which we will store in a 5 dimensional array
'called arrMonitorInfo, the dimensions are as follows:
'0=VESA Mfg ID, 1=VESA Device ID, 2=MFG Date (M/YYYY),3=Serial Num (If available),4=Model Descriptor
'5=EDID Version
'*****************************************************************************************
On Error Resume Next
dim arrMonitorInfo()
redim arrMonitorInfo(intMonitorCount-1,5)
dim location(3)
for tmpctr=0 to intMonitorCount-1
If strarrRawEDID(tmpctr) <> "EDID Not Available" then
'*********************************************************************
'first get the model and serial numbers from the vesa descriptor
'blocks in the edid. the model number is required to be present
'according to the spec. (v1.2 and beyond)but serial number is not
'required. There are 4 descriptor blocks in edid at offset locations
'&H36 &H48 &H5a and &H6c each block is 18 bytes long
'*********************************************************************
location(0)=mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H36+1,18)
location(1)=mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H48+1,18)
location(2)=mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H5a+1,18)
location(3)=mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H6c+1,18)
'you can tell If the location contains a serial number If it starts with &H00 00 00 ff
strSerFind=chr(&H00) & chr(&H00) & chr(&H00) & chr(&Hff)
'or a model description If it starts with &H00 00 00 fc
strMdlFind=chr(&H00) & chr(&H00) & chr(&H00) & chr(&Hfc)
intSerFoundAt=-1
intMdlFoundAt=-1
for findit = 0 to 3
If instr(location(findit),strSerFind)>0 then
intSerFoundAt=findit
End If
If instr(location(findit),strMdlFind)>0 then
intMdlFoundAt=findit
End If
Next
'If a location containing a serial number block was found then store it
If intSerFoundAt<>-1 then
tmp=right(location(intSerFoundAt),14)
If instr(tmp,chr(&H0a))>0 then
tmpser=trim(left(tmp,instr(tmp,chr(&H0a))-1))
Else
tmpser=trim(tmp)
End If
'although it is not part of the edid spec it seems as though the
'serial number will frequently be preceeded by &H00, this
'compensates for that
If left(tmpser,1)=chr(0) then tmpser=right(tmpser,len(tmpser)-1)
else
tmpser="Not Found"
End If
'If a location containing a model number block was found then store it
If intMdlFoundAt<>-1 then
tmp=right(location(intMdlFoundAt),14)
If instr(tmp,chr(&H0a))>0 then
tmpmdl=trim(left(tmp,instr(tmp,chr(&H0a))-1))
else
tmpmdl=trim(tmp)
End If
'although it is not part of the edid spec it seems as though the
'serial number will frequently be preceeded by &H00, this
'compensates for that
If left(tmpmdl,1)=chr(0) then tmpmdl=right(tmpmdl,len(tmpmdl)-1)
else
tmpmdl="Not Found"
End If
'**************************************************************
'Next get the mfg date
'**************************************************************
Dim tmpmfgweek,tmpmfgyear,tmpmdt
'the week of manufacture is stored at EDID offset &H10
tmpmfgweek=asc(mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H10+1,1))
'the year of manufacture is stored at EDID offset &H11
'and is the current year -1990
tmpmfgyear=(asc(mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H11+1,1)))+1990
'store it in month/year format
tmpmdt=month(dateadd("ww",tmpmfgweek,datevalue("1/1/" & tmpmfgyear))) & "/" & tmpmfgyear
'**************************************************************
'Next get the edid version
'**************************************************************
'the version is at EDID offset &H12
Dim tmpEDIDMajorVer, tmpEDIDRev, tmpVer
tmpEDIDMajorVer=asc(mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H12+1,1))
'the revision level is at EDID offset &H13
tmpEDIDRev=asc(mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H13+1,1))
'store it in month/year format
tmpver=chr(48+tmpEDIDMajorVer) & "." & chr(48+tmpEDIDRev)
'**************************************************************
'Next get the mfg id
'**************************************************************
'the mfg id is 2 bytes starting at EDID offset &H08
'the id is three characters long. using 5 bits to represent
'each character. the bits are used so that 1=A 2=B etc..
'
'get the data
Dim tmpEDIDMfg, tmpMfg
dim Char1, Char2, Char3
Dim Byte1, Byte2
tmpEDIDMfg=mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H08+1,2)
Char1=0 : Char2=0 : Char3=0
Byte1=asc(left(tmpEDIDMfg,1)) 'get the first half of the string
Byte2=asc(right(tmpEDIDMfg,1)) 'get the first half of the string
'now shift the bits
'shift the 64 bit to the 16 bit
If (Byte1 and 64) > 0 then Char1=Char1+16
'shift the 32 bit to the 8 bit
If (Byte1 and 32) > 0 then Char1=Char1+8
'etc....
If (Byte1 and 16) > 0 then Char1=Char1+4
If (Byte1 and 8) > 0 then Char1=Char1+2
If (Byte1 and 4) > 0 then Char1=Char1+1
'the 2nd character uses the 2 bit and the 1 bit of the 1st byte
If (Byte1 and 2) > 0 then Char2=Char2+16
If (Byte1 and 1) > 0 then Char2=Char2+8
'and the 128,64 and 32 bits of the 2nd byte
If (Byte2 and 128) > 0 then Char2=Char2+4
If (Byte2 and 64) > 0 then Char2=Char2+2
If (Byte2 and 32) > 0 then Char2=Char2+1
'the bits for the 3rd character don't need shifting
'we can use them as they are
Char3=Char3+(Byte2 and 16)
Char3=Char3+(Byte2 and 8)
Char3=Char3+(Byte2 and 4)
Char3=Char3+(Byte2 and 2)
Char3=Char3+(Byte2 and 1)
tmpmfg=chr(Char1+64) & chr(Char2+64) & chr(Char3+64)
'**************************************************************
'Next get the device id
'**************************************************************
'the device id is 2bytes starting at EDID offset &H0a
'the bytes are in reverse order.
'this code is not text. it is just a 2 byte code assigned
'by the manufacturer. they should be unique to a model
Dim tmpEDIDDev1, tmpEDIDDev2, tmpDev
tmpEDIDDev1=hex(asc(mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H0a+1,1)))
tmpEDIDDev2=hex(asc(mid(strarrRawEDID(tmpctr),&H0b+1,1)))
If len(tmpEDIDDev1)=1 then tmpEDIDDev1="0" & tmpEDIDDev1
If len(tmpEDIDDev2)=1 then tmpEDIDDev2="0" & tmpEDIDDev2
tmpdev=tmpEDIDDev2 & tmpEDIDDev1
'**************************************************************
'finally store all the values into the array
'**************************************************************
'Kaplan adds code to avoid duplication...
If Not InArray(tmpser,arrMonitorInfo,3) Then
arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,0)=tmpmfg
arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,1)=tmpdev
arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,2)=tmpmdt
arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,3)=tmpser
arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,4)=tmpmdl
arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,5)=tmpVer
End If
End If
Next
'For now just a simple screen print will suffice for output.
'But you could take this output and write it to a database or a file
'and in that way use it for asset management.
i = 0
for tmpctr = 0 to intMonitorCount-1
If arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,1) <> "" And arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,0) <> "PNP" Then
If batch Then
EchoAndLog strComputer & "," & arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,4) & "," & _
arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,3)& "," & arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,0) & "," & _
arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,2)
Else
message = message & "Monitor " & chr(i+65) & ")" & VbCrLf & _
"Model Name: " & arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,4) & VbCrLf & _
"Serial Number: " & arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,3)& VbCrLf & _
"VESA Manufacturer ID: " & arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,0) & VbCrLf & _
"Manufacture Date: " & arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,2) & VbCrLf & VbCrLf
'wscript.echo ".........." & "Device ID: " & arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,1)
'wscript.echo ".........." & "EDID Version: " & arrMonitorInfo(tmpctr,5)
i = i + 1
End If
End If
Next
If not batch Then
MsgBox message, vbInformation + vbOKOnly,strComputer & " Monitor Info"
End If
Function InArray(strValue,List,Col)
Dim i
For i = 0 to UBound(List)
If List(i,col) = cstr(strValue) Then
InArray = True
Exit Function
End If
Next
InArray = False
End Function
Sub EchoAndLog (message)
'Echo output and write to log
Wscript.Echo message
AppendOut.WriteLine message
End Sub
