I went back and read the initial post and here's my input... I use a utility called winbios on our compaq, dell, hp, and ibm pc's to grab the serial number and place it in the pc name.
I have done this in two ways. On Win9x I have a batch file that checks the serial number and checks the currently assigned computername, if they don't match I apply the serialnumber as the computername, just in case someone gets any wise ideas about changing their pc name. On WIndows 2000 and XP I made a wide script and placed it in the run key. The Wise script runs in the runonce key on first boot after install. I dont run it every time because Win2K is locked down. The script just runs winbios and grabs the serial number and places it in the correct reg keys. Here is the batch file: winbios|Tfind "Serial"|xset /Right 12 SERIAL TSR BRAND.REG #### %SERIAL% /A /B /C /F /N regedit /s brand.reg DOS Utilites: winbios.exe - grabs info from the bios tfind.exe - finds data in the output xset.exe - sets the variable "serial" from the tfind data tsr.exe - replaces the #### with %serial% the brand.reg is an export of the computername reg keys. The computername has been replaced with ####. Mike -----Original Message----- From: Jay Woody [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 2:11 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Workstation Naming Standards Wow, never thought of that. Yeah, that seems pretty obvious. ;) Upside, we could lock the ports down where a certain workstation only worked at a certain port, so "midnight moves" stopped. Also, finding a workstation name meant we had it's location also. Downside, more admin time, but it proved itself often. Just so you'll know, the order that I listed them is the order of the ways that I have done it. Therefore the PC001 is the way that we do it currently because now CA tracks it for us. You look on the spreadsheet and see that PC1046 is in my office and you come beat me. I personally think that if you have a small environment and time for admin, you are a fool to not put something that locates a PC for you in the name (extension, room number, something). If you have a large environment or too little headcount, you are a fool for trying. :) Get a tool and just name them generically. To try and say that one way is always right is pretty silly. That is why I listed the 3 ways that I have done it. Just as an FYI though, the first way (with the room number) worked for me when I managed the group that supported 1,400+ users. Of course I has almost 20 headcount also. :) JayW >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 09/27/01 07:22PM >>> And a machine gets moved to another room and you have to rename it! Greg -----Original Message----- From: Jay Woody [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 1:58 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Workstation Naming Standards I have been through 3 different changes so far. The first one was something like W0F01492. The W was for Workstation (servers got A-F), multiple workstations got G,H, etc. 0F0 was a location code and all of our sites had one (or more).1 was the floor. 492 was the room. Second place was MTMEM5555A. MT was the OS (MT-NT, M5-95, and so on). MEM is the city (Memphis). 5555 is the extension. A is the number of the workstation (A-1, B-2, and so on). Third place just did PC001, PC002, etc. and let CA track it for them. Guess it depends. :) JayW >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 09/27/01 01:18PM >>> Hi, I don't use user names in the computer name as you would need to change it with every hire/fire/quit. I won't go over my naming convention for this company on the net for obvious reasons, however in previous locales I used a combination of the street name and address of the various offices, DT, LT, MS, or DC (to denote the machine type - laptop, desktop, member server, domain controller) along with a two or three digit computer number. For example, a desktop at a building located a 17 Austin Friars London, I would call it 17AFDT001, and for a laptop at 212 Houndsditch in London, I would use 212HDLT001. In both cases I would then just increment the 001 to 002 and so forth. In the AD, I would then put the machines and user accounts in org units called Austin Friars, or Houndsditch. If you use multiple sites or domains, then the last bit becomes less relevant. Clayton Doige IT Manager MCSE, MCP + I Gameday International N.V. Bound in a nutshell, King of infinite space... T: +5 999 736 0309 ext 4537 C: +5 999 563 1845 F: +5 999 733 1259 E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: Osama S. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: September 27, 2001 12:05 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Workstation Naming Standards hi, we will be deploying Win2K from scratch on the user's machines (around 700) replacing NT 4. SO I was reviewing our machine naming convention. Our Offices are located in two cities, one single domain. So far we would use something like "CityName-Department-User Real Name" (where city name and department are abbrevations) to name workstations. Usually the NT Names are the users Company ID, which is unique. I was wondering how you guys/girls are naming your workstations and users. regards Uso Want to unsub? Do that here: http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=unsub Need a good FAQ? Try this one first: http://www.ultratech-llc.com/KB/ Want to unsub? Do that here: http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=unsub Need a good FAQ? Try this one first: http://www.ultratech-llc.com/KB/ Want to unsub? Do that here: http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=unsub Need a good FAQ? Try this one first: http://www.ultratech-llc.com/KB/ Want to unsub? Do that here: http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=unsub Need a good FAQ? Try this one first: http://www.ultratech-llc.com/KB/ Want to unsub? Do that here: http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=unsub Need a good FAQ? Try this one first: http://www.ultratech-llc.com/KB/ Want to unsub? Do that here: http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=unsub Need a good FAQ? Try this one first: http://www.ultratech-llc.com/KB/