Help for PDQ Inventory > Scanning Computers > Scanners

The Files and Directories scanner is a configurable scanner that scans for files and or directories as determined by the Files and Directories Scanner Settings for a particular scan profile. (Enterprise mode is required.) This information can be viewed on the Files and Directories page of the Computer window or via the Files and Directories table in a report. Some information is only available if the file contains header information, which is typically most .exe and .dll files. In order for the files and directories scanner to function properly, a file or directory will need to match at least one pattern in the Include Pattern(s) field.

Inventory comes with a prebuilt scan profile that uses the files and directories scanner called Windows EXEs.

Note: Deleting a Files and Directories scanner (or scan profile that includes one) deletes all the records it gathered (except those also scanned using a different scanner). This will not delete any actual files or directories.

To see the Files and Directories scanner in action, review the following video. (The video is from Inventory 8 when the scanner was called the Files scanner and did not include directories.) The patterns included in the screenshot below is the same scan profile used in the video.

VIDEO: Files & Directories Scanner

(https://youtu.be/MmMtfSHiUeg)

Files and Directories Scanner Settings

Configure the Files and Directories scanner settings in the Edit Files and Directories Scanner window (Enterprise mode required). Multiple Files and Directories scanners can be added to one scan profile with different settings per scanner. The example below will return all .pst and .iso files in the C:\Users directory including all subdirectories.

To open the Edit Files and Directories Scanner window, click Options > Scan Profiles, then do one of the following:

•When creating a new profile, in the Scan Profile window, click Add > Files and Directories.

•When editing a profile, in the Scan Profile window, double-click an existing Files and Directories scanner or select it and click Edit.

Item	Description
Type	Choose from File, Directory, or Both.
Include Pattern(s)	Enter file patterns to match on the target computer (one per line). Click on the Plus icon to automatically include common patterns. You can choose from the following: •* for zero or more characters •? for single characters •\\ for current and all subdirectories •?:\ for all drives •%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Users\\ for all users •%PROGRAMFILES%\\ for all program files, including program files (x86) •%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\ for System32 NOTE: Wildcards must be used in place of regular expressions or context variables.
Exclude Pattern(s)	Enter file patterns to exclude from the search on the target computer (one per line). Click on the Plus icon to automatically include common patterns. You can choose from the following: Zero or more characters, Single characters, Current and all subdirectories, All drives, All users, All program files, and System32 (see above). NOTE: Wildcards must be used in place of regular expressions or context variables.
Row Limit	Specify the maximum number of items to be returned from the target (the default is 2,500 rows). WARNING: Setting the Row Limit too high can cause performance issues.

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Help Version: 18.0.2.0