Help for PDQ Inventory > Scanning Computers

PDQ Inventory scans computers for their inventory and stores the inventory information it gathers in the local database, which is located in %PROGRAMDATA%\Admin Arsenal\PDQ Inventory\Database.db.

Scans are performed by running scan profiles that contain one or more scanners. Scanners are small programs that are copied to target computers during a scan. When executed, scanners read the information they are designed to capture and PDQ Inventory records their output. The information gathered by scanners can be viewed in the Computer window and in reports.

PDQ Inventory organizes the inventory information it gathers into collections; for example, Applications, Memory, and Workstations. The information gathered by scanners, which is organized by location in the Computer window, is also available for use as filters for collections. For details about collections, see Introduction to Collections and Creating and Editing Collections.

For requirements about what is needed to successfully run scans, see "Product Requirements" in the PDQ Inventory Getting Started guide.

Scans can be started automatically on a schedule (requires Enterprise mode) or manually from the main console window or the Computer window. For details about running scans, see Adding and Scanning.

Scan profiles can be created to scan for different information on different schedules (requires Enterprise mode). For details, see Creating Scan Profiles.

This chapter contains the following topics:

•Scanners

•Scanner Details

•Files & Directories Scanner

•Registry Scanner

•WMI Scanner

•Scan Profiles

•Scan Profiles Overview

•Prebuilt Scan Profiles

•Configuring Scan Profiles

•Creating a New Scan Profile

•Managing Scan Profiles