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Software Catalog - What Are You Using & How Do You Like It?

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J-Mac:
Software registration info goes into Evernote, because it's so easy to clip from whatever the source -- email, web pages, etc.

Once in a blue moon I do an inventory of what's installed using Belarc Advisor. But I don't try to keep any real, accurate listing.
-CWuestefeld (July 30, 2008, 12:35 PM)
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Yeah, Belarc shows me a lot of good info, but not really in a fashion where I can use it for anything other than looking at it.

I have also used several other programs that show what is currently installed, like:

[*] SIW
[*] jv16 Powertools
[*] ccleaner
[*] My Uninstaller
[*] Revo Unisntaller[/list]

All of those show a list of installed programs that can be copied and pasted into a text file (I use Notepad++) and then the text files can be opened in Excel.  Last year I did this with all of the above and then created a spreadsheet in Excel with a separate worksheet tab for each set of data.  Then I compared what each application had found.

Surprisingly they were all fairly consistent, though there were omissions on all of them.  Plus none of them new about the programs that are not installed permanently in Windows, of course, nor know the serial/registration codes.  I also usually save registration codes in Evernote and OneNote 2007 (Hadn't decided which would be my permanent long-term clipper program. With Evernote 3 taking a different turn, it looks like Ultra Recall might be the one). So I have a lot of the codes in the Excel sheet, but some are actually reg or license key files.  (In Ultra Recall attaching the key files is simple).

But all-in-all, it is a lot of work to maintain this.  Understand I am trying to do this for my desktop computer, my notebook, and a new computer I got for my wife.  And something like reinstalling the OS on each at least every year or two makes it even more fun!   :huh: :o

With all the amazing utilities that are available, you would think that tracking installed software and all its attributes/data, serial codes, version tracking, installer files, etc. would be a popular one.  But there are virtually none that are dedicated to this.  I would think that such a program would be worth a lot on the market, but in reality not many people would probably be willing to part with their money for this - only geeky folk like DCers!

Thanks!

Jim

J-Mac:
Me too.
I put the registration info into whatever my current notetaking program is.  Most likely, I'll move them all into SQLNotes.  SoftCat is cool, but you can pretty much modify SQLNotes to do the same thing (minus some conveniences I suppose).

I also have used Belarc in the past to get a summary.  There was another program that I'm forgetting right now, that will scan your computer and give you a summary.
-superboyac (July 30, 2008, 01:06 PM)
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But SQLNotes won't scan computers and locate all applications, right?  That's the feature I'm seeking.

Thanks!

Jim

TucknDar:
Not that I use it myself, but there's a free (OSS) app called data crow which seems like quite a powerful collector (and more) application. I've installed it and it's pretty cool, but I've only just scratched the surface of what it can do. It's written in Java AFAIK, which I usually despise when used for desktop apps, but this one is actually fairly fast and the UI isn't too bad, IMO.

Anyway, this is from the data crow website:


edit: Btw, I'm currently working on a list of my software licenses in ListPro.

ashwken:
Me too.
I put the registration info into whatever my current notetaking program is.  Most likely, I'll move them all into SQLNotes.  SoftCat is cool, but you can pretty much modify SQLNotes to do the same thing (minus some conveniences I suppose).

I also have used Belarc in the past to get a summary.  There was another program that I'm forgetting right now, that will scan your computer and give you a summary.
-superboyac (July 30, 2008, 01:06 PM)
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But SQLNotes won't scan computers and locate all applications, right?  That's the feature I'm seeking.-J-Mac (July 30, 2008, 01:37 PM)
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J-Mac,

You mentioned above that you have much of this information in Excel, and I know you're playing with UR, except for the scanning thing it sounds like you may have 80% of the data already cataloged in Excel, moving it into UR is pretty easy.

On the other hand, I do hear what you're saying.

superboyac:
But SQLNotes won't scan computers and locate all applications, right?  That's the feature I'm seeking.

Thanks!

Jim
-J-Mac (July 30, 2008, 01:37 PM)
--- End quote ---
Yeah, that's true.  I don't do a full blown catalog of the software I use yet.  I just have the shareware that I've paid for.  Basically, I have a short list of software and their registration codes.  I don't keep track of all the freeware and hundreds of other applications that show up in belarc like java and all that extra stuff.  I guess if I were trying to be really complete, I'd need scanning abilities.

I'm curious how well these scanning programs are actually.  I don't even keep my software in a program files directory.  What does it do for applications that have multiple exe files?  Geez, if I catalogued everything, it would be a huge list.  I'd like to know how you guys manage all of this, that's interesting.

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