...I usually try to avoid anything that requires an install because by the time I get called in the machine in question is usually barely stable enough to run in safe mode.
-Stoic Joker
Well, you could be proactive about it and periodically run Belarc Advisor on each asset (deskop/laptop) that you have to support - or, if not periodically, then initially at least.
That would give you a lot of the As-built(*1) documentation (the Belarc Advisor report with the various software reg. keys in it).
You would then have the relevant configuration item information to be able to rebuild that asset - without needing to wait to get that info till it fails.
Note: *1 - The 3 config. items in the CMDB per ITIL - hardware spec., software backup/copies, as-built documentation).