Is it possible to collect software usage data value for each bit of software in Add Remove Programs

[deanbw]

Hi
Is it possible to collect the usage state found in Add Remove Programs for each installed piece of software on a computer.

Note I am not asking to collect actual usage just the usage stat that windows calculates as per the attached screen dump from windows.

I would have hoped that this is part of the WMI stack and wouldn't require an agent etc..

Regards

[deanbw]

Thanks for the link. Very informative. I agree no point in using the info. It also provides enough info for me to support why we shouldn't attempt to use it which is also important for me to justify to the business I work for.

Thanks for your help with this much appreciated.

[taeratrin]

See here for an explanation of how it works, and why it is often wrong.

[deanbw]

Oh Ok. I'll have a look and so some research and see if I can work out why...

Thanks

[Hemoco]

You can't rely on the data.
On my computer, many programs which I use daily are set to "rarely" in the software list.

[deanbw]

Our experience is we just want to seperate out the rarely used apps from the sometimes used to frequently used.

It would have enough value in that sense as we would use as a means to justify redeploying licenses from rarely used apps.

I guess we release not as good as an agent based system but does have the advantages of simplicity and is visible by the user by looking at control panel for them.

In summary, would still be worth it for us based on the above....

Thanks

[Hemoco · Accepted solution]

It is possible to do this remotely but the results are very bad and unreliable that's why we didn't implement it.