Considering a Windows computer's unique key includes its name and domain, a change to either the name or the domain would result in a new asset being generated for the computer. However, a setting called Detect when a Windows computer has been renamed ensures that name or domain changes do not lead to new assets. This setting is enabled by default and can be found in the Configuration> Server Options section of the web console. More information can be found here: https://community.lansweeper.com/t5/scanning-your-network/windows-rename-detection/ta-p/64311
Can rename detection be used when replacing an old computer with a new computer while keeping the computer's name for the new device?
No, rename detection was not intended for this use case.
A Windows computer's internal ID is its computer name/domain name combination, even if you enable rename detection under Configuration\Server Options. As a result, it is not possible to have two Windows computers with the same name/domain combination in the same Lansweeper database at the same time. If you want to retain the asset pages for the old computer, the only option is to rename the old computer in Lansweeper before replacing it with a new computer and rescanning it.
TLDR
When Windows Rename detection is enabled:
- Lansweeper will automatically update a computer’s existing Lansweeper asset page when an existing computer is renamed or moved to a different domain, as long as the serial number/model/MAC combination remains the same. There is an option to exclude the MAC address from this logic.
- When you have two computers with the same name, Lansweeper will update the existing asset page because the name/domain is used as the unique key to identify Windows assets. So they will overwrite each other.
When Windows Rename detection is NOT enabled:
- Lansweeper will not update a computer’s existing Lansweeper asset page when the existing computer is renamed or moved to a different domain; it creates a new (duplicate) asset page.
- When you have two computers with the same name, Lansweeper will update the existing asset page because the name/domain is used as the unique key to identify Windows assets. So they will overwrite each other.
