For anybody new to the Inventory system.
Step-by-step guide
Here is what a blank Inventory page looks like:
- the First Step will be to fill In the personal information of the person currently using the machine as well as the current location and department of the machine as shown in the highlighted areas below. the fields circled in red can be left blank for the most part as they are not that important. (Note: scan info will normally not be touched as it applies mostly to old Windows XP machines.)
2. The second Step is to fill in specific information about the machine. Once again, fields that are generally not touched are circled in red.
Part A: Is the first part of machine info that should be filled out. It includes:
- The research group that the computer is part of
- Area of the college that the computer is involved in ( Department use, Instruction, or Research.
- The Machine Owner is the department that actually owns the machine and is usually Chemistry or Physics
- The Machine Name is the Name of the machine and can usually be found on a label on top of the machine or in System properties
- Machine Function is simply the current function that the machine is serving.
Part B: is essential information about the machine that includes:
- Manufacturer: The maker of the machine
- Model of the machine
Apple: The Apple EMC number is best since the "normal" model numbers (such as "A1418", or "Late 2013 iMac") are sometimes not adequately unique for most tasks, such as upgrading the RAM and other identifiers are better for more precision. Example <http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/imac-aluminum-tapered-edge-faq/differences-between-imac-aluminum-late-2013-models.html>. In that case, "The "Late 2013" iMac models share model numbers with the previous "Late 2012" iMac line. Specifically, these 21.5-Inch models share model number A1418 and these 27-Inch models share model number A1419."
With a serial number, you can look up the model (EMC) number to add to our inventory information. Useful for upgrading RAM and getting other technical specifications:
- The machine serial Number
- For Dell computers this can be found by looking on the top of the computer, or by going into command prompt and typing this command: wmic bios get serialnumber
- for Apple computers the serial number can be found by clicking the apple on the finder bar and clicking "about this computer"
- Apple serial numbers never have the letter “O”. They will only have a "0" (zero).
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201626
- AppleCare registration numbers and Apple hardware product serial numbers sometimes include the number "0" (zero), but not the letter "O".
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201626
- Operating System: found by booting the computer
- Operating system Version: can be found in system preferences
- Device Type: Type of device ( desktop or laptop)
- Date Purchased and Warranty: Easier to find for Dell computers, can be found by clicking on the Dell support button ( top right corner) and entering the serial number into the appropriate boxes.
- Dell: <http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04>
- <https://www.it.cornell.edu/services/hardware_repair/howto.cfm>. Gives purchase and coverage dates, to the day, whether under coverage or not.
- Apple: <https://checkcoverage.apple.com/>. Only gives coverage date if device is covered when doing the look-up! Otherwise just tells you device not covered (90 days/ 1 year has passed, or 3 years has passed if AppleCare was purchased).
- Apple: <https://checkcoverage.apple.com/>
- Dell: <http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04>
- Inventory Date: Date the record WAS LAST UPDATED. This allows us to see how current the record is. If you are simply editing a record, update this date.
Part C: Essential network information about the machine
- Mac and IP addresses: can be found by using the command ipconfig /all in command prompt.
3. Step 3 is to simply write down any extra information pertaining to the machine, such as what it was used for in the past, if it is scrapped etc.
