Bolster disaster recovery documentation in Windows Server 2003

An important part of any organization's disaster recovery plan is the documentation phase, which continues throughout the life of the infrastructure. Keeping information current can be difficult and time-consuming if you do it manually. However, outdated or inaccurate information can definitely hinder your recovery efforts in the event of a disaster.

To help ease the administrative burden, Microsoft offers the System Information utility. This tool outlines all of the important details of a server, including the server name, operating system version, role (e.g., member server, domain controller, etc.), registered owner, installation date, system uptime, hardware manufacturer and model, number and type of processors, present and available RAM, disk space, network adapter information, and a list of installed hot fixes.

To use this utility, enter systeminfo at the command prompt. To obtain information about a remote server, enter systeminfo /S <SystemName>. If you want the system to place the results in a .csv file rather than display them, enter systeminfo /FO CSV.

Here's an example:

C:\>systeminfo

Host Name:                 WSBE
OS Name:                   Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003 for Small Business Server
OS Version:                5.2.3790 Build 3790
OS Manufacturer:           Microsoft Corporation
OS Configuration:          Primary Domain Controller
OS Build Type:             Uniprocessor Free
Registered Owner:          Snoopy
Registered Organization: Doghouse
Product ID:                75137-005-9669784-43523
Original Install Date:     7/14/2004, 9:42:16 PM
System Up Time:            13 Days, 19 Hours, 42 Minutes, 50 Seconds
System Manufacturer:       VMware, Inc.
System Model:              VMware Virtual Platform
System Type:               X86-based PC
Processor(s):              1 Processor(s) Installed.
 [01]: x86 Family 6 Model 9 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1 598 Mhz
BIOS Version:              PTLTD  - 6040000
Windows Directory:         C:\WINDOWS
System Directory:          C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device:               \Device\HarddiskVolume1
System Locale:             en-us;English (United States)
Input Locale:              en-us;English (United States)
Time Zone:                 (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Total Physical Memory:     383 MB
Available Physical Memory: 85 MB
Page File: Max Size:       1,119 MB
Page File: Available:      432 MB
Page File: In Use:         687 MB
Page File Location(s):     C:\pagefile.sys
Domain:                    example.local
Logon Server:              \\WSBE
Hotfix(s):                 33 Hotfix(s) Installed.
[17]: Q147222
                           [18]: KB819696 - Update
                           [19]: KB822132 - Update
                           [20]: KB822742 - Update
                           [21]: KB822743 - Update
                           [22]: KB822744 - Update
                           [23]: KB822745 - Update
                           [24]: KB822925 - Update
                           [25]: KB823559 - Update
                           [26]: KB823980 - Update
                           [27]: KB824073 - Update
                           [28]: KB824105 - Update
                           [29]: KB824139 - Update
                           [30]: KB824146 - Update
                           [31]: KB825117 - Update
                           [32]: KB826238 - Update
                           [33]: KB826936 - Update
Network Card(s):           1 NIC(s) Installed.
 [01]: AMD PCNET Family PCI Ethernet Adapter
                                 Connection Name: Server Local Area Connection
                                 DHCP Enabled:    No
                                 IP address(es)
                                 [01]: 192.168.126.129