Some Lagniappe for You
by Tiny Ruisch
la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.
I’ve got a lot of programs that I use to upkeep and maintain my Windows computers so that they operate smoothly. To help me do this, it is important to know substantive information about my different machines. I get much of this data by using Belarc Advisor.
Belarc Advisor scans your PC and builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware in the form of an HTML report that you can view in your browser. This information includes local drive volumes, memory modules, printer information, installed licenses, installed software, multimedia information and much more. All of your PC profile information is kept on your PC and is not uploaded to any web server.
After installation, you simply need to run Belarc Advisor and wait until the initial analysis of the computer system is completed. This process may take time, depending on the speed of your computer, number of peripherals, programs installed, etc. Once the analysis is completed, Belarc Advisor will display in your default web browser a Computer Profile Summary. This is generated as an HTML file and is stored on your computer.
Depending on the number of the programs installed on your system, the length of the page and the amount of information will vary from computer to computer. Belarc Advisor identifies and reports the following information:
• CPU(s) installed on your motherboard
• Motherboard make, model, and serial number, plus BIOS data
• Hard drive and optical drive data, including total capacity and free space, as well as volume details like the drive letter and file system
• Total amount of RAM, plus number of modules installed
• Mapped network drives
• Local user and system accounts, last logon time stamps, and locked/disabled status
• Installed printers and which port each is using
• Storage controllers
• Video card and monitor make, model, and serial number data
• USB, eSATA, and similar controller data
• Sound card or other audio hardware
• Anti-malware program installed program and definition version data, last scan time stamp, and current status
• Group policy data
• Service tag of the computer model, and possibly a support link to the manufacturer’s website
• Networking, Bluetooth, and other communication hardware and protocol data
One of my favorite features is in the programs report section. There you can check the last time that you have opened any installed program. This can help you decide whether you might want to uninstall old, unused software. I run the program every month or so. That way I always have a fairly up to date report of my system(s). The information doesn’t usually change too much. I haven’t included any screenshots of my computers. You can find many pictures with an internet search.
I like this program and have been using it for several years. After installation, it only uses a little over 6MB of space on my hard drive. Belarc Advisor runs on Windows 10, 8.1, 7, Vista and XP SP3. Both 32‑bit and 64‑bit Windows Operating Systems are supported. The license allows for free personal use only. You can download Belarc Advisor from this link.
If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.