How to check Service Tag numbers remotely?

Hello Bhwong

Check HERE for info that might help.

Tom 

Belarc is a nice tool, too.  It will capture the Dell Svc Tag even if the PC itself doesn't have it registered in the OS.

Thanks, but I just want a simple utility to check the service tag and prefer not to install any huge application that might affect the performance and stability of the Dell PCs and Servers just for this simple purpose.  :(

Belarc Advisor is pretty slim, stable, and runs in a browser window. But it's only for personal use, not for commercial use.

You may want to look at their BelManage software which runs over a network and might only need to be installed on a server, and not locally on every PC, but they do charge by the number of seats so that could get expensive.

Can you reboot each PC remotely and open BIOS Setup to read the Service Tag number? That might get tedious very quickly if you have a lot of PCs, but if it's a one-time effort to read/record Service Tags, it might be something to consider.

Ron

Since I'm using RDP protocol, rebooting the PC will mean that I will lost connection until it get boot into Windows again. Thus, I won't get the chance to see what is display on the remote screen during BIOS bootup.

I found a Dell webpage that is able to retrieve Service Tag, but you need to use IE and allow ActiveX installation:

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/en/my_systems_service_tag?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~mode=popup

Hope this is useful to you guys too.

SMINFO A Dos window utility.

Message  by MasterSlave on 12-03-2003 06:37 PM

Pc pitstop Seems to have dos and windows versions of these.PC Pitstop
System Management BIOS Utility
Version 2.0 - 06/02/2000
(WINSMB added 08/25/2000)

----------------------------------------------
THIS UTILITY IS NO LONGER UPDATED. FOR A MORE
RECENT VERSION, USE THIS FILE:
ftp://ftp.pcpitstop.com/pcpbios.zip
----------------------------------------------

PURPOSE

This utility will dump out the information that is
contained in your computer's System Management
BIOS (SMBIOS) data area.

ABOUT THE SMBIOS DATA

Most computers made since 1998 support the SMBIOS
standard, but not all of them fill in correct data.
The problem is particularly bad with "white box"
computers where the parts are assembled by local
companies. SMBIOS data requires customization to
correctly reflect the computer as built, but few
local "chop shops" have the expertise to update
the data.

Incorrect data in the SMBIOS tables generally does
not create operational problems with the computer,
but will cause some of PC Pitstop's reports to
show incorrect numbers. Both Intel and Microsoft
are developing software (Wired for Management and
Windows Management Instrumentation, respectively)
that depends on SMBIOS data being correct to work
properly.

FREQUENTLY ERRONEOUS SMBIOS DATA

The following SMBIOS fields are frequently wrong:

Manufacturer and Model
Processor clock speed
Number of memory slots
Size of processor/memory cache
Maximum memory module size
Case style (desktop, tower, etc.)

HOW TO USE THE WINDOWS VERSION OF THE UTILITY

**This version will not work with Windows NT/2000,
use the SMB16 command line version instead.**

For Windows 95/98, extract the WINSMB.EXE file from
the zip file. Run it and it will display a window
with your BIOS information. Click on the plus sign
next to any record to see the details of that record.

HOW TO USE THE COMMAND-LINE UTILITY

For Windows 95/98, extract the SMB32.EXE file from
the zip file. (For Windows NT/2000, use the SMB16.EXE
file.) From a command prompt, type the following
command:

SMB32 >BIOS.TXT

This will generate a file, BIOS.TXT, that contains
a report of the BIOS data area. You can view the file
with any text editor such as Notepad.

MORE INFORMATION ON SYSTEM MANAGEMENT BIOS

If you want more information on the SMBIOS specification
and the meaning of the data, see the following URL:

http://www.dmtf.org/standards/smbios

http://www.dmtf.org/standards/documents/SMBIOS/DSP0134.pdf

You can obtain the complete specification there as a
PDF file that explains the meaning and function of
each item.