Floppy Disk Discovery
Floppy disk-based discovery is a legacy method that allowed data collection from machines without installing any xAssets software on the target network. This method is largely obsolete now that most computers no longer have floppy disk drives.
When This Method Was Used
Floppy disk discovery was designed for scenarios where:
- The target machines had no network connectivity to a Collection Server
- No xAssets software could be installed on the target network
- A physical audit of standalone machines was required
- The network was air-gapped and USB ports were unavailable or disabled
In modern environments, USB stick discovery and remote enrolment have replaced this approach entirely.
How It Works
The approach uses a floppy disk containing either a BAT file or VBS script that runs the PCAnalyser agent on each machine when the disk is inserted. The process is:
- Prepare a floppy disk with the PCAnalyser executable and a launcher script (BAT or VBS)
- Insert the disk into the target machine
- Run the launcher script -- the PCAnalyser agent collects hardware and software data
- The agent writes the output as a PCA file back to the floppy disk
- Remove the disk and take it to the next machine
- After visiting all machines, copy the PCA files to the Collection Server's PCAnalyser share
- Run Discover > Load Now to import the data into the database
Limitations
| Limitation | Detail |
|---|---|
| Size constraints | Compiled XDSL scripts are too large to fit on a 1.44 MB floppy disk in their entirety |
| SNMP not available | If an XDSL script is placed on the disk without its associated SNMP DLL, SNMP must be disabled in the source XDSL transformation for the script to run successfully |
| Manual process | An operator must physically visit each machine and insert the disk |
| Capacity | A single floppy disk can only hold a few PCA files before filling up |
| Obsolete hardware | Most modern computers do not have floppy disk drives |
Modern Alternatives
For disconnected or air-gapped networks, consider these alternatives instead:
| Method | Use Case |
|---|---|
| USB Stick Discovery | Portable discovery for machines without network access -- much higher capacity than floppy, and widely supported |
| Enrolment | Deploy the discovery agent remotely for ongoing automated collection |
| Manual Discovery | Run PCAnalyser from a command line or logon script on any machine with network access to the Collection Server |
Related Articles
- USB Stick Discovery — the modern equivalent for portable discovery
- The PCAnalyser Folder — understanding the file share structure
- Loading Discovery Data — importing collected PCA files into the database