Question: For someone looking after a small 50 Windows PC network (Mainly XP - some Vista), are there any tools that can do an automatic inventory of the network e.g.

* OS
* Memory size
* Hard drive type and size
* Serial numbers
* Monitor type

etc.

At the moment, someone has to go from PC to PC writing all this stuff down.

Answer: 
There are lots of solutions (just [google "computer inventory"](http://www.google.com/search?q=computer%20inventory)), but the one I know of is [OCS Inventory NG](http://www.ocsinventory-ng.org/), although depending on your needs you may want to look for something a bit more friendly, as this open source project is somewhat complex.
Check with your PC manufacturer. Most of the business ones have their own free inventory software that you can use. Even if you just have one of these computers, grab the software to see if it meets your needs, and it might discover other PC brands too. (Hint, hint.)

* Dell has [OpenManage](http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/sitelets/solutions/management/openmanage?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz&redirect=1)
* HP has [System Insight Manager](http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/hpsim/index.html), which also discovers & manages your servers & printers
* IBM has [IBM Director](http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/management/director/)

The basic version is free, and then they resell software & services to sit atop these and provide more value. They do stuff like remote control, software distribution, yadda yadda yadda. Dell and HP's ones have web consoles with database back ends, which make it easier to roll your own reports too.