Belarc Advisor

This entry is to explain what the Belarc Advisor link on this page is for.
Belarc's products automatically create an accurate and up-to-date central repository (CMDB), consisting of detailed software, hardware and security configurations. The Belarc Advisor displays a detailed profile of your installed software, hardware and vulnerabilities in your Web browser. Click on the Belarc link in the "Links" section on this page to download a free copy for personal use. This product is used for software license compliance, hardware upgrade planning, cyber security status, information assurance audits, IT asset management, configuration management, and more.

It will give you a Computer Profile of the current Operating System (XP, Vista, etc..), all the hardware you have install in your computer, the active and inactive user accounts, attached printers, attached monitors, communications (I.P. Address, Default Gateway, etc.), and much more.

Next, it tells you what Microsoft hotfixes are installed on your computer and the dates they were installed,  
if there are any hotfixes that need to be installed, and any antivirus software installed.

Lastly, it lists all your Software Licenses and Software Versions for all currently installed software.

This isn't a necessary thing, but it is cool to see the report that it generates. Also helps to see if you are up to date on all your hot fixes and see if you have the most current versions of your software.