ScriptLogic Adds Support for 64-Bit Platforms

Published: November 7, 2007

by Alex Woodie

ScriptLogic, which is now owned by Windows utility giant Quest Software, this week unveiled a new release of Desktop Authority, its product for automating the management of Windows PCs. With Desktop Authority version 7.7, ScriptLogic has added support for 64-bit systems, among other features.

Desktop Authority automates many of the tasks that administrators are called upon to keep their Windows PCs running, including configuring the operating system and applications, keeping inventory, reporting on usage, distributing and applying patches, device lockdown, and power and remote PC management.

With Desktop Authority version 7.7, the product supports 64-bit versions of the Windows operating systems. This includes both the client PCs that Desktop Authority must manage, as well as the back-end servers that the product runs on.

The new release also clamps down on potential security vulnerabilities caused by USB drives. The product does this by enabling administrators to either allow or deny specific USB devices, according to their serial numbers, device classes, and IDs. In this way, administrators can tightly control the use of USB drives, which has been identified as a major security problem.

Desktop Authority's patching capabilities were also boosted with this release. ScriptLogic has also come up with a way to distribute patches to desktops and servers that aren't connected to the network by packaging the updates into a Zip file. Multinational companies will be happy to hear that the product can now be used to distribute patches in German, French, Spanish, and English. A new patch rollback feature has also been added that makes it easier for users to remove patches if they cause problems. And now desktop users can be given the option to delay rebooting their computers following the installation of a patch.

Lastly, ScriptLogic has boosted the product's reporting capabilities with the addition of the Custom Report Wizard, which allows administrators to create reports that search and filter the hardware and software inventory without having to write a single line of SQL.

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