Free Tool IDs Recalled HP Notebooks

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June 29, 2004 (10:39 AM EDT)

Canadian asset management vendor AssetMetrix on Tuesday announced a free tool to help businesses pinpoint the Hewlett-Packard notebooks that have been recalled due to faulty third-party memory modules.

Last week, HP voluntarily recalled memory modules in 900,000 laptops, saying that the flawed Compaq- and HP-branded notebooks sold last year could crash or lock up.

AssetMetrix is offering a complimentary edition of its enterprise-oriented asset identification solution through July 30 that will sniff out HP notebooks that are candidates for recall, said the Ottawa-based firm.

The freebie, dubbed AssetAssist, will identify the portable PCs in remote offices, home offices, and within the company network without resorting to installation of any software.

"Our analysis suggests that this HP notebook recall may have an impact on 4.5 percent of the PC population for companies that tend to purchase these affected models," said Steve O'Halloran, the managing director of AssetMetrix's research labs, in a statement. "Identifying these notebooks may be difficult with a networked-centric inventory tool, as these particular notebooks may be [used by] personnel who typically are not on the network."

Users can create a free AssetAssist account at theAssetMetrix Web site.