Yesterday I wrote about the Windows 8 CP WebSetup installer and told you that the Application Compatibility check creates a few XML files in the folder %AppData%\Local\Microsoft\WebSetup\Panther.

So what can we do with them?

The XML files are created by a separate exe in the WebsetupExpanded folder called WicaInventory.exe with the arguments: /apps /fast /ext “exe,sys” /output <XML file> /log <LOG file>

In my case the commandline was:

Let’s see what’s in WICA_Programs_REMKOLAPTOP.xml.

I opened it in Excel as an XML Table and the result is a nice inventory of the software on my machine:

It contains ao applications, version, publisher, how it was installed, path to the msi etc etc.

The file WICA_Devices_REMKOLAPTOP.xml contains a detailed overview of the hardware and drivers:

Not sure what the EULA says but this looks like a nice, free, hardware and software inventory tool!