Installing WMI

As I mentioned earlier, WMI is preinstalled on Windows 2000 and all later Windows operating systems, including Windows Me. However, if you're using anything earlier, you may need to install WMI before you can start deploying WMI scripts. WMI must be installed on every computer that you intend to query, regardless of where your scripts will actually run; WMI must also be installed on any computer that will run WMI scripts. To obtain the WMI installer, go to the Microsoft home page and select Downloads. From the left-hand menu, select the System Management Tools category. Look for the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) CORE download for WMI version 1.5. Downloads are available for Windows 9x and NT 4.0. If you cannot spot the downloads in the list, simply type WMI into the keyword search at the bottom of the page.

The installer is an executable, not an MSI package. Unfortunately, because these older operating systems don't support Group Policy software deployment, you'll have to manually install the package, or deploy it through alternative means such as Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS).

I also recommend that you download and install the WMI Administrative Tools. Again, go to the Microsoft home page and select Downloads. From the left-hand menu, select the System Management Tools category. Finally, look for WMI Administrative Tools in the list. I'll discuss the administrative tools in the next section.