Get Computers From Active Directory

Since i haven't seen an example like this for computers, i will post one.
Note you must import system.directoryservices.
Note that this is a peace of code from a larger project i have.What it actually do is put the computers in a listview but you can modify it to your needs.
Ok, drag a DirectoryEntry,DirectorySearcher and a listview.

Code:

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Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        ' active directory

        ListView1.View = View.Details
     


        Dim sysd As System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry
        Dim form1time As New Form1
     

        Try
            sysd = DirectorySearcher1.SearchRoot
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show("Problem with Computer or Active Directory", "Active Directory error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error)
       
            Exit Sub
        End Try
     

        Dim path As String
        path = sysd.Path
        ' ' to active directory
        DirectoryEntry1.Path = path

        Dim child As System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry
        Dim mySearcher As New System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher(DirectoryEntry1)
        Dim result As System.DirectoryServices.SearchResult
        mySearcher.Filter = ("CN=Computers")

        Dim strtest As String

        For Each result In mySearcher.FindAll()
            For Each child In result.GetDirectoryEntry.Children
                strtest = child.Name.Remove(0, 3)
                Dim itemForActiveDir As New ListViewItem(strtest)
                itemForActiveDir.UseItemStyleForSubItems = False
                itemForActiveDir.ImageIndex = 0
                itemForActiveDir.SubItems.Add(strtest)
                ListView1.Items.Add(itemForActiveDir)
            Next

        Next
end sub

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Note that this is done with VS2003 but i don't think there is any difference in new versions.

I didnt think you could even use the DirectoryServices assembly in VS2003 - I thought it was .NET 2.0 and above only... but I guess I must be wrong if you are using it with .NET 1/1.1

Anyway, there's a few issues with your code - the most obvious one being that you are just searching for the default Computers container in AD and then enumerating its children. The problem with this is that a lot of people wont have all of their computer accounts just in one OU or container, so rather than using this as your filter:

Code:

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mySearcher.Filter = ("CN=Computers")

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A better idea might be to use a filter like this:

Code:

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mySearcher.Filter = ("objectClass=Computer")

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and then you dont need to enumerate the children of the container because your search results are already all of the computer accounts. So you can do DirectorySearcher.FindAll and just loop through the results returned by that.

This might be useful for anyone that finds this thread as well, its a control I wrote that lets you display active directory objects in a treeview: http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?t=555544

Hi.
Thanks for the corrections.
Also may i note that what this do is putting the values on the listview.You won't see anything on the form.The idea is to use the listview values as you like.