My work requires that I use a company supplied laptop at home to connect to remote services…
Is it possible for them to remotely detect if I have plugged in a fullsize keyboard, and external monitor?
This will be a WIN7 laptop
why the heck would they care ?
but yes - the system can report additional keyboards & monitors- but who knows if the company has remote control software etc that lets them know this when you are doing it
I doubt windows tracks this sort of thing as part of history so when you take the laptop back they can say “hey on day X you set up an extra keyboard etc”
They care because this is the most paranoid company I have ever worked for…
but no way I can work 8 hours a day on a laptop keyboard and 15" screen… not when I am used to a 27" monitory and full size keyboard 
I have trouble going back to just the 15 since I currently have that + 2 x 27" displays 
A monitor & keyboard can’t really do any harm
A disk drive etc … well … they might care more about those since they could be infected etc
Dave,
Sounds like you face the same woe’s as I do in the health care IT world
Are you able to put in a request for a docking station? if so, that will solve alot of this. If your laptop is like mine, locked down tighter than fort knock, then its always best to get approval from management.
I know it sounds silly but it will help with covering your self in the event they do an audit.
Rich… do we work for the same company? I too am in Health Care IT
and I was told “NO ACCESSORIES” … which is what prompted by original question.
[quote=135938:@Dave S]Rich… do we work for the same company? I too am in Health Care IT
and I was told “NO ACCESSORIES” … which is what prompted by original question.[/quote]
Can’t you echo the connection through your local router or WiFi with your desktop ?
[quote=135938:@Dave S]Rich… do we work for the same company? I too am in Health Care IT
and I was told “NO ACCESSORIES” … which is what prompted by original question.[/quote]
My response would be along the lines of “No Workie”
Seriously a keyboard & monitor are the least of their worries
Having one of their machines physically out of their possession poses more threats
EDIT : And yes I’ve literally had similar conversations with other clients who insist I use their machines - almost verbatim.
I’ve told them (not asked) that I will attach a monitor & keyboard so I can work on a larger screen.
I’ve never worked for anyone that bitched about that 
It makes more sense to allow it to me, surely its more productive for one thing, rather than struggling with eye strain and aching wrists
Everyone here is applying logic to a non-logically company policy
Basically, the data that Dave and I work with is that of exposure to patient data and the back end access that keeps the data secure. Since the Integrity and security of this data must be kept at all cost, the environment you must work in is that of one not ideal and unfortunately comes with the territory. The concern that I could see here is the users ability to hook up the laptop to a network KVM or device that could be use to record the computer session.
Dave, I was hoping management would be reasonable… with this being the case, I doubt that a PS/2 port (do they still make them?) would be available and i am certain they set all of your USB ports to disable or encrypt any usb drive plugged into it.
Any chance of trading in your laptop for a desktop or better yet… vmware horizon view connection?