Reinstalling a computer can cause Configuration Manager 2007/2012 to create a new computer object for this computer and setting the existing computer object to obsolete.

To prevent Configuration Manager from automatically creating new computer objects and instead merging the new record with the existing object you have to implement a few changes.

Download the PowerShell script

Download the PowerShell script and save it to a location on your site server. In this example I use “D:\Scripts\ConfigMgr\MergeConflictingRecords.ps1”.

Create a Status Filter Rule

1. In the Configuration Manager Console go to Administration / Site Configuration / Sites.
2. Select the site you want to configure the rule for.
3. Select Status Filter Rules from the Ribbon.
4. Create a new Rule with the following settings:

   

   Name
   Merge conflicting records
   Component
   SMS_DISCOVERY_DATA_MANAGER
   Message ID
   2642

   

   Run a program
   "C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" “D:\Scripts\ConfigMgr\MergeConflictingRecords.ps1”.

Configure the conflicting client records action

By default, Configuration Manager automatically resolves conflicting records. You have to change this behavior to make sure the Status Filter Rule can take over.

1. In the Configuration Manager console go to Administration / Site Administration / Sites.
2. Select Hierarchy Settings from the Ribbon.
3. Select the Client Approval and Conflicting Records tab.
4. Change the Conflicting client records setting to Manually resolve conflicting records.

   

—————-
Thanks to Jörg Nilsson and his blog post about merging conflicting records with Status Filter Rules.