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Windows 7 Tip of the Week
Computer Management

Tip date: March 5, 2010
Tipster: Johnny Frederiksen

Computer Management is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC)-based tool that combines a number of administrative utilities into a single UI. It debuted in Windows 2000 and has soldiered on in ever version of Windows since. But in Windows 2000 and XP, the only simple way to access this tool was by right-clicking My Computer and choosing Manage, so many users simply didn't even know it existed. Now, in Windows 7, you can run it more easily via Start Menu Search. But again, you have to even know it exists to do so.

Tip: Open the Start Menu and type "computer m" (no quotes) to quickly access Computer Management.

The MMC has been used since Windows 2000 as a central receptacle for administration "snap-ins." You can make your own custom MMC consoles if you'd like, and in fact I documented how to do so way back in 1998. So, for example, if you need just Services and Device Manager on a regular basis for some reason, it's easy to create a custom console with only those snap-ins. But this is more of an IT pro/admin-type feature, and as Windows has evolved over the years, this sort of thing has become less and less common.

Windows 7 Tip of the Week

Tip: One of the advantages of the MMC is that it can be run against the local machine (which is the default of course) or against other machines on the network. This is typically more useful in a work environment, of course. But you can do this yourself on your home network by right-clicking the top "Computer Management" node in the tree view and selecting "Connect to another computer."

With regards to Computer Management specifically, this integrated console still combines a number of useful administrative tools into a single place, and it works much like it does in previous Windows versions. Well, there is one difference: Over the years, various tools have dropped out of Computer Management, so you no longer get access to such gems as System Information and Disk Defragmenter, for example, as you did back in Windows 2000.

Here's what's included in the Windows 7 version of Computer Management.

Task Scheduler. The Windows Task Scheduler lets you automate tasks on a set schedule, either at a specific time or when a certain event occurs. In Task Scheduler parlance, a "trigger" is the occurrence that causes a task to run, while an "action" is what happens when the task is triggered. To run Task Scheduler separately, type "task" (no quotes) in Start Menu Search.

Event Viewer. The Windows Event Viewer provides a way view and manage event logs. It is primarily used as a troubleshooting tool, and in tandem with Task Scheduler so that you can schedule an action when a certain event is triggered. You can run the Event Viewer separately by typing "event" (no quotes) in Start Menu Search.

Shared Folders. Windows 7, like previous Windows versions, supports a legacy method for sharing files over a local network at the folder or drive level. This works separately from HomeGroup sharing, and is required for mixed environments in which you have both Windows 7 PCs and PCs running older Windows versions. Legacy shared folders is both more powerful and more complex than HomeGroup sharing because you can configure shares with different permission levels for different users and groups. I'm not aware of a quick way to access this snap-in from Start Menu Search.

Local Users and Groups. When Microsoft merged its consumer (9x-based) and business (NT-based) versions of Windows in Windows XP, it maintained separate UIs for user (and user group) management, a situation that continues to this day. Most consumers are familiar with the friendlier User Accounts control panel, which provides access to basic user account features like name, password, picture, and type (where type can only be one of two choices, Standard user or Administrator). But under the covers, Windows supports much finer grained user account user account capabilities, and these are made available via the Local Users and Groups console. That said, there's no reason for most individuals to access this interface. The User Accounts control panel is what you're looking for.

Performance. Windows Performance Monitor is another troubleshooting tool, this one designed to examine how running programs affect overall PC performance, both in real-time and after the fact via logs. As with many administrative consoles, Windows Performance Monitor comes with its own set of terminology, including such things as performance counters, event trace data, and trace session. But while this tool may be interesting to admins in businesses, I think the Reliability Monitor, which debuted in Windows Vista, is far more interesting to individuals. You can run Windows Performance Monitor from Start Menu Search by typing "perf" (no quotes).

Device Manager. A classic admin console, and one whose usefulness has not been diminished at all by the newer and prettier (but less details) Devices and Printers control panel. Device Manager provides you with a device-level view of your PC and is invaluable if you're installing Windows and need to make sure all of your devices were correctly detected and provided with up-to-date drivers. This is one of two Computer Management interfaces that I access fairly regularly. You can run this utility from Start Menu Search by typing "device ma" (no quotes).

Windows 7 Tip of the Week

Disk Management. This is the second Computer Management utility I access fairly regularly, and if you're familiar with the version in Windows XP, you'll be happy to hear that it's quite a bit more powerful than it used to be. As with previous versions of Windows, Disk Management can be used to perform basic disk tasks like creating and formatting partitions, assigning drive letters, and the like. In Windows Vista, this tool picked up the ability to dynamically resize many disk volumes. And now in Windows 7, there's another new capability: You can create and manage Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs) that are compatible with Microsoft's Windows Virtual PC and Hyper-V technologies. As with many Computer Management utilities, you can run Disk Management independently from Start Menu Search: Type "disk management" (no quotes).

Windows 7 Tip of the Week

Services. The Services console is used to manage services, special background processes (like UNIX daemons) that run without a user interface. From this interface, you can start, stop, pause, resume, or disable services, cause them to auto-run at startup, run them in the security context of a different user, and the like. It's a pretty complex setup, and not one that average users will typically need to access outside of troubleshooting. To access this tool separately, type "services" (no quotes) into Start Menu Search.

WMI Control. Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is a management objects interface in Windows and an implementation of the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) industry standard. Put simply, it provides a way to programmatically manage Windows systems, typically via scripts, in a networked environment. If that hasn't turned you off yet, then the UI will: By default, there's nothing there.

Computer Management can display other consoles as well. For example, if you install Microsoft's Web server, Internet Information Services, that will appear here as well.

--Paul Thurrott
March 5, 2010