MCSE Guide to Microsoft

Windows Vista Professional

Chapter 3
Using the System Utilities
 Objectives
• Understand and use the Control Panel applets
• Understand the Administrative Tools
• Describe and use the Microsoft Management
Console
• Manage hardware components

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 2

 Objectives (continued)
• Understand and configure power management
• Configure the display
• Use Task Scheduler

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 3

 Control Panel Overview

• Control Panel
– Central location for management utilities
• Windows Vista redesigned how Control Panel
presents information to users
– And introduces a few new management applets
• Applet
– Small application or utility that is used to perform
management tasks in Windows Vista
• By default, Control Panel uses Control Panel Home
– Organizes Control Panel applets into categories

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 4

 Control Panel Overview (continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 5

 Control Panel Overview (continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 6

 System and Maintenance

• Wide range of applets for managing Windows Vista

• Applets include:
– Welcome Center
– Backup and Restore Center
– System
– Windows Update
– Power Options
– Indexing Options
– Problem Reports and Solutions

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 System and Maintenance (continued)

• Applets include (continued):

– Performance Information and Tools
– Device Manager
– Administrative Tools

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 System and Maintenance (continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 9

 System and Maintenance (continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 10

 System and Maintenance (continued)

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 Security
• There is access to configure a wide range of security
settings in Windows Vista
• Many of the applets would be configured by a
network administrator rather than end users
• Applets include:
– Security Center
– Windows Firewall
– Windows Update
– Windows Defender
– Internet Options

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 Security (continued)

• Applets include (continued):

– Parental Controls
– BitLocker Drive Encryption

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 Security (continued)

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 Network and Internet

• Applets for configuring network communication

• Applets include:
– Network and Sharing Center
– Internet Options
– Offline Files
– Windows Firewall
– People Near Me
– Sync Center

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 Network and Internet (continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 16

 Network and Internet (continued)

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 Hardware and Sound
• Configure a wide range of hardware settings
– For most device types, Hardware and Sound category
does not allow you to configure device drivers
• Applets include:
– Printers
– AutoPlay
– Sound
– Mouse
– Power Options
– Personalization

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 18

 Hardware and Sound (continued)
• Applets include (continued):
– Scanners and Cameras
– Keyboard
– Device Manager
– Phone and Modem Options
– Game Controllers
– Windows SideShow
– Pen and Input Devices
– Color Management
– Tablet PC Settings

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 Hardware and Sound (continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 20

 Hardware and Sound (continued)

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 Programs

• Applets to install, manage, and uninstall applications

• Applets include:
– Programs and Features
– Windows Defender
– Default Programs
– Windows Sidebar Properties
– Get Programs Online
– Windows Sideshow

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 Programs (continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 23

 Programs (continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 24

 User Accounts and Family Safety

• Configure user accounts and parental controls

• Applets include:
– User Accounts
– Parental Controls
– Windows CardSpace

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 User Accounts and Family Safety
(continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 26

 Appearance and Personalization

• Modify the user interface for Windows Vista

• Applets include:
– Personalization
– Taskbar and Start Menu
– Ease of Access Center
– Folder Options
– Fonts
– Windows Sidebar Properties

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 Appearance and Personalization
(continued)

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 Clock, Language, and Region

• Applets for configuring time, regional format, and

language settings
• Applets include:
– Date and Time
– Regional and Language Options

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 Clock, Language, and Region
(continued)

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 Ease of Access

• Makes Windows Vista easier to use

• Applets include:
– Ease of Access Center
– Speech Recognition Options

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 Ease of Access (continued)

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 Additional Options

• Control Panel applets that are installed by third-

party software
– Windows does not place any applets here

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 Administrative Tools
• Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
– Framework that simplifies the development of
administrative tools
• Utilities include:
– Computer Management
– Data Sources (ODBC)
– Event Viewer
– iSCSI Initiator
– Local Security Policy
– Memory Diagnostics Tool

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 34

 Administrative Tools (continued)

• Utilities include (continued):

– Print Management
– Reliability and Performance Monitor
– Services
– System Configuration
– Task Scheduler
– Windows Firewall with Advanced Security

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 Administrative Tools (continued)

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 Microsoft Management Console

• Graphical interface shell that provides a structured

environment to build management utilities
• Network administrators use MMC consoles with
snap-ins to perform management tasks
• Console is like a document window
– Each console can host one or more snap-ins
• Snap-in
– Component that adds control mechanisms to the
MMC console for a specific service or object

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Microsoft Management Console (continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 38

 Microsoft Management Console
(continued)

• Can create a customized MMC console

– By adding the snap-ins you want to a single console
– And then saving the console as an .msc file
• Can share .msc files between users and computers
– You may restrict the ability of others to modify them

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 Microsoft Management Console
(continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 40

 Computer Management
• MMC console
– Serves as a common troubleshooting and
administrative interface for several snap-ins
– Divided into three sections
• System Tools, Storage, and Services and Applications
• System Tool section contains:
– Task Scheduler
– Event Viewer
– Shared Folders
– Local Users and Groups

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 Computer Management (continued)

• System Tool section contains (continued):

– Reliability and Performance
– Device Manager
• Storage section contains:
– Disk Management
• Services and Applications section contains:
– Services
– WMI Control

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 Services

• Services
– Type of Windows application that runs in the
background without user interaction
– Typically perform tasks for other software applications
• Or perform housekeeping tasks for Windows Vista
• Services administrative tool
– Used to manage Windows Vista services

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 Services (continued)

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional 44

 Services (continued)
• Service information
– Name
– Description
– Status
– Startup Type
– Log On As
• Properties of a service
– General
– Log On
– Recovery
– Dependencies

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 Hardware Management

• Windows Vista supports a wide variety of internal

and external hardware components
• Windows Vista requires device drivers to manage
and communicate with hardware components
• Windows Marketplace Tested Products List
– List of software or hardware and associated device
drivers that have been tested with Windows Vista

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 Device Drivers
• Device driver
– Allows Windows Vista to properly communicate with
and use the functionality of a device
– Acts as an intermediary between a hardware
component and an operating system
– Contains the instructions on how to use the full
capabilities of a device properly
• In some cases, a device driver not specifically
designed for a hardware component may allow that
component to function

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 Device Driver Compatibility

• Some device drivers for previous versions of

Windows do not work properly with Windows Vista
• Potential compatibility issues
– All driver files referenced in an INF file must be part of
the driver installation package
– Installers cannot display a user interface during
installation
– Digital signatures are required for 64-bit drivers that
run in kernel mode

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 Device Driver Compatibility
(continued)
• Potential compatibility issues (continued)
– Driver user interfaces may not appear properly
– Registry management changes for 64-bit Windows Vista
may prevent drivers from updating settings properly
– Video drivers written for Windows 2000 or Windows XP
cannot support the new Aero Glass interface
– Windows Vista uses the NDIS 6.0 interface for network
devices
– Kernel mode printer drivers cannot be used in Windows
Vista

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 Device Manager

• Device Manager
– Primary tool for managing device drivers
– View and modify hardware device properties
• Tasks performed with Device Manager include:
– Determining if installed hardware is functioning
correctly
– Viewing and changing hardware resource settings
– Determining and changing the drivers used by a device

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 Device Manager (continued)
• Tasks performed with Device Manager include
(continued):
– Enabling, disabling, and uninstalling devices
– Configuring advanced settings for devices
– Viewing and printing summary information about installed
devices
• After installing Windows Vista
– Use Device Manager to confirm that all devices are working
properly
• You can install an updated device driver from the Driver
tab in the Device Properties

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 Device Manager (continued)

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 Device Manager (continued)

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 Device Driver Signing

• Windows Vista uses file signatures on system files

to ensure system stability
• Device driver signing
– Ensures that a driver for a specific hardware
component has been verified by Microsoft
• From a known software publisher
– Ensures that the device driver has not been modified
in any way since it was signed

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 Device Driver Signing (continued)

• Installing an unsigned driver generates the following

messages:
– Windows can’t verify the publisher of this driver
software
– This driver software has been altered
– Windows cannot install this driver software
• File Signature Verification utility
– Verify that existing drivers and system files are signed

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 Hardware Component Installation

• Components are assigned resource settings

– Allow them to access the system processor and
memory in different ways
• Four main resources
– Direct memory access (DMA) channels
– Input/output (I/O) ranges
– Interrupt request (IRQ) lines
– Memory address ranges
• Windows Vista no longer supports legacy Industry
Standard Architecture (ISA) devices

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 Hardware Component Installation
(continued)

• Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) devices

support plug and play
– Which automatically assigns resources to devices
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices are also plug
and play

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 Power Management

• Minimizing power usage is driven by both cost and

environmental factors
• Windows Vista has a new power management
structure
– Relies on power management capabilities built into a
computer to perform power management
• Advanced Configuration and Power Interface
(ACPI) standard
– Defines power states for global power management
and individual devices

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 ACPI States

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 Sleep Mode in Windows Vista

• Previous versions of Windows had two sleep states

– Standby put the computer in the S3 state
– Hibernate put the computer in the S4 state
• Windows Vista uses a combination of the S3 and
S4 states called hybrid sleep
– Saves memory to disk when entering the S3 state
• Doze timeout
– Determines how long a computer will be in the S3
state before transitioning to the S4 state

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 Sleep Mode in Windows Vista
(continued)
• Hybrid sleep advantages
– If power is lost in the S3 state, the computer can
recover from the S4 state on reboot
– Simplifies power management for users
– Eliminates the requirement to leave Standby mode
to enter hibernation
• Other enhancements to power management
– Resume from S3 state in less than 3 seconds
– Resume from S4 state in less than 10 seconds
– Updated USB hub driver that initializes faster

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 Sleep Mode in Windows Vista
(continued)
• Other enhancements to power management
(continued)
– Optimized use of processor power management
– Support for additional devices such as graphics cards
and wireless network cards
– Support for screen brightness in policies
– Enhanced hard drive management by extending the
time a hard drive is off
– Closing a laptop case can trigger sleep mode
– Sleep mode as default shutdown option to speed
startup
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 Power Plans

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 Away Mode
• Computers in Away Mode are in the S0 state
– Computer looks and sounds like it is off
• Maximizes all of the device level power savings
– While continuing to work in the background if required
• To enable Away Mode you must edit the registry
• Characteristics
– Video is blanked
– Audio is muted
– Keyboard and mouse input is filtered out
– S0 power state
– May still idle to sleep based on the power plan

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 Display
• Windows Vista has an entirely new system for graphics
presentation
• Aero Glass interface requires a display driver that
supports:
– Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM)
– DirectX 9.0c
• In addition to transparency of windows, Aero Glass
provides:
– Live taskbar thumbnails
– Windows Flip
– Windows Flip 3D

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 Display Settings

• Allows you to configure the screen resolution and

color depth for your display
– Other more complex options such as screen refresh
rate are available in the Advanced Settings
• Screen resolution
– Number of pixels that are displayed
• Color depth
– Indicates how many bits of information are used to store
color information about each pixel in the display

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 Display Settings (continued)

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 Color Schemes

• Windows Color and Appearance applet

– Lets you select from several predefined color schemes
• Controls the color of windows, menus, and message
boxes
• Effects button
– Controls some visual effects that make reading
information easier
• Advanced button
– Precisely controls the color settings for your desktop

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 Desktop Backgrounds

• Personalizing the desktop background

– One of the most common actions users want to perform
when receiving a new computer
• Windows Vista comes with a number of desktop
backgrounds for you to choose from
• When you select a desktop background
– Must also select how graphic is laid out on the page

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 Screen Savers

• Screen savers were used to prevent screen burn in

– Now a security mechanism for locking a computer
• By default, Windows displays a screen saver after 10
minutes of inactivity
– When you resume using the computer, you are forced
to log on again

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 Multiple Monitors

• Windows Vista supports multiple monitors attached

to a single computer
• Options
– Mirrored
– Extended
– External display only

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 Task Scheduler

• Allows you to be proactive about computer

maintenance
• Many Windows maintenance tasks are now
performed automatically by the Task Scheduler

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 Task Scheduler (continued)

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 Summary
• Control Panel is a central location for management
utilities
• Administrative Tools is a collection of system
maintenance utilities
• Windows Vista uses device drivers to properly
communicate with various hardware components
• Device Manager is the MMC snap-in that is used to
manage device drivers and hardware components
• Windows Vista will allow 32-bit systems to install
unsigned device drivers

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 Summary (continued)

• Enhanced Power Management in Windows Vista

– Sleep feature easier to use
• For Aero Glass interface, you need a video card
and video driver that support the WDDM and
DirectX 9.0c
• Display can be customized by controlling the
display resolution, color depth, and refresh rate
• Enhanced Task Scheduler with security
improvements for credentials, improved logging,
and expanded triggers for starting tasks

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