Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 Inside Out

Managing Devices through Hardware Profiles

Developers, engineers, and information technology (IT) testers often need a way to implement or test different device configurations. You can, of course, do this by enabling and disabling devices, but this can be tedious and time-consuming. A more practical way to implement multiple device configurations is to use hardware profiles.

By using hardware profiles, you can create different device configurations and load them quickly by selecting the appropriate profile to use during startup of the operating system. Hardware profiles are most commonly used with mobile workstations and servers. On a portable computer with a Plug and Play–compatible docking station, you'll have two profiles that are created and ...