Windows 2000 Administration in a Nutshell

Name

System Information — PP

Synopsis

Views system-configuration information for local or remote computers.

Description

System Information provides comprehensive information for troubleshooting problems with hardware, drivers, and other software components on the connected computer. This information is either queried in real time or accessed from the registry, depending on the type of information needed. System Information displays hardware- and software-configuration information for a computer but cannot be used to make changes to this information. Use Device Manager to change hardware settings for a computer (see Device Manager in this chapter).

For administrators familiar with Windows NT 4.0 Server, the System Information snap-in performs functions similar to those provided by the NT administrative tool called Windows NT Diagnostics.

Using System Information

You can access System Information by:

• Start → Programs → Administrative Tools → Computer Management → System Tools → System Information

• Start → Programs → Accessories → System Tools → System Information

• Installing the System Information snap-in into a new or existing console

The console tree typically looks like this:

System Information System Summary Hardware Resources Components Software Environment Internet Explorer 5

System Summary contains general information such as operating-system version, computer name, processor type, BIOS version, and memory.

Hardware Resources contains hardware information such as IRQ settings, I/O ports, ...