Windows XP Pocket Reference

Name

Microsoft Management Console — \windows\system32\mmc.exe

Synopsis

Start → All Programs → Administrative Tools → Computer Management

The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is a host for many of the administrative tools that come with Windows XP. Each tool that works with MMC is called a "Snap-in." Several Snap-ins can be shown in MMC at any given time and appear as entries in the Explorer-style tree in the left pane.

A collection of one or more Snap-ins can be saved into a Console (.msc) file, which is a small file that simply lists Snap-ins to display in the Console window. More than a dozen predefined Console files are included with Windows, and you can modify them (or even create your own) by adding or removing Snap-ins or creating custom "Taskpad Views," pages with lists of shortcuts to programs or other Snap-ins.

TIP

To add a Snap-in to the current Console file (select File → New to start a new Console), go to File → Add/Remove Snap-in, and click Add. Then, choose one of the available Snap-ins (note that not all Snap-ins described here are available in all versions of Windows XP), and click Add to add it to the list in the previous window. MMC allows you to use most of these tools on remote systems; for example, you can run Device Manager on a machine in another office. Most Snap-ins will prompt you for a remote computer name when you first add them to the current console. ...