What tool can you use to create a console containing device manager?

Windows comes with many applications for administering and managing the system. In older versions, these programs had to be used separately. In Windows XP, there is an interface that can be customized to contain in one package all the system tools that a particular user employs on a frequent basis. For networks or multi-user systems there are also a variety of security settings that can be made within the interface. Microsoft calls this interface a "management console" and generally refers to it as MMC. A computer user can choose which of the many available tools to include. The individual tools are referred to as "snap-ins". A console has a hierarchical structure with folders and in fact resembles a Windows Explorer tree.

Many of the system tools that come with Windows XP are already in a console form. They can be used alone or as snap-ins to a console that contains a collection of applications. The sidebar on the right lists the preconfigured consoles most commonly used. These are found in the folder \Windows\System32\. Depending on your setup, there may be some in other locations as well. (Some of these come only with the XP Professional version.) Note that the consoles have the extension msc (not to be confused with MMC). Most of these consoles can be opened by entering their names (including the extension) in the Start-Run line. Some, but not all, are also accessible from Control Panel. Depending on how your computer is set up, some may also be listed in Start-All Programs-Administrative Tools. As is common in Windows there are also several other ways to open some of the tools. However, using the Run line is probably the easiest way. (A few consoles intended mainly for systems administrators may be in folders not included in the standard path environment and will need the Run line browse function)

Some of the consoles that have specialized purposes for use by systems administrators may not normally be of interest to the average PC user.

devmgmt.msc- the Device Manager

eventvwr.msc- Event Viewer for managing system logs

http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/mmc.htm Simply use mmc.exe and add snap ins into the console.

Type MMC into the run box and add these as snap-ins into the console.

(pg 572) in Guide to Managing your PC by: Jean Andrews