To successfully manage a computer, diagnose
problems, and troubleshoot support issues, you need to know how the
computer is configured. Support tools you can use to get information on a computer’s configuration include
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Computer Management
Provides access to important system, services, and storage-management tools. -
Performance Console
Allows you to monitor system performance and determine whether there are any issues causing performance problems. -
Resource Monitor
Allows you to view detailed usage information for system resources, including processors, memory, disks, and networking. Use Resource Monitor when you need more information than Task Manager provides. -
System Allows you to view basic information about a computer and manage system properties. -
System Information
Displays detailed system statistics about configuration and resource availability. You can also use System Information to troubleshoot system problems. -
Task Manager Allows you to view usage information for system resources.
In this section, I’ll discuss techniques for working with these tools. First though, you may want to add the Administrative Tools to the Start screen. From Start, you do this using one of the following techniques:
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With the touch UI, slide in from the right, tap Settings, tap Tiles, and then tap Show Administrative Tools. -
With the mouse and keyboard, move the mouse
pointer over the hidden button in the lower-right corner of the screen
to display the Charms bar. On the Charms bar, click Settings, click
Tiles, and then click Show Administrative Tools.
Tapping or clicking the Show
Administrative Tools slider toggles between Yes and No, meaning either
to show the tools or hide the tools. The next time you open Start, the
screen is updated to either show or hide the tools as appropriate.
Start and Desktop have a handy menu
that you can display by pressing and holding or right-clicking the
lower-left corner of the Start screen or the desktop. Helpful for
computers with a mouse and keyboard, but a true gift for computers with a
touch UI. The shortcut menu has options for Control Panel, Computer
Management, Power Options, Search, System, Task Manager, File Explorer,
and more.
Note
MORE INFO On Start,
the hidden button in the lower-left corner shows a thumbnail view of
the desktop when activated, and tapping or clicking the thumbnail opens
the desktop. On the desktop, the hidden button in the lower-left corner
shows a thumbnail view of Start when activated and tapping or clicking
the thumbnail opens Start. Pressing and holding or right-clicking the
thumbnail is what displays the shortcut menu.
Working with the Computer Management Console
The Computer Management console is designed
to handle core system administration tasks on local and remote systems.
If you’ve added Administrative
Tools to Start, you can start the Computer Management console by
tapping or clicking the related tile. You also can start the Computer
Management console by typing compmgmt.msc in the Apps Search box and then pressing Enter.
As Figure 1
shows, the main window has a multipane view similar to File Explorer.
You use the console tree in the left pane for navigation and tool
selection. The Actions pane, which can be displayed on the far right, is
similar to the shortcut menu that is displayed when you press and hold
or right-click an item. To display or close the Actions pane, tap or
click the Show/Hide Action Pane button on the console toolbar. Tools are divided into three broad categories:
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System Tools
General-purpose tools for managing systems and viewing system information -
Storage
Provides access to drive management tools -
Services And Applications
Used to view and manage the properties of services and applications installed on a server
Within these categories are the following tools:
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Task Scheduler
View and manage scheduled tasks. Scheduled tasks are used to automate
processes such as disk cleanup or diagnostics testing. -
Event Viewer
View the event logs on the selected computer. Event logs record
important events that have taken place on the computer and can be used
to determine if a computer has configuration issues or other types of
problems. -
Shared Folders
View and manage shared folders, as well as related sessions and open files. -
Local Users And Groups
Manage local users and local user groups on the selected computer. Each
client computer has both local users and local groups, which are
separate from domain users and groups. -
Performance Provides monitoring
and reporting tools that you can use to determine a computer’s current
performance and to track performance over time. -
Device Manager
Use as a central location for checking the status of any device
installed on a computer and for updating the associated device drivers.
You can also use it to troubleshoot device problems. -
Disk Management
Manages hard disks, disk partitions, and volume sets. Windows 8
supports disk spanning, disk striping, disk striping with parity, and
disk mirroring . Disk spanning enables you to create a single volume
that extends across multiple disks. Disk striping enables you to write
data stripes across multiple disks for fast access to data. Neither
technique provides failure protection, however, and if any disk in a
spanned or striped volume fails, the entire volume fails. -
Services
View and manage system services running on a computer. In Windows 8,
every service has a recovery policy. If a service fails, Windows 8 tries
to restart it automatically and automatically handle both service and
nonservice dependencies as well. Any dependent services
and system components are started prior to the attempt to start a
failed service. -
WMI Control
View and manage Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). WMI gathers
system information, monitors system health, and manages system
components.
When working with Computer Management, you can select a remote computer to manage by completing the following steps:
-
Press and hold or right-click the Computer
Management entry in the console tree, and then tap or click Connect To
Another Computer. This opens the Select Computer dialog box. -
Select Another Computer, and then type the fully qualified name of the computer you want to work with, such as cspc85.microsoft.com,
where cspc85 is the computer name and microsoft.com is the domain name.
Or tap or click Browse to search for the computer you want to work
with. -
Tap or click OK.
If you want to make it possible to remotely manage a computer running Windows 8 using the WS-Management protocol, enter winrm quickconfig at an elevated prompt. Then, each time prompted to make configuration changes, enter Y. This will start the Windows
Remote Management (WinRM) service, configure WinRM to accept
WS-Management requests on any IP address, create a Windows Firewall
exception for Windows Remote Management, and configure LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to grant appropriate administrative rights for remote management.
Many other types of remote management tasks depend on other exceptions for Windows Firewall. Keep the following in mind:
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Remote Desktop is enabled or disabled separately from remote management. To allow
someone to connect to the local server using Remote Desktop, you must
allow related connections to the computer and configure access . -
Remote
Event Log Management must be configured as an allowed app in Windows
Firewall to remotely manage a computer’s event logs. In the advanced
firewall, there are several related rules that allow management via
Named Pipes (NP) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC). -
Remote
Scheduled Task Management must be configured as an allowed app in
Windows Firewall to remotely manage a computer’s scheduled tasks. In the
advanced firewall, there are several related rules that allow
management of scheduled tasks via RPC. -
Remote
Service Management must be configured as an allowed app in Windows
Firewall to remotely manage a computer’s services. In the advanced
firewall, there are several related rules that allow management via NP
and RPC. -
Remote Shutdown must be configured as an allowed app in Windows Firewall to remotely shut down a computer. -
Remote
Volume Management must be configured as an allowed app in Windows
Firewall to remotely manage a computer’s event logs. In the advanced
firewall, there are several related rules that allow management of the
Virtual Disk Service and Virtual Disk Service Loader.
Getting Basic System and Performance Information
You use the System console to view and manage system properties. In Control Panel, you can access the System console by tapping or clicking System And Security and then tapping or clicking System. As Figure 2
shows, the System console is divided into four basic areas that provide
links for performing common tasks and a system overview. These four
areas are:
-
Windows Edition
Shows the operating system edition and version. -
System
Lists the processor, memory, performance rating, and type of operating
system installed on the computer. The type of operating system is listed
as 32-bit or 64-bit. -
Computer Name, Domain, And Workgroup Settings
Provides the computer name and description, as well as the domain,
homegroup, or workgroup details. If you want to change any of this
information, tap or click Change Settings, and then tap or click the
Network ID button in the System Properties dialog box. -
Windows Activation
Shows whether you have activated the operating system and the product
key. If Windows 8 isn’t activated yet, tap or click the link provided
to start the activation process, and then follow the prompts.
When you’re working in the System console,
links in the left pane provide quick access to key support tools,
including the following:
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Device Manager -
Remote Settings -
System Protection -
Advanced System Settings
Tapping or clicking Change Settings under Computer Name, Domain, And Workgroup Settings displays the System Properties dialog box.
A computer’s Windows
Experience Index rating is important in determining which operating
system features the computer supports. In most cases, the Windows Setup
program rates a computer’s performance after completing installation. To
view more information about a computer’s rating, you can tap or click
the Windows Experience Index link under System to access Performance Information And Tools, as shown in Figure 3.
Note
REAL WORLD
If your computer wasn’t rated automatically after installation, the
computer won’t have a rating. In this case, you can tap or click the
System Rating Not Available link to access Performance Information And
Tools and rate the system. A computer’s rating can change if you install
new hardware. If Windows detects hardware configuration changes, you’ll
be notified that “Your Windows Experience Index needs to be refreshed.”
In this case, tap or click the link provided to access Performance
Information And Tools, and then tap or click Refresh Now or Re-Run The
Assessment to refresh the performance rating.
The Performance Information And Tools page
shows the system’s overall rating and lists the subscore for installed
hardware in five categories:
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Processor -
Memory -
Graphics -
Gaming Graphics -
Primary Hard Disk
Windows
8 uses the computer’s overall rating and subratings to determine which
personalization features should be configured. If a computer has a low
rating, Windows 8 will recommend turning off some features, such as Aero
glass, to improve system
performance. Based on performance over time, Windows 8 may also
recommend turning off or modifying other features to improve
performance.
Tip
Several factors can adversely affect
the performance rating, including the primary disk running low on free
disk space. If you install new hardware on a computer or resolve a
performance issue, such as low disk space, that affects the computer
rating, you can tap or click Refresh Now or Re-Run The Assessment to
update the computer’s performance rating.
In Performance Information And Tools, the left pane provides quick access to several helpful configuration areas, including:
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Adjust Visual Effects
Opens the Performance Options dialog box, which you can use to manage
visual effects, processor scheduling, virtual memory, and Data Execution
Prevention (DEP). -
Adjust Indexing Options
Opens the Indexing Options dialog box, which you can use to manage indexing locations and index settings. -
Adjust Power Settings
Opens the Power Options dialog box, which you can use to manage power
plans, what the power buttons do, when to turn off the display, and when
the computer sleeps.
One of the handiest options in
Performance Information And Tools is the Advanced Tools link in the left
pane. Tapping or clicking this link opens the page shown in Figure 4, where you have quick access to the system maintenance tools. This page gives you direct access to the following:
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Task Manager, which is normally opened by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete. -
Resource Monitor, which is normally opened by tapping or clicking the Resource Monitor button in Task Manager. -
Advanced system details for System Information, which is normally accessed by running Msinfo32. -
System diagnostics reports, which are normally generated only as part of advanced diagnostics.
If you are logged on as an administrator, you can
generate a system diagnostics report by tapping or clicking Generate A
System Health Report. Generating the report can take about 1 minute (or
longer). The report details the status of hardware resources, system
response times, and processes on the computer, as well as system
information and configuration data (see Figure 5).
The report also includes suggestions for correcting problems,
maximizing performance, and reducing overhead. You can save the report
as an HTML document by tapping or clicking File, Save As, and then using
the Save As dialog box to select a save location and file name for the
report. You can send the report as an attachment to an email message by
tapping or clicking File, Send To.
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