Professional Windows Server 1002003 Security A Technical Reference [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

The main tools for managing hardware devices on WS2003 are:

• Device Manager, a snap-in that is part of Computer Management

• Add Hardware, Power Options, and System in Control Panel

• System Information under System Tools in Accessories

In addition, various Control Panel utilities we
won't discuss are used to configure specific types
of devices. These utilities include Display, Game Controllers,
Keyboard, Mouse, Phone and Modem Options, Printers and Faxes,
Scanners and Cameras, and Sounds and Audio Devices. A utility called

devcon.exe , found in the WS2003 Support Tools,
can be used to manage devices from the command line. Certain topics
like managing disks and printers are covered under

Disks and

Printing .

Device Manager

Device Manager is used to display and manage device configuration
settings, including:

• Enabling, disabling, and uninstalling devices

• Installing updated drivers for devices

• Diagnosing IRQ conflicts and other resource conflicts

• Manually reconfiguring IRQ and other resource settings to resolve
  conflicts

• Generating a printed report of your computer's
  hardware-configuration settings to aid in future troubleshooting
  efforts

Note that Device Manager can display devices on both local and remote
machines, but it can configure settings only on the local
machinewhen you connect to a remote computer using Computer
Management and try to access Device Manager, a message appears saying
that Device Manager is acting in read-only mode.

Starting Device Manager

You can access Device Manager
in several ways:

Start Programs Administrative Tools
Computer Management System Tools Device Manager

Start Settings Control Panel System
Hardware Device Manager

Right-click on My Computer Properties Hardware
Device Manager

Right-click on My Computer Manage System Tools
Device Manager

Start Run devmgmt.msc

Device Manager displays a hierarchy of device types in the Details
pane. Each device-type node contains nodes for each instance of that
installed device type, and if a certain type of device is not
installed on the computer, the container for that device type is not
displayed.

Customizing Device Manager

In addition to being able to
customize the MMC appearance, you can use the View menu to change the
way in which devices are displayed in Device Manager. There are four
different views:

Devices by type

Groups devices by type. For example, all network adapters are grouped
together under the Network Adapters node.

Devices by connection

Groups devices by connection. For example, all devices connected to
the PCI bus are grouped together under the PCI Bus node.

Resources by type

Groups devices by type of resource used: IRQ, I/O, DMA, or memory.

Resources by connection

Same as previous view except that a secondary grouping is included
according to system board or PCI bus connection.

Two more options help you analyze your hardware configuration:

Show Hidden Devices

Toggles the display of non-Plug and Play devices as well as devices
that have been removed from the system but whose drivers have not
been uninstalled.

Print

Prints a report of your hardware devices and the resources they use.
You have several different print options for different kinds of
reports.

Add Hardware

This Control Panel utility

opens a wizard that walks you through
the process of installing new hardware devices or removing existing
ones. Most of the time, this is not necessary with WS2003 as Plug and
Play devices are usually detected and installed automatically without
the need to reboot the system. Should the system require a reboot,
Found New Hardware starts after the reboot and completes the
installation.

Add Hardware is usually used for installing legacy (non-Plug and
Play) devices, in which case you skip the Plug and Play option and
manually specify the type and model of the device from a list
displayed by the wizard. You can also run Add Hardware to unplug or
eject a device such as a removable drive. If you need to do this
frequently with a device, there is an option in the wizard to place
an icon in the system tray, which can be used for this purpose.

Power Options

This Control Panel utility
is
used for:

• Configuring energy-saving features by selecting a power scheme to
  power down your disks and turn off your monitor when not in use

• Automatically switching your system into standby mode and enabling or
  disabling hibernation mode

• Configuring uninterruptible power supply (UPS) devices to protect
  your computer against sudden power loss

Standby is the power-management mode in which both the display and
hard drive are powered down to save power. Standby mode consumes
minimal power for the processor and system board, as opposed to
powering off, which causes your system to consume no power at all.
The advantage is that the system can return from standby mode more
quickly than rebooting from a powered-off condition.

Hibernation is a power-management option that powers off your display
and hard disks, writes the contents of physical memory (RAM) to disk,
and powers off your computer so that, when you restart, your desktop
is exactly as you left it.

The Power Schemes tab lets you select a power scheme for your system
(see Table 4-5). You can also create a custom
scheme by modifying an existing scheme and saving it under a
different name. Note that only a subset of these options may work if
you have an older computer whose BIOS is not compliant with the
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) standard supported
by WS2003. By using the Advanced tab, you can place an icon in the
system tray that can display your current power source (AC, battery,
or UPS). See

DevicesNotes for some
recommendations for various kinds of systems.

System

This Control Panel utility is
a catchall
for a variety of different system-related configuration tasks. As far
as managing hardware is concerned, you can use this tool to install
hardware, configure devices, manage device driver signing, and create
and manage hardware profiles. The first two tasks can be performed
using Add Hardware and Device Manager, respectively; the remaining
topics are discussed earlier under

DevicesConcepts .

System Information

This utility under System Tools
in Accessories can be used to
display current system information for local or remote computers.
System Information provides comprehensive information for
troubleshooting problems with hardware and 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
can't be used to make changes to this
informationuse Device Manager to change hardware settings for
a computer.

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

System Information displays five types of settings:

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, DMA,
and mapped memory. The Conflicts/Sharing node is useful for
identifying possible device conflicts.

Components

Contains information about device drivers for keyboard, mouse, video,
storage, network, modem, and multimedia. The Problem Devices node is
useful for identifying devices with driver problems.

Software Environment

Contains detailed information about the software currently running on
the computer, including device drivers, environment variables,
pending print jobs, current network connections, tasks running (in
more detail than that shown by Taskbar), and the status of installed
services. It also displays the installed program groups and their
shortcuts, programs in the Startup group, and OLE registration
information.

Internet Settings

Contains information about the version, proxy configuration, cache
settings, digital certificates, and security-zone settings for
Internet Explorer.