Using Control Panel Utilities

Control Panel contains utilities for working with a system's setup and configuration. You can organize the Control Panel in different ways according to the view you're using. A view is simply a way of organizing and presenting options. The key utilities you'll want to use include

• Add Hardware

  Starts the Add Hardware Wizard, which you can use to install and troubleshoot hardware.

• Add Or Remove Programs

  Used to install programs and to safely uninstall programs. Also used to modify Windows Server 2003 setup components . For example, if you didn't install an add-on component, such as Certificate Services, during installation of the OS, you can use this utility to add it later.

• Date And Time

  Used to view or set a system's date, time, and time zone. Rather than manually setting the time on individual computers in the domain, you can use the Windows Time Service to automatically synchronize time on the network.

• Display

  Used to configure backgrounds, screen savers, video display mode, and video settings. You can also use this utility to specify desktop icons and to control visual effects, such as the menu fade effect.

• Folder Options

  Used to set a wide variety of folder and file options, including the type of desktop used, the folder views used, whether offline files are used, and whether you need to single-click or double-click to open items.

• Licensing

  On a workstation you use this utility to manage licenses on a local system. On a server it also allows you to change the client-licensing mode of installed products, such as Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft SQL Server.

• Network Connections

  Used to view network identity information, to add network components, and to establish network connections. You can also use this utility to change a system's computer name and domain. See Chapter 7 , "Core Active Directory Administration," and Chapter 16 , "Managing TCP/IP Networking," for details.

• Printers And Faxes

  Provides quick access to the Printers And Faxes folder, which you can use to manage print devices on a system. See Chapter 17 , "Administering Network Printers and Print Services," for more information on managing network printers.

• Scheduled Tasks

  Allows you to view and add scheduled tasks. You can schedule tasks on a one-time or recurring basis to handle common administrative jobs. To learn more about scheduled tasks, see Chapter 4 , "Automating Administrative Tasks, Policies, and Procedures."

• System

  Used to display and manage system properties, including properties for startup/shutdown, environment, hardware profiles, and user profiles. This utility is explored in Chapter 2 , "Managing Servers Running Microsoft Windows Server 2003."