A group of tools accessed through the control panel that you can use to manage the local computer or other computers on the network
Computer management (Compmgmt.msc)
A windows console that contains several administrative tools used by the support techs to manage the local computers or other computers on the network
A utility within the Windows7 Performance Monitor and the Windows Vista Reliability and Performance Monitor that is used to create a set of counters to collect data about the system and to measure performance. The results can be saved to a report for further use.
Event viewer (Eventvwr.msc)
A Windows tool useful for troubleshooting problems with Windows, applications, and hardware. It displays logs of significant events such as a hardware or network failure, OS failure, OS error messages, a device or service that has failed to start, or General Protection Faults.
In Windows, a group of components running in kernel mode that interfaces between the subsystems in user mode and the HAL
HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer)
The low-level part of Windows, written specifically for each CPU technology, so that only the HAL must change when platform components change
A Windows registry key that stores information to determine which application is opened when the user double-clicks a file
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG (HKCC)
A Windows registry key that contains information about the hardware configuration that is used by the computer at startup
A Windows registry key that contains data about the current user. The key is built when a user logs on using data kept in the HKEY_USERS key and data kept in the Ntuser.dat file on the current user
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM)
An important Windows registry key that contains hardware, software, and security data. The key is built using data taken from the SAM hive, the security hive, the software hive, and the system hive and from data collected at startup about the hardware
A Windows registry that contains data about all users and is taken from the default hive
The portion of the OS that is responsible for interacting with the hardware
A Windows "privileged" processing mode that has access to hardware components
Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
A Windows utility to build customized consoles. These consoles can be saved to a file with a .msc file extension
Performance Information and Tools
A Windows7 utility that provides information to evaluate the performance of a system and to adjust Windows for best performance
A Microsoft Management Console snap-in that can track activity by hardware and software to measure performance
A program that is running under the authority of the shell, together with the system resources assigned to it
A Windows7/Vista utility that uses a flash drive or secure digital (SD) memory card to boost hard drive performance
A database that Windows uses to store hardware and software configuration information, user preferences and setup information
Registry Editor (Regedit.exe)
The Windows utility used to edit the Windows registry
Reliability and Performance Monitor (Perfmon.msc)
A Vista utility that collects, records, and displays events, called Data Collector Sets, that can help track the performance and reliability of Windows. In Windows XP, this monitor is called the Performance Monitor or the System Monitor
A Windows7 utility that provides information about problems and errors that happen over time
A Windows tool that monitors the processor, memory, hard drive, and network
A console used by Windows to stop, start, and manage background services used by Windows and applications
The portion of an OS that relates to the user and to applications
A Windows utility that can be installed in a console window by Microsoft Management Console
System configuration Utility (Msconfig.exe)
A Windows utility that can identify what processes are launched at startup and can temporarily disable a process from loading
The Windows XP Performance Monitor
Task Manager (Taskmgr.exe)
A Windows utility that lets you view the application and processes running on your computer as well as information about processes and memory performance, network activity, and user activity
A Windows tool that can set a task or program to launch at a future time, including at startup
Each process that the CPU is aware of; a single task that is part of a longer task or request from a program
In Windows, a mode that provides an interface between an application and the OS, and only has access to hardware resources through the code running in kernel mode