What is not one of the tasks that can be performed using the device manager?

Advanced User and Group Management

Although the Control Panel | User Accounts console is friendly and easy to manage users with, it has many limitations. For this reason, local users and groups may also be managed with the Computer Management MMC. This method offers many more options for managing user and group accounts related to the local computer. User and group accounts may be added, managed, or deleted from the Computer Management MMC. Working within the Computer Management MMC for managing users and groups is much like managing users and groups in Active Directory Users and Computers.

The Computer Management MMC may be accessed in a variety of ways:

Right-click Computer and select Manage.

In the Administrative Tools console within the Control Panel, click the Computer Management shortcut.

Type Computer Management on the Start menu Search.

Through MMC by adding the Computer Management snap-in.

As Chapter 5 mentioned, the Computer Management MMC is a great local management tool for administrators. It contains a variety of tools including system tools, storage, and services and applications. Expanding the system tools will show the Local Users and Groups console. Within the Local Users and Groups are the user and group accounts, where they may be managed, as shown previously in Figure 8.1.

Create, Rename, and Delete a User Account

A new local user may be created in the Computer Management MMC as shown in Figure 8.6:

1.

Right-click Users in Computer Management | System Tools | Local Users and Groups and select New User… or right-click the open area in the details pane of users and select New User.

2.

Fill in the fields:

a.

Username – The logon name the user will use to log on. The name should follow the username policy convention.

b.

Full Name – The full name of the user for proper documentation and identification. This field is optional.

c.

Description – A description of the user, generally, this is the title of the user. This field is optional.

d.

Password – Create a password for the user ensuring complexity and policy requirements are met.

3.

Select the appropriate check boxes:

a.

User must change password at next logon – If checked, the user will be prompted to change his or her password at logon. This is standard when an administrator is creating an account for another user.

b.

User cannot change password – If checked, the user will not be able to change the password. Generally, this is not recommended but cases may arise when necessary.

c.

Password never expires – if checked, the password will not expire per policy settings. Generally, this is not recommended, but cases may arise when necessary.

d.

Account is disabled – If checked, the account will be disabled and the user will be unable to log on.

4.

Click Create.

FIGURE 8.6. New User

A user account may be renamed. Renaming the user account will change the user's logon name and input required for credentials, but it will not change the user's SID meaning all settings will remain. To rename a user, right-click the username and click Rename in the Users view.

A user account can be easily deleted from this view as well. Deleting the user will remove the SID for the user, and it will be very difficult to restore, by design. Deleting the user from here will not delete the user's profile folder or files. Ensure prior to deleting the user that there is another local administrator account or you may lock yourself out. To delete a user, right-click the user and click Delete.

User Properties

Local user accounts may also be managed from this area much like managing users in Active Directory except with fewer options. To access the user properties, right-click the user and select Properties. As shown in Figure 8.7, there are fewer tabs in the local user properties than in Active Directory user properties:

■

General tab

□

Full name – Modify the full name of the user. This should be filled correctly for documentation.

□

Description – A field for a short description of the user. This is often set to the user's title or role.

□

User must change password at next logon – Makes the user change the password on next logon.

□

User cannot change password – This does not allow the user to change his or her own password.

□

Password never expires – Overrides policy forcing passwords to be changed after certain time.

□

Account is disabled – To disable an account, check this box. The user will not be able to log in to the system or access resources.

□

Account is locked out – Used to unlock or lock a user account.

■

Member Of tab – This tab displays the groups the user is a member of.

□

Add user to a group:

-

Click Add…

-

Object type – This is the type of object, in this case Groups.

-

Location – This can be the local computer expressed as the computer name or a domain.

-

Object Names – Here you may type the group name and click Check Names to validate.

-

Advanced – This allows searching through locations for groups.

-

Click OK.

□

Remove user from group – Select the user and click Remove. This will remove the user from the group and any access allowed through that group.

■

Profile tab – Here, the administrator may set the user profile path, logon script, home folder, and a connected network drive.

FIGURE 8.7. User Properties

Create, Rename, and Delete a Group Account

A new local group may be created in the Computer Management MMC as shown in Figure 8.8:

1.

Right-click Groups in Computer Management | System Tools | Local Users and Groups and select New Group… or right-click the open area in the details pane of Groups and select New Group.

2.

Fill in the fields:

a.

Group name – The name of the group, using proper conventions.

b.

Description – A clear description of the group that illustrates its purpose.

c.

Add… or Remove… members.

3.

Click Create.

FIGURE 8.8. New Group

Group accounts may also be renamed. Renaming the group account will not change the group's SID meaning all settings will remain. To rename a group, right-click the group and click Rename in the Groups view. A group account can be easily deleted from this view as well. Deleting a group will remove the SID for the group and it will be very difficult to restore, by design. Deleting the group will remove all users from the group and the security access allowed to that group is deleted. To delete a group, right-click the group and click Delete.

Computer Science Skills Involve More Than Developing and Integrating Hardware and Software

Information and computer specialists, as well as management consultants, often propose computerized systems that, they argue, will help people and organizations in new ways. These planners often unconsciously engage in oversimplified romantic speculation, even when they prefer to be “hard headed,” “factual,” and “only technical.” Utopian inquiry and its anti-utopian opposite (which are examined in Part II) can be useful ways of exploring future possibilities. Much of the problem with Utopian thinking comes when people fail to realize how fanciful some of their assumptions about human behavior and social change are. Visionaries tend to focus primarily on desirable changes and assume that what should happen must happen after a particular technology is introduced.1 Their assumptions often go well beyond technology as it is traditionally conceived, embodying views of human-machine interaction, human motivation, and the behavior of social groups. Thus, a critical investigation into visionary viewpoints requires skills that lie beyond hardware and algorithm design.

Paul Goodman argued that technologists, including computer specialists, are primarily social activists who act, in practice, as moral philosophers:

Whether or not it draws on new scientific research, technology is a branch of moral philosophy, not of science. It aims at prudent goods for the commonweal and to provide efficient means for those goods…. As a moral philosopher, a technician should be able to criticize the programs given to him to implement. As a professional in a community of learned professionals, a technologist must have a different kind of training…. He should know something of the social sciences, law, the fine arts, and medicine, as well as relevant natural sciences. (Goodman, 1970)2

This is a remarkable position, since few information and computer professionals have systematically studied philosophy or the social sciences. One commonplace view of computer science and engineering is reflected in a report by the ACM3 Task Force on the Core of Computer Science:

Computer Science and Engineering is the systematic study of algorithmic processes—their theory, analysis, design, efficiency, implementation and application—that describe and transform information. The fundamental question underlying all of computing is, What can be (efficiently) automated? … The roots of computing extend deeply into mathematics and engineering. Mathematics imparts analysis to the field; engineering imparts design. (Denning et al., 1989)

How different this view is from Goodman's! It makes Goodman sound somewhat Utopian in his desire that computer specialists be independent professionals who will exert a critical influence on the shape of the products they are asked to produce. In the traditional view, technologists are often asked to refine the means they use to implement a product, but not to question the ends they serve. Ian Reinecke goes even further in that direction, suggesting that technical communities are impervious to serious critical analyses:

Those who know most about technology are in many cases the worst equipped to appreciate its implications for the lives of ordinary people. Consumed by technical and corporate objectives that become ends in themselves, they fail to see that their work may very often be contrary to the interests of their fellow citizens. So frenetic is the pace of change that the few querulous voices raised from their own ranks are swept aside. Where the voices are more insistent, they are branded as renegades, as unstable people whose work has somehow unhinged them. (Reinecke, 1984, p. 243)

I do not share Reinecke's wholesale condemnation of technical professionals. Part VIII will examine some key ethical issues of computing, and the way that technical professionals have articulated different positions in the controversies. Moreover, some of the better computer science journals, such as Communications of the ACM, publish articles that examine the social aspects of computerization from different vantage points. But Reinecke's criticism is most apt for technologists who remain somewhat self-consciously indifferent to the social complexities of computerization, except to acknowledge the importance of their own special interests. Further, relatively few of the practicing technologists whom I have met in some of the nations’ top industrial and service firms read broadly about the social aspects of computerization. Sadly, a substantial fraction of computer specialists focus their professional reading on technical handbooks, such as the manuals for specific equipment, and on occasional articles in the computer trade press.

Remote Management

You have a lot of options when it comes to managing your Windows 7 clients.

You can use the native graphical tools, such as Computer Management, Event Viewer, Performance Monitor, and so on, to interactively work with the tools through the new Microsoft Management Console 3.0. You can use PowerShell to write highly powerful scripts, which can be used to control the user's environment and change the same settings that are available through the native tools. You can also use Group Policy through Active Directory to control thousands of computer settings on the client computers so that your users have a consistent, streamlined, and secure desktop environment to work within.

Opening the Event Viewer Console

Event Viewer can be opened as a snap-in to the Computer Management console or as a standalone console. You will need to click the Continue button in the User Account Control dialog box to confirm your administrative action. If you are currently logged on with a non-administrative user account, you will need to supply the Administrator password. Event Viewer can be opened using any of the following methods:

Click Start and type event in the Search box. Click the Event Viewer link that appears in the Search Results box.

Right-click the Computer icon on the desktop and select Manage to open the Computer Management console. The Event Viewer is located in the System Tools folder.

Click Start | Control Panel | System and Maintenance | Administrative Tools | Event Viewer.

Click Start | All Programs | Administrative Tools | Event Viewer.

Figure 11.8 shows the Event Viewer as a snap-in within the Computer Management console.

Note

You can use the Event Viewer to view and manage event logs or troubleshoot problems on the local computer as well as on a remote computer. To use the Event Viewer on a remote computer, open the Event Viewer, right-click the Event Viewer (Local) node and select Connect to Another Computer. Type the name or IP address of the remote computer or click the Browse button to browse the network to locate the computer you wish to work on. When connected, the focus of the Event Viewer will be on the selected remote computer.

As explained earlier in this section, the event logs you may be most interested in are located under the Windows Logs node and Applications and Services Logs node. Expand either of these nodes and select the log category you are interested in. For example, Figure 11.9 shows the events recorded in the System category.

The details pane in the center of the console shows the list of most recent system events tracked and recorded. Each entry contains the following information:

Level Shows the type of event such as information, warning, error, audit success, audit failure, and so on.

Date and Time The date and time when the event was tracked and recorded.

Source The source of the event. In other words, the application, service, or Windows component that reported the event.

Event ID A unique identifier for the recorded event. Event ID is very useful in getting online help from Microsoft support services.

Task Category The category into which the task falls.

For the purpose of clarity, Windows shows only the preceding columns in the details pane. You can add or remove columns in the details pane by right-clicking any column and selecting Add/Remove Columns.

Uncovering Hidden Partitions

As we said earlier, there is no way to hide the partition completely from the Computer Management console (except HPA and DCO partitions as we will see later). You can always check for hidden partitions of any plugged USB device through this console.

Another method is by using the DiskPart command line utility that comes as a part of the Microsoft Windows® family (Windows® 8, 8.1, 7, Vista, XP, and Server 2003). DiskPart is a text-mode command interpreter. This tool enables you to manage objects (disks, partitions, or volumes) by using scripts or direct input at a command prompt.

To launch this tool, open a DOS prompt, type DiskPart, and press Enter. The DiskPart utility will appear in a separate window (see Fig. 4.61).

In Fig. 4.61 we typed List disk to view a list of connected hard disks to this PC and associated numbers (in my case I have one hard disk and two attached USB zip drives). In order to view the partition of each disk you first need to select it through the select disk  =  n command, where n points to the disk number that appears in the first command.

After selecting the disk, type list partition to see list of partitions that exist within this disk; here the hidden partition of our USB zip drive (Partition 0–1147 MB) appears.

DiskPart is a powerful tool for disk management under Windows® OS. You can learn more and see a list of command line options for this tool in the link ginen in Ref. [21].

You can restore your USB zip drive to its original state by plugging it into your PC. Go to Device Manager, right-click it, and select Properties. Go to the Driver tab and select Roll Back Driver. This will uninstall the software driver you already installed and return the old driver to this drive.

Another method to restore your old USB zip drive driver software is by using a free tool called SD Formatter [22]. Use this tool to format your USB drive and it should returns to its original state before partitioning it.

Summary

Windows 7 includes a variety of local management tools. There is Control Panel, the MMC, the Computer Management Console, the Local Group Policy Editor, and the Windows Registry. Each of these management tools provides a different function. They all come together to provide a total management solution for your Windows 7 system.

It's important that your system hardware is properly installed and configured. Malfunctioning hardware can really be a hassle to fix. Windows 7 includes applications like Device Manager and the Devices and Printers applet to help ensure that your hardware is properly installed. Device Manager and Windows Update can help ensure that your devices are configured with the most up-to-date drivers.

Everything in your system relies on your disks and file systems. This is where all of your files are stored. If your disks and file systems are not properly configured, you system may not run at all. Windows 7 volumes can provide convenience through disk spanning or fault tolerance through RAID 5. You need to make sure that you choose a configuration that best suits your needs.

Create the User Account for the Remote VPN Router

The remote site Wizard doesn't create a user account for the ISA Server 2000 firewall at the branch office to authenticate to the main office ISA firewall. We'll have to create that user account ourselves

Perform the following steps to create the user account:

Right click My Computer on the desktop, and click Manage.

In the Computer Management console, expand the System Tools node, and expand the Local Users and Groups node.

Right-click on the Users node, and click New User.

In the New User dialog box, enter the name of the demand-dial interface on the ISA firewall at the main office. In the current example, the name of the demand-dial interface at the main office is Branch. Enter a password and confirm the password. Remove the checkmark from the User must change password at next logon checkbox. Place checkmarks in the User cannot change password and Password never expires checkboxes. Click Create, and then click Close.

Double-click on the Branch user account. In the Branch Properties dialog box, click the Dial-in tab. On the Dial-in tab, select Allow access in the Remote Access Permission (Dial-in or VPN) frame.

Viewing Currently Installed Devices

☑

Currently installed hardware devices on a Windows Vista computer can be viewed from the Device Manager snap-in. The Device Manager snap-in is part of the Computer Management console. To view devices on a remote computer, you must use the Device Manager from within the Computer Management console.

The Device Manager can be used to view the status of the devices as well as the resources utilized by them. It displays device and resource information by type and connection.

You can also use the Device Manager to manage device drivers. Disabling a device, uninstalling a driver, updating a driver, or driver rollback functions are performed using this snap-in

Customizing the Display of Snap-ins in the Console: New Windows

After adding the snap-ins, you can add windows to provide different administrative views in the console. In the left pane of the tree view in Figure 16.41, click the [+] next to Computer Management. Click System Tools.

Right-click the Event Viewer folder that opens and then click New window from here. As displayed in Figure 16.42, this opens a new Event Viewer window based at the Event Viewer extension to computer management.

Click on the Window menu and click Console Root.

In the Console Root window, click Services and Applications, right-click Services in the left pane, and then click New Window from here. As shown in Figure 16.43, this opens a new Services window based at the Event Viewer extension to Computer Management.

Close the original window with Console Root showing in it.

On the Window menu, select Tile Horizontally. The console file should appear (see Figure 16.44) and include the information shown in Figures 16.42 and 16.43.

You can now save your new MMC console. Click the Save as icon on the Console window, and give your console a name. Your console is now saved as an .msc file, and you can provide it to anyone who needs to configure a computer with these tools.

Note: Each of the two smaller windows has a toolbar with buttons and drop-down menus. The toolbar buttons and drop-down menus on each of these two windows apply only to the contents of the window. You can see that a window's toolbar buttons and menus change depending on the snap-in selected in the left pane of the window. If you select the View menu, you can see a list of available toolbars.

The Microsoft Management Console also allows the user group information and functionality that previously would have required opening a Control Panel option plus two separate administrative tools. The modular architecture of MMC makes it easy for system network developers to create snap-in applications that leverage the platform while easing administrative load.

The Network Operating System

The NOS is the brain of the server; without it, it's just a computer. It offers applications and utilities that do business faster and better. There are only a few popular choices – Novell, UNIX, Linux, and Windows. The complexity of NOS forces a simple overview of the features and benefits.

Although Linux offers a free download and a plethora of available features to function as a NOS, the most attractive aspect of this Microsoft product is the monolithic support structure and community. All VMS software works on Microsoft OS. Microsoft takes sophisticated tools and applications and makes them usable and affordable, so that any size company can take advantage of a complete suite of server utilities and applications. However, many people have a bias and prefer other systems to Microsoft or simply don't like Microsoft. Years ago, one of my clients chose a Web servicing company that slapped together an assortment of custom and obscure technologies from which they created four unique Web sites. Providing them with a shared Oracle database gave my client a more cost-effective database solution, but negated other features (for security reasons they were told) and locked them into using this particular Web services company. My client was unconcerned about this arrangement until the company found itself tied into multiple approvals and design changes to their Web site at $200 an hour. Arrangements like this can become very expensive. The IT director hated Microsoft and their products with a passion (there's one in every crowd). This prejudice steered the company to technologies that had no immediate support structure set into place. At one point they attempted to internally convert the original NOS, Application Server, and dynamically generated Web sites from one non-Microsoft platform (Linux/Jrun/Java) to another non-Microsoft platform (Novell/Websphere/Java), but they had a problem finding a consultant with the appropriate skill set who was immediately available.

After they spent a month of searching, experiments, and multiple dead ends, I walked into their building armed with a developer copy of the Windows Server NOS and asked for one server machine with a static IP address and access to the Internet. That was at about 1 p.m. and by 5:30 p.m. (after some BIOS upgrading), I had installed and configured the Windows Server NOS, configured a Web Server and Application Server, and installed all four Web sites. The director was bewildered at the rapid deployment, so much so that he asked me to show him the process step by step.

Over 95% of computer users utilize a Microsoft OS, which also means that most of the VMS software (as most all software) is developed for the Microsoft platform. It's an OS that's understood and has become more intuitive and an intricate part of our daily lives; thus it's the better choice for small or mid-sized companies with limited time and resources (human and otherwise).

Typically, a networking environment opens up shared resources such as files, printers, and an Internet connection. The Windows Server NOS provides a configuration wizard that gets the server up and running within minutes. This also includes a few functions that are required for remote viewing of the VMS software such as a Web server or Terminal Services.

NOS provides more features than will ever be used, but there are a few select features beneficial for a DVS deployment.

Administrative Tools

Microsoft Windows, both for workstations or for servers, comes with a set of computer management tools that help you manage the machine. These are very important and should be pinned to the Start Menu. That can be done by navigating to the Administrative Tools folder in the Control Panel:

START > CONTROL PANEL > ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS

Inside the Administrative Tools folder is an icon named Computer Management. Right-click on that icon and choose Pin to Start Menu.

The Computer Management console is a pre-configured interface with a number of administrative and troubleshooting components to save time. This console can also be accessed by doing the following:

START > RUN and Type COMPMGMT.MSC