It’s available in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server operating system. Windows 11 calls these tools Windows Tools. Below is a list of programs you’ll find in Administrative Tools, complete with summaries, which versions of Windows they appear in, and links to more details about the programs, if we have any.
What Are Administrative Tools Used For?
The programs can be used to schedule a test of your computer’s memory, manage advanced aspects of users and groups, format hard drives, configure Windows services, change how the operating system starts, and much, much more.
How to Access Administrative Tools
Since it’s a Control Panel applet, it can be accessed via Control Panel. To find it, first, open Control Panel and then choose Administrative Tools. The tools available in Administrative Tools can also be accessed through the special GodMode folder, but that’s only useful if you’ve already enabled GodMode.
How to Use Administrative Tools
This suite of tools is basically a folder that contains shortcuts to other parts of Windows where the tools are actually located. Double-clicking or double-tapping one of these shortcuts will start that tool. In other words, Administrative Tools itself doesn’t do anything. It is just a location that stores shortcuts to related programs that are actually stored in the Windows folder. Most of the available programs are snap-ins for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). It’s included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows XP. This tool does exist in Windows Vista (execute comexp.msc to start it) but for some reason wasn’t included within Administrative Tools in that version of Windows. It includes Task Scheduler, Event Viewer, Local Users and Groups, Device Manager, Disk Management, and more, all in a single location. This makes it really easy to manage all the important aspects of a computer. You can find it within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. It’s included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10 and Windows 8. Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP all have defragmentation tools included but they’re not available via Administrative Tools in those versions of Windows. It’s part of Administrative Tools in Windows 10 and Windows 8. You can also find it in Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, but the tool isn’t available via Administrative Tools. It can sometimes be used to identify a problem that has occurred in Windows, especially when an issue has occurred but no clear error message was received. Events are stored in event logs. A number of Windows event logs exist, including Application, Security, System, Setup, and Forwarded Events. Application specific and custom event logs exist in Event Viewer as well, logging events that occur with and are specific to certain programs. This is included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. This program is used to manage the communication between networked iSCSI storage devices. Since iSCSI devices are typically found in an enterprise or large business environments, you typically only see the iSCSI Initiator tool used with Server versions of Windows. It’s included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. One example of using Local Security Policy would be requiring a minimum password length for user passwords, enforcing a maximum password age, or making sure any new password meets a certain level of complexity. Pretty much any detailed restriction you can imagine can be set with Local Security Policy. Local Security Policy is included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. ODBC Data Sources is included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10 and Windows 8. If the version of Windows you’re using is 64-bit, you’ll see two versions, both an ODBC Data Sources (32-bit) and an ODBC Data Sources (64-bit) link, that are used to manage data sources for both 32-bit and 64-bit applications. ODBC Data Source Administrator is accessible via Administrative Tools in Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP as well but the link is named Data Sources (ODBC). This utility tests your computer’s memory to identify defects, which may ultimately require you to replace your RAM. It was renamed Windows Memory Diagnostic in later versions of Windows. You can read more about it near the end of this list. Advanced information about your CPU, RAM, hard drive, and network are just a few of the things you can view via this tool. Performance Monitor is included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7. In Windows Vista, the available functions are part of Reliability and Performance Monitor, available from Administrative Tools in that version of Windows. In Windows XP, an older version of this tool, simply called Performance, is included in Administrative Tools. Basic printer management is still best performed from Devices and Printers (Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista) or Printers and Faxes (Windows XP). Print Management is included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. It’s included in the Windows 10 Administrative Tools only, but you can open it elsewhere in Windows 8. Older versions of Windows have other recovery options, such as the System Repair Disc in Windows 7. There’s little reason for the average computer user to access this tool, but some deep customizations and troubleshooting does take place through Registry Editor. Registry Editor is available from Administrative Tools only in Windows 10. However, the tool itself is available in other versions of Windows, too, through the ‘regedit’ command. It’s part of Administrative Tools in Windows Vista. In Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7, the “Performance” features of this tool became Performance Monitor, which you can read more about at the bottom of this list. The “Reliability” features were moved out of Administrative Tools and became part of the Action Center applet in Control Panel. It’s included in Administrative Tools in Windows 10 and Windows 8. Resource Monitor is also available in Windows 7 and Windows Vista but not via Administrative Tools. In those older versions of Windows, execute resmon to quickly bring it up. The Services tool is most often used to change the startup type for a particular service, which changes when or how the service is executed. Choices include Automatic (Delayed Start), Automatic, Manual, and Disabled. This is included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. It’s included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. In Windows 7, the tool can be used to manage the programs that launch when Windows starts up. It’s also available in Windows XP but just not within Administrative Tools. Execute msconfig to start it. It’s included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10 and Windows 8. The System Information tool is included with Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP as well but just not within Administrative Tools; execute msinfo32 to start it in those earlier versions of Windows. Some non-Windows programs may use Task Scheduler to set up things like a disk cleanup or defrag tool to run automatically. It’s included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. A task scheduling program, called Scheduled Tasks, is also included in Windows XP but is not part of this toolset. Basic firewall management is best performed via the Windows Firewall applet in Control Panel. Some versions of windows call this Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security. It’s included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. It tests your computer’s memory when Windows isn’t running, which is why you can only schedule a memory test and not run one immediately from within Windows. This is included within Administrative Tools in Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7. This tool is also available in this folder in Windows Vista but is referred to as Memory Diagnostics Tool. PowerShell is a powerful command-line utility and scripting language that administrators can use to control various aspects of local and remote Windows systems. Windows PowerShell ISE is included within Administrative Tools in Windows 8. It’s also available in Windows 7 and Windows Vista but not via Administrative Tools—those versions of Windows do, however, have a link to a PowerShell command line. Windows PowerShell Modules is included within Administrative Tools in Windows 7. You’ll also see it as part of Administrative Tools in Windows Vista but only if the optional Windows PowerShell 2.0 is installed. Windows PowerShell 2.0 can be downloaded for free from Microsoft here as part of the Windows Management Framework Core. For example, in Windows XP, when Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 is installed, you’ll see both Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Configuration and Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Wizards.
