The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) provides a common
framework for IT pros to create management and administration tools within a
single, familiar GUI. Microsoft designed the MMC to allow users to customize
the interface as well.

You can create taskpads that
present a set of commonly-used actions in a graphical format, giving you quick
access to these actions. For example, you might add a taskpad
view to the Event Viewer to give you quick access to the commands for saving a
log file, clearing the log of all events, and so on.

Follow these steps to create a taskpad
for an MMC console snap-in:

  1. Go to
    Start, Run, and enter MMC to
    start the MMC.
  2. Select
    Console, Add/Remove Snap-In, and add the snap-in(s) you want included in
    your custom console.
  3. Select
    Action, New Taskpad View to start the New Taskpad View wizard, and then click Next.
  4. In the
    Taskpad Display page, choose the way you want
    the information displayed in the taskpad,
    whether it’s Vertical List, Horizontal List, or No List. Also, choose how
    you want task descriptions listed in the taskpad,
    and then click Next.
  5. In the
    Taskpad Target page, specify whether you want
    the taskpad to apply to all tree items of the
    same type or only to the selected branch (such as all event branches in
    the Event Viewer, or only a specific branch such as System).
  6. Specify
    a name for the taskpad. (The name appears on the
    taskpad’s tab.) Then, click Next
    and Finish to complete the New Taskpad View
    wizard and start the New Task wizard.
  7. In the
    New Task wizard, choose the menu command, shell command, or navigation
    task you want to add to the taskpad. At the end
    of the wizard, you have the option of running the wizard again to add
    additional tasks.
  8. After
    you customize the console, you can add other consoles and customize them
    as well. When you’re satisfied with the results, choose Console, Save As,
    and save the console with a new name.

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