Installing the Adminpak.msi will install all of the management tools that are needed to administer Windows 2000, Windows XP Pro and Windows Server 2003 computers and network. Adminpak.msi has a few versions, and the latest one is for Windows Server 2003 SP1. Read more about Adminpak.msi on the Download Windows 2000 Adminpak.msi, Download Windows 2003 SP1 Adminpak.msi, Download Windows 2003 R2 Adminpak.msi and Extract Specific Tools from Adminpak.msi articles.

However, right now there is still no Adminpak.msi for Windows codenamed Longhorn Server available, and beta versions of Vista prevented you from installing the Windows Server 2003 Adminpak.msi on them. As Windows Vista is released to manufacturers (RTM) and to the public during the beginning of January 2007, the lack of the right Adminpak.msi will cause system administrators to have to continue running Windows XP SP2 workstations in order to allow them to control and administer their networks.

Although I am 100% positive that Microsoft will come up with a solution pretty quickly, for now, if you want to use the Windows Server 2003 SP1 Adminpak.msi on your Windows Vista computer, you will need to do the following:

1. Install the Windows Server 2003 SP1 Adminpak.msi on Vista RTM.
2. Once it is installed you will need to register the DLLs needed for the various snap-ins manually from an elevated command prompt. Copy the following text and paste it into a CMD file (something like adminpak_vista.cmd):

@echo off 

set filelist=adprop.dll azroles.dll azroleui.dll ccfg95.dll
set filelist=%filelist% certadm.dll certmmc.dll certpdef.dll certtmpl.dll
set filelist=%filelist% certxds.dll cladmwiz.dll clcfgsrv.dll clnetrex.dll
set filelist=%filelist% cluadmex.dll cluadmmc.dll cmproxy.dll cmroute.dll
set filelist=%filelist% cmutoa.dll cnet16.dll debugex.dll dfscore.dll
set filelist=%filelist% dfsgui.dll dhcpsnap.dll dnsmgr.dll domadmin.dll
set filelist=%filelist% dsadmin.dll dsuiwiz.dll imadmui.dll lrwizdll.dll
set filelist=%filelist% mprsnap.dll msclus.dll mstsmhst.dll mstsmmc.dll
set filelist=%filelist% nntpadm.dll nntpapi.dll nntpsnap.dll ntdsbsrv.dll
set filelist=%filelist% ntfrsapi.dll rasuser.dll rigpsnap.dll rsadmin.dll
set filelist=%filelist% rscommon.dll rsconn.dll rsengps.dll rsjob.dll
set filelist=%filelist% rsservps.dll rsshell.dll rssubps.dll rtrfiltr.dll
set filelist=%filelist% schmmgmt.dll tapisnap.dll tsuserex.dll vsstskex.dll
set filelist=%filelist% w95inf16.dll w95inf32.dll winsevnt.dll winsmon.dll
set filelist=%filelist% winsrpc.dll winssnap.dll ws03res.dll 

 


 for %%i in (%filelist%) do (
echo Registering %%i ...
regsvr32 /s %%i
) 

echo.
Echo Command Completed

Further Reading

You might also want to read the following related articles:

• Add Administrative Tools Icon to the Desktop in XP/2003
• Add Command Prompt Here Shortcut to Windows Explorer
• Add Printers and Fax Icon to the Desktop in XP/2003
• Add Scanners and Cameras Icon to the Desktop in XP Pro
• Add Scheduled Tasks Icon to the Desktop in XP/2003
• Administer Windows 2000/2003 Domain from Windows XP
• Download Windows 2000 Adminpak
• Download Windows 2003 Adminpak
• Download Windows 2003 R2 Adminpak
• LDAP Search Samples for Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2000/2003
• Quickly Search Active Directory from the Desktop
• Saved Queries in Windows Server 2003 AD Users & Computers

Links

Download Adminpak.msi – Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack (12.5mb)

Error message when you install the Windows Server 2003 management tools on a Windows Vista-based computer: “MMC could not create the snap-in” – 930056