Open MMC

Do one of the following:
- Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
- At the command prompt, type mmc, and then press ENTER.

The complete command-line syntax for MMC is:

mmc path\filename.msc [/a] [/64] [/32]

path\filename.msc

This command starts MMC and opens a saved console. You need to specify the complete path and file name for the saved console file. If you do not specify a console file, MMC opens a new console.

You can use environment variables to create command lines or shortcuts that do not depend on the explicit location of console files. For instance, if the path to a console file is in the system folder (for example, mmc c:\windows\system32\console_name.msc), you can use the expandable data string %systemroot% to specify the location (mmc %systemroot%\system32\console_name.msc). This may be useful if you are delegating tasks to people in your organization who are working on different computers.

This switch opens a saved console in author mode and is used to make changes to saved consoles. When consoles are opened with this option, they are opened in author mode, regardless of their default mode. This does not permanently change the default mode setting for files. When you omit this option, MMC opens console files according to their default mode settings.

/64

Opens the 64-bit version of MMC (MMC64). Use this option only if you are running a Microsoft 64-bit operating system. For more information, see Running 32-bit and 64-bit snap-ins in the Windows Server 2003 family of operating systems.

/32

Opens the 32-bit version of MMC (MMC32). When running a Microsoft 64-bit operating system, you can run 32-bit snap-ins by opening MMC with this command-line option. For more information, see Running 32-bit and 64-bit snap-ins in the Windows Server 2003 family of operating systems.

Notes

After you open MMC or a console file in author mode, you can open any existing console by clicking Open on the File menu.
You can use the command line to create shortcuts for opening MMC and saved consoles. A command-line command is used in the Run command on the Start menu, in any command-prompt window, in shortcuts, or in any batch file or program that calls the command.
32-bit is the default.