Deploying MMC 3.0 applications on pre-Vista OSes

The recently released Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 has 22 MMC 3.0 samples that install to the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Samples\SysMgmt\MMC3.0 folder. If you’ve deployed an MMC 3.0 application to a computer that is running a pre-Vista OS, such as windows XP, your app may have a problem accessing Microsoft.ManagementConsole.dll. To avoid this problem, follow these instructions provided by the MMC Team.

It is a best practice to run MMCPerf.exe when deploying a managed snap-in on an OS prior to Windows Vista. The MMCPerf.exe tool, in the Windows System32 folder, can improve the performance of MMC and installed managed snap-ins. This tool is present in any OS prior to Vista that has MMC 3.0 installed. However, this tool will only work if .NET 2.0 is installed. The managed snap-in developer should check their dependencies including .NET 2.0 and MMC 3.0 before running MMCPerf.exe. MMCPerf.exe will put the MMC assemblies in the GAC and NGEN them.