Asda’s Place on da’ Internet

Okay, this post is going to give you a few tricks on how to secure your XP Workstation and make it run a alot better. This should not take longer than a hour to make all the changes needed, to secure your pc, but if you are on a slow PC or dialup, it make take a bit longer.

1st, make sure your version of windows has Service Pack 2 installed. If your version of XP is quite recent, you will likly have SP2 allready installed. If not, you can installl it from Windows Update.

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Next, configure Automatic Updates for your Computer

Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Automatic Updates

Select Automaticlly Update My Computer (Recommended)

Select the time you wish to download the updates

Click Appy and OK

Next, enable the Windows Firewall from Control Panel. If you are using a router with a hardware firewall, it is still a good idea to enable this firewall as 2nd defence. You may need to configure your programs to run via the software firewall, by clicking advanced, clicking the checkbox by the program you wish to enable and clicking apply. Othwerwise, you can browse for the program you wish to make a rule for.

Handy Hint: If you are on a Network, remember to enable File and Printer Sharing, or your Network Resources will not work!

Download a Antivirus program on your PC. I suggest AVG, as that gets rid of 99% of all heebie Jeebies.

Download AVG Free from http://free.avg.com

Next, install Antispy. I suggest Adaware Free, which deep scans the registry and removes all spyware.

Download Adaware SE from www.adaware.com

Next, run your Virus and Spyware scanners. I suggest either pulling out your Ethernet cable or disabling the connecttion while you do this.  I usually run this in Safe Mode, by tapping F8 as Windows starts, which is another option.

Disable Windows Messenger, is something you should all do. You don’t need it, now you can download and install Windows Live Messenger.

Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add Remove Programs

Click the Add Remove Windows Componants Tab

Select Windows Messenger and uncheck the box

Click Apply then OK

Go to: http://messenger.msn.com

Select the software you wish to install (I choose none on the 1st page)

Click Download

Select Run when prompted

Follow the Setup Wizard

Backup your System Registry

Click Start > Run

Type “REGEDIT” without the quotes and hit OK

Click File

Export

Put a floppy in your A:\ drive and save the backup as Registry.reg

Put the floppy in a safe place

Disable Auto Login on your Computer

Click Start > Run

Type control userpasswords2 and click Ok

Check the box that says Users Must Logon to this Computer with a Username and Password

Click Apply but not OK as we will be coming back to this in a minute

Put a password on your Windows Account to stop unauthorised access

In the dialog box friom a minute ago, choose your user and click Reset Password

Type your new password and the  type it again and click OK. Do not close User Accounts yet! We still have work to do!

Rename the Administrator’s Account. I do this for security reasons.

In User Accounts, Double click Administrator

Under the field Username, choose a new value ( I call Administrator Net Admin on my PC’s)

Click Apply and Ok

Do not close User Accounts yet, thwere is 1 more job to do!

Make sure Users need to use CTRL +ALT + DEL if using Classic Logon

If you have changed your login settings in Control Panel . User Accounts to Classic Login, which I recommend, you need to enable CAD on Login.

Click the Advanced Tab and check the box next to Require users to press CTRL +ALT + DEL to login

Click Appy and OK

Finally, as you have been messing about with various settings, restart the PC

Click Start > Shut Down > Restart

Remember to press CTRL +ALT +DEL at the login screen to login. Also press the Windows Key and L when you walk away from your PC, as this locks the workstation.

Download a drive cleaning program to clean your hard drive of tempory files.

I suggest CC Cleaner (Freeweare) http://www.ccleaner.com/ or Webroot Window Washer (Shareware) www.webroot.com

Download, install and run one of these programs. It will clear your tempory files, cache, cookies and various other tempory files that cake up your hard disk

Finally, Defragment your hard drive

Click Start >  Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Defragment

Click Defragment, as this will analize and defragment the volumes on your PC. I don’t bother clicking analize as it is not that acurite.

Coming Later…. How to secure your PC using Steadystate.