Securing out-of-lifecycle systems
Not every business can afford the latest and greatest, even if they want to be secure.
Windows XP
UK’s National Health Service’s unhealthy reliance on XP
A vast majority of the NHS is running on the obsolete Windows XP OS. If hacked, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Booting from CD-ROM
When installing Windows98 or Windows Millenium, there is first a challenge : – how to start the SETUP program on the installation CD-ROM ? that requires, that some kind of operating system is already installed on the system, which is …
Registry Keys for Tweaking Windows Update (Part 2)
In this article, I will continue the discussion where I left off in Part 1 by exploring the remaining Windows Update related registry keys.
Registry Keys for Tweaking Windows Update (Part 1)
In this article, I will show you some registry keys that are associated with Windows Update. As I do, I will show you the various settings that you can assign to those registry keys.
Creating a Sysprep Image Library for Virtual PC
This article examines how to use Sysprep to create a library of operating system images which you can then use to deploy virtual machines on Microsoft Virtual PC for testing purposes. Such a library can help you save valuable time when creating test networks using Virtual PC.
Running Windows Under Non-Admin Accounts
Everyone knows that one of the most important principles of network security is least privilege: grant ordinary users only those rights and permissions they need to get their work done and no more. For example, if ordinary users don’t need access to sensitive data stored in the Accounting share, don’t give them any permissions on that share, either through shared folder permissions on the share itself or NTFS permissions on the folder underlying the share.
Windows XP Keyboard Shortcuts
In today’s high speed, fast paced IT environment, it’s important to be able to work quickly, and efficiently. To do this, you should learn how to use both the keyboard and the mouse simultaneously to do many tasks, such as ‘finding a computer on your network’ all the way to X with nothing but a quick and simple keystroke. This article’s learning exercises not only build up speed, and help you be efficient and more productive, but will also help you take the pressure off working with one hand, now you can work with two.
Gaining Speed: Empty Prefetch on your XP System
A little known tweak that can help you gain some performance on your XP Professional (and Windows Server 2003) related systems is to periodically empty the prefetch folder. The prefetch folder is used to help speed up the loading of programs; XP will load programs it thinks you need before you ask for them yourself.
Performing Resultant Set of Policy Queries with the GPRESULT Tool
The hierarchical nature of group policies can make troubleshooting group policy related issues very cumbersome, especially on unfamiliar networks. One way to greatly simplify the troubleshooting process is to use Windows XP’s GPRESULT tool. In this article, I will introduce you to this tool and show you how to use it.