Master

Managing your system with the Group Policy Editor

Warning: Prior to making changes with the group policy editor please use System Restore to make a known good Restore Point in case you encounter issues. TweakXP.com takes no responsibility for a problems that may occur from using the Group Policy Editor incorrectly.

Note: The group policy editor is not available to users of Windows XP Home Edition.

To access the Group Policy Editor follow these steps:

1. Click Start - Run.

2. Type "gpedit.msc" and press ENTER.

To understand navigation and available options click on the available options and read their descriptions. You can also get information on the Group Policy Editor through browsing for "Group Policy" in Help and Support.

IIS 5.0 Security Hole in Win XP Pro/2000

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used for copying files to and from a remote computer method on a network using TCP/IP. Be aware that FTP passwords are passed in clear text if you utilize userids other than anonymous. It is strongly recommends which you disable the FTP service unless absolutely necessary. If FTP service is a business requirement within your department/school, place the FTP Service and files that are to be transmitted on a stand-alone member server. Thereby, limiting access to other services and data on your network. Follow the steps below (depending on your OS) to disable FTP service or improve the security of your installation.
Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000 come with Internet Information Server 5.0 (IIS 5.0) as an optional component in the "Add/Remove Windows Components" located in the "Add or Remove Programs" in the "Control Panel".

Unfortunately if you install IIS 5.0 it automatically begins a service to permit FTP anonymous access which could be a serious security threat to your computer.

To disable this service follow these steps:
1. Start Ã Control Panel Ã Administrative Tools Ã Services.
2. Locate the â€œFTP publishingâ€ Service.
3. Right Click and select â€œPropertiesâ€.
4. Click â€œStopâ€.
5. Select â€œDisableâ€ from the Start-up mode drop down box.
6. Click â€œApplyâ€.
7. Click â€œOKâ€.

Now your computer has become much more secured.

How To Maintain System Security

Maintaining security on our systems is becoming more and more difficult - and more and more important - every day. Here are some simple tips to help you avoid and combat intruders, viruses and spyware on your PC. Nothing is 100percent, but these will go a lengthy way toward keeping your computing experience enjoyable. You should also read mnosteeles excellent Spyware Removal and Prevention post in this forum.

Common Sense!!!!!!

Never open email attachments unless you know the sender, expected the attachment, as well as know what the attachment is before opening

Use a GOOD anti-virus program, have it active at all times, as well as keep the definitions up to date (if it has an auto-updater, use it)

Use a firewall (software or hardware - doesnt matter - just use one!) Even if you have a router use a good software firewall as well like Sygate

If using a router be sure to change the defualt password, if using a wireless router you should also not permit remote logins to your router, enable WEP, disable SSID and enable MAC address cloning

Use AdAware and Spybot as scanning programs on a regular basis. You need to use both - one will frequently miss items the other will catch. Neither is better than the other - just different.

Download and use both SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard from javacool. SB is a passive utility that will innoculate the registry and prevent spyware entries from being installed. SG is an active utility that sits in the method tray and prevents spyware from being installed. Again, they are complementary to one another - use both and keep definitions updated

Visit Windows Update regularly and be sure to install all Critical Security Patches

Common Sense!!!!!!!

Never go to internet sites that are known for spyware

Allow First Party and Session Cookies, but block Third Party Cookies

Never post your email address or other personal information on a internet site or forum

Do not permit others to surf the internet on your computer - or be prepared for the consequences

Common Sense!!!!!!!!

Never reply to emails that request personal information, regardless of the apparent source of the request

Stay the heck out of chat rooms

Try an alternative internet browser like Mozilla, it is more secure and has a bunch more customizable security settings

Did I mention Common Sense?

How To See the Security Tab in XP Home

How Do I see the Security Tab in XP Home?
This tip provided through Gilles Pion
Go to: http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/
recommended/ scm/default.asp

Instructions: Download the x86 (Intel) version of the Security Configuration Manager and save it to your hard disk. Double click the SCESP4I.EXE file you downloaded and extract the contents to a temporary location on your hard disk. Then open the folder you extracted the files to and locate the Setup.inf (Setup Information) file. Right click Setup.inf and select Install. After the installation is finished, reboot your computer.

WARNING: Adjusting the permissions on a drive, file or folder can lock even the Administrator account out of that drive/file/folder. Deny Permissions take precedence over Allow Permissions, regardless of your group membership. Administrators are members of the Users group, through default. Uncheck Allow, rather than using Deny.

Quoted from:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_home_sectab.htm

How to Secure Windows XP & Office XP

How to Secure Windows XP
====================

1. Download and install Windows XP SP1 from:
( http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/SP/SP1/
WXP/en-us/xpsp1_en_x86.exe )

2. Download and install Office XP SP1 and SP2 (if you have Office XP installed) from:
( http://download.microsoft.com/download/officexpstandard/
sp/oxpsp1/w98nt42kmexp/en-us/oxpsp1.exe )

and..

( http://download.microsoft.com/download/officexpstandard/
sp/oxpsp2/w98nt42kmexp/en-us/oxpsp2.exe )

Note: If you get a "Error 1328" during the install (Possibly because your key is invalid) you will must download the administrative versions of the service packs:

( http://download.microsoft.com/download/officexpstandard/
sp/oxpsp1/w98nt42kmexp/en-us/oxpsp1a.exe )

and..

( http://download.microsoft.com/download/officexpstandard/
sp/oxpsp2/w98nt42kmexp/EN-us/oxpsp2a.exe )

For more information on updating Office using the administrative versions of the serivce packs, visit (This address has been removed, but you can use Google to watch a cached version of the page):
( notorious.dezines.com/notorious/articles/xpsp1.htm )

---------------

Windows XP SP2

The first security patch for Windows XP SP2 is available...

XP Security fix:IE SSL man-in-the-middle
This update resolves the "Certificate Validation Flaw Could Enable Identity Spoofing" vulnerability in Windows XP. Download now to prevent an attacker from attempting identity spoofing using certificates.

( http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Patch/
Q328145/WXP/EN-US/Q328145_WXP_SP2_x86_ENU.exe )

---------------

Download the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer from:
( http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000platform/
Install/1.0/NT5XP/EN-US/mbsasetup.msi )

This program will analyze your computer method and advise you on possible security problems and how to fix them.

---------------

Remove Unessessary Services
Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services

---------------

Remove IPC$ Share Remote Netbios Attack Vulnerability
1. Open Regedit
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> System -> CurrentControlSet ->
Control -> Lsa -> restrictanonymous
3. Change "Value Data" from zero to 1
4. This will disable remote logon to a null IPC$ share

---------------

Consider Installing a Firewall:
( zonealarm.com )

---------------

Make sure Microsoft Messanger is up to date (MS Messanger should automatically check for updates)

---------------

Download and run Ad-aware to remove spyware on your system:
( http://www.lavasoftusa.com )

---------------

Harden XP Part1

There are lots of howtos , booksÂ dealing with security and hardening operating systems in general.However there's not a bunch off sites that cover a broader range off hardening / security settings.Personally i such as windows xp for its drivers and compattibillity , configurablility and looks.What i certainly do not such as is the gigantic quantity offÂ build in features (flaws) such as remote desktop connection , etc making xp vulnerable in its default state.Â My goal is to display theÂ quick security options and emphasizing what the side effects / advantagesÂ Â are, as well as then let u see some additional security settings with the use off the build in mmc ( microsoft management console) and the default

security templates which is allready present at every XP box.

In my opinion, u do not need to read a whole security book with normal page lenght off 500 for some sec settings which would fit on one page.

1) disable netbios over tcp/ipÂ Â {no side effect unless u using netbios names}

Â Â goto start--->control panel ---->network and net connections

Â Â --->network connections

Â Â right click on your (local , whatever u use) connection and goto properties

Â Â right click tcp/ip goto options , click on advanced and selectÂ the tab WINS, clear the disableÂ netbios over tcp/ip checkbox.

2) While being there you might ass wellÂ disable (better uninstall)

Â Â Â client for microsoft networks and file and printer sharing.

Â Â Really the only thing you need is tcp/ip ( the standard net protocol)

Â this might affect sharing files with icq or msn, aim etc, which is bad anyway. Kazaa and overnet file sharing programs remain unaffected through this

procedure.

Â

3)Change your computer name to something less usual such as a underscore

4)goto start ---> run andÂ press browse

Â browse to C:WINDOWSsystem32ddeshare.exe

and press enter, disable all mentioned shares present, such as the hearts (port 135), blackjackÂ etc, ever wondered where this port 135 comes from ?

6)Regedit part

Â goto start--->run and enter "regedit"

before going further make a backup off the registry through exporting the current registry settings under file--->export etc

goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlsetControl
Lsarestrictanonymous

double click on this reg key and enter the the value 2

this disables totallyÂ null session enumeration (nobody can not enumerate

accounts etc)

restrictanonymoussam should be at value one , can not go to a higher value

7)goto

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlsetControl
ServicesLanManServer

click onÂ the + in front off LanManServer and click on Parameters

on the right half off the regeditor double click on NullSessionPipes

Delete everything whats there as value

Same goes for lanmanworkstation

8) goto

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlsetControl
ServicesTcpipParameters

double click on EnableIcmpRedirect and enter the value zero ( disabled)

same goes for DeadGwDetect

double click on EnableSecurityFilters and enter the value one ( enabled)

Â

export ( save) your new registry settings to a floppy , for later use .

-------------------------------------------------------------

Windows XP Professional

9) goto start--->runÂ and enter mmc

this will open the microsoft management console

goto File--->Add/Remove Snap-in..

goto Add and select the snap-insÂ 1) security templates

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2) security Â configuration and analysis

once done corect u should see two windows:

one named console one and one named Console RootSecurity Templates

right click on Security ConfigurationÂ and Analysis and goto open database

Do not save encrypted data to disk in IE

The latest versions of net explorer include some really good new security improvements. For this tweak I will discussed about enabling the feature to not save encrypted files to disk. This is a valuable feature. When you link to a site thats encrypted the data sent over the network is encrypted. Your browser has the key to decrypt and display the information. Why give somebody a chance to crack the encryption. If you do not permit IE to save it to disk then it is nearly impossible for somebody else to be able to get that file and use brute force to crack it.

Launch Internet Explorer.
Select the Tools from the menu bar.
Then select Internet Options... from the drop down menu.
Once the net options has loaded click on the advanced tab.
Under security get where it says Do not save encrypted pages to disk and check it.
Click OK

DHCP Fix

According to AnalogX, a security hole in windows allows other peopleÂ to monitor your pc. They made a fix, which can be downloaded freely from their site

http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/dhcpfix.htm

or go to http://www.analogx.com

They have a bunch of good software, all downloadable for free, its al freeware :)

De-crypt Encrypted files on Windows XP

1. Login as Administrator

2. Go to Start/Run and mode in cmd and click OK.

At the prompt mode cipher /r:Eagent and press enter

This prompt will then display:

Please mode in the password to protect your .PFX file:

Type in your Administrator password
Re-confirm your Administrator password

The prompt will then display

Your .CER file was created successfully.
Your .PFX file was created successfully.

The Eagent.cer and Eagent.pfx files will be saved in the current directory thats shown at the command prompt. Example: The command prompt displays C:Documents and Settingsadmin> the two files are saved in the admin folder. (For security concerns, you should house the two files in your Administrator folder or on a floppy disk).

3. Go to Start/Run and mode in certmgr.msc and click OK. This will launch the Certificates Manager. Navigate to Personal and right click on the folder and select All Tasks/Import. The Certificate Import Wizard will appear. Click Next. Browse to the C:Documents and Settingsadmin folder. In the Open dialog box, change the Files of Type (at the bottom) to personal Information Exchange (*.pfx,*.P12). Select the file Eagent.pfx and click Open. Click Next. Type in your Administrator password (leave the two checkboxes blank) and click Next. Make sure the Radio button is active for the first option (Automatically select the certificate store based on the mode of certifcate). Click Next. Click Finish. (Youll receive a message that the import was successful). To confirm the import, close Certificates Manager and re-open it. Expand the Personal folder and you will see a new subfolder labeled Certificates. Expand that folder and you will see the new entry in the right side column. Close Certificate Manager.

4. Go to Start/Run and mode in secpol.msc and click OK. This will launch the Local Security Policy. Expand the Public Key Policies folder and then right click on the Encrypted File System subfolder and select Add Data Recovery Agent... The Wizard will then display. Click Next. Click the Browse Folders... button. Browse to the C:Documents and Settingsadmin folder. Select the Eagent.cer file and click Open. (The wizard will display the status User_Unknown. Thats ok). Click Next. Click Finish. You will see a new entry in the right side column. Close the Local Security Policy.

You, the Administrator are now configured as the default Recovery Agent for All Encrypted files on the Local Machine.

To Recover Encrypted files:

Scenario #1

If you have completed the above steps BEFORE an existing user encrypted his/her files, you can log in to your Administrator account and navigate to the encrypted file(s). Double click on the file(s) to watch the contents.

Scenario #2

If you have completed the above steps AFTER an existing user has already encrypted his/her files, you need to login to the applicable Users User Account and then immediately logout. Next, login to your Administrator account and navigate to the encrypted file(s). Double click on the file(s) to watch the contents.

*Warning

Do not Delete or Rename a Users account from which will want to Recover the Encrypted Files. You won't be able to de-crypt the files using the steps outlined above.

Create an XP Pro Mandatory User Profile on the Local Machine

Example:

Go to Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Expand the Local User and Groups folder. Expand the Users folder. Right click on the Users folder and select New User. make a user named Defuser. Logout of the Administrator account and login to the new defuser account. Immediately logout of the defuser account and log back in to the Administrator account. Go back to Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Expand the Local User and Groups folder. Expand the Users folder. Double click on the new user Defuser. Go to the profiles tab. In the Profile Path section mode in X:WINDOWSAll UsersDefuser (where X is the method drive letter. Usually C:). Click OK and then close Computer Management.

Right click My Computer and select Properties from the menu then the advanced Tab/user profiles settings button. Scroll down the list and locate the user Defuser. Click on it (to highlight it) and select the Copy To button. In the Copy Profile To section, mode in X:WINDOWSAll UsersDefuser (where X is the method drive letter. Usually C:). In the Permitted To Use section, click the Change button and mode in the words Authenticated Users. Click the Checknames button then click Ok. Click Ok again.
Navigate to the X:WINDOWSAll UsersDefuser folder. Right click on the ntuser.dat file and select rename from the menu. Rename the file to ntuser.man

Re-Cap

The steps above just created a mandatory user profile named DefUser. Any new or existing user thats assigned to Defuser profile cannot save changes to the desktop or user environment. Each time the user logs off the changes are discarded. This implementation allows for a uniform desktop among designated users but not necessarily all users of the machine.

Assigning the Defuser User Profile to new user

Example:

Go to Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Expand the Local User and Groups folder. Expand the Users folder. Right click on the Users folder and select New User. make a user named User1. Double click (in the right hand pane) on the new user User1. Go to the profiles tab. In the Profile Path section mode in X:WINDOWSAll UsersDefuser (where X is the method drive letter. Usually C:).

When User1 logs in he/she will inherit the ntuser.man file in the X:WINDOWSAll UsersDefuser folder.

Assigning the Defuser User Profile to existing user

Example: Existing user is User2

Go to Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Expand the Local User and Groups folder.

In the right hand pane, double click on User2. Go to the profiles tab. In the Profile Path section mode in X:WINDOWSAll UsersDefuser (where X is the method drive letter. Usually C:).

When User2 logs in he/she will inherit the ntuser.man file in the X:WINDOWSAll UsersDefuser folder.

completely remove "index.dat"

Index.dat files are files impossible to delete under windows, as well as it stores all the information of your surfing history, you can be followed through these dangerous files. and even if you delete your cookies and your history, these index.dat files remain there and become bigger and bigger, their original size is 16kb but they can reach up until 600kb.

to preserve your privacy I found a way to delete them.. its impossible to do in windows thus you need to reboot your computer then press F8 or F5 for advanced boot options; then choose "safe type with command prompt; log in as administrator and then from there you can delete them freely without windows preventing it.

just go to the root (c:) through typing CD

then type del index.dat /s then enter

and all the files names index dat in your computer will be deleted permanently.

for more security; also in command prompt mode; go and completely delete your cookies folder to be completely sure all your net cache and history is gone forever. (well until you start searching again; as soon as you boot up normally windows will recreate them.. But blank)

thank you for reading

Stop net send spammers...

If you are getting net send spam (unwanted message boxs) then you can stop this through right clicking "my computer" goto manage, goto services and applications > services, then locate the service called "messenger", goto its properties and disable it in the drop down menu and apply. This is not msn/windows messenger, this just block incoming net send messages through dos and will stop net send spammers. cheers

Clear temp files on IEclose

Internet Explorer includes some really good security features. For this tweak I will discussed about the feature that clear the temporary net files each time you close net explorer. This is a very useful feature since it saves disk space and also keeps the websites which you downloaded private. Lets say which you were doing some online banking. All of the HTML files would be downloaded to the temp net files through default. Someone with few computer skills can then copy those files out of that directory and watch them. That is why it is good to have those files cleared automatically.

Launch Internet Explorer.
Select the Tools from the menu bar.
Then select Internet Options... from the drop down menu.
Once the net options has loaded click on the advanced tab.
Under security get where it says Empty Temporary net files folder when browser is closed and check it.
Click OK

Clear pagefile on shutdown

While it is generally not necessary for most users, some people want to clear the pagefile on shutdown. Windows uses this file as virtual memory / extra ram. Lets say which you are working on a highly confidential MS Word doc. When you load this document it is loaded into ram. To save ram windows places certain items in the pagefile. With some effort, the pagefile can then be opened and the document can be extracted as well as other open program or files. Yet Microsoft has implemented a feature that will clear the page file but they don't have it enabled through default. Please note, this will significantly increase the quantity of time it takes to shut down your computer. We dont necessarily recommend this tweak, but we offer you the option if you want it:

Start Regedit. If you are unfamiliar with regedit please refer to our FAQ on how to get started.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSet
ControlSession ManagerMemory Management

Select ClearPageFileAtShutdown from the list on the right.
Right on it and select Modify.
Change the value to one to enable.
Reboot your computer.
Tip originally submitted through Webmaster

Changing ANY user password without having to know the..

This tweak gives a user the opportunity to use it for good or bad. It enables the user to re-password account without having to know the existing password and also shows you every account that exists on the machine (even the ones that are hidden). This is a good tool to use if you forgot a password to say your administrator account and you needed to be logged into the admin account for a reason.

To watch all of the user accounts:

1) While logged onto the computer, click on Start>Run>and mode in CMD.

2) From the command prompt window, mode in net users. This will show you every account thats made onto the computer whether it is hidden or not.

-------------------------------------------------------------

To change an account password:

1) While logged onto the computer to an account that has administrative rights, click on Start>Run>and mode in CMD.

2) Type in net user then the name of the account then * and press enter. heres an example: net user administrator * or net user "Joe Smith" * . Put the name in quotes if it contains spaces.

3) From there it should ask for a new password. Type in your new password (type very carefully - the command window will not display what you type) and once more to confirm it. If you get the message that the command succeeded successfully youre all set!!

Block incoming attacks

Limit your exposure to the outside world through blocking incomming connections.

Start > Settings > Control Panel > Network Connections
Right click on "Local Area Network" And go to "Properties", In the scroll box, Click on "Internet Protocol (IP/TCP)" and then click on the "Properties" button, In the new window, Click on the "Advanced.." button, Then in the other new window go to the "Options" tab, Click on "TCP/IP Filtering" and hit "Properties", Check offÂ "Enable TCP/IP filtering (All adapters)" next In the Above "TCP Ports" Click on the Radio button "Permit Only" and then add in the ports which you want people to be able to access... If youre running a internet server add in 80, If youre running an FTP server add in 21... And so on... Then hit "OK" And close all the other windows, And reboot when it asks you too.

This way you can close the ports which you don't must be open to the outside world.Â An alternative to this tweak could be running a firewall or enabling windows built in firewall.Â Please note that in order for other computers to link to you, i.e. sending a file over AOL Instant Messenger or using Windows Messenger to send a file, make sure that the required port is not blocked on your system.Â Otherwise, nothing will go through.

Applying A Password to the Guest account

The default for the guest password in XP Home and Pro is BLANK...there is no password. I have been told through lots of even MicorSoft Reps that applying a password is not an option. Well they are all wrong. Listed below is the how to info.

To apply a Password to the guest account:

Please log on to this computer with an Administrator account and turn
on the guest account.
Click Start->Run->Type cmd and click OK.
Input the following command and press Enter. Net user guest password
Go to Control Panel->User Accounts. Click the Guest account and now you can change the password.
Thats it...it does work for I have done it lots of times.

Administrator Account Password in XP Home

In XP Home Edition the admin account is only accessible from SafeMode. This accounts password is through default BLANK....yeah that is right there's no password. Gee...PATHETIC.

To ensure a more secure system.

1. Turn off your computer.
2.Power on and hit F8 just after the BIOS check is complete. Select Safe Mode from the List. Its around the top of the list.
3.On the next page press ENTER.
4.Work you way to the Desktop. Goto Control panel...by:
*Clicking on StartsettingsControlPanel
5.Double Click on Users Accounts
6.Select the Administrators Account from the list.
7.Apply a password.

Then restart the system.

Access Stored User Names and Passwords with

The Stored User Names and Passwords applet lets you assign user names and passwords to use when needing to authenticate yourself to services in domains other than the one you are currently logged into. The average way of running this applet can be difficult to get quickly, so here is a way to launch it using a desktop shortcut using the rundll32.exe program:

<><><><><>

Click on START - RUN and mode the following (follwed through ENTER):

rundll32.exe keymgr.dll,KRShowKeyMgr

Read Full Story at

Q. I am using Windows XP and my problem is when I go to the YouTube internet site, I get a message telling me that I must get the latest version of Adobe Shockwave. It also tells me to update Java, but I already have the latest versions of both these programs. Why is this happening?
A. The problem here is which you are missing some core files. When you first downloaded Adobe Shockwave, certain files were likely not included in the version you installed, especially if it was some time ago. While you may have used the automatic update feature, this appears to have not added the files that are now needed. The solution is to download the latest installer from Adobe’s site, which will contain all the files you need and stop this message from appearing in the future.

Q. I have bought a new Acer Laptop, which has two 320GB hard drives. When I enter the BIOS and make a RAID set and set it to striping I see the two drives as 320GB each. However, when I then install Windows Vista, it shows only one drive with a capacity of about 700GB. Why don’t I see two drives, as well as can I use a partitioning program to split this huge drive into two?
A. You have opted to make a RAID zero set, which writes alternate blocks of data to each of your two drives. This is known as striping, as well as is created for systems where you need very quick read and write speeds. A RAID zero setup treats your two drives as one contiguous block of data, hence it only shows up as one drive. RAID zero is not a good idea if you are worried about data integrity, because if one drive fails, then you will lose all of your data. Instead, choose a RAID one setup, otherwise known as mirroring. Here, your two drives will be identical copies of each other, as well as if one drive fails, you can replace it and the data on the other drive will be copied across. You will also still only see one drive, because if you could see both, you would see duplicates of everything, which would confuse both you and Windows.

Q. My daughter insists she is using the right password for her Acer Aspire laptop but it won't let her log on. She is using Windows XP Media Center edition. Is there way to reset the password or for her to get into Windows?
A. Firstly, check the obvious things, such as putting forth effort to enter your password with the Caps Lock key both on and off in case it was on when the password was entered. If you have used special characters, such as the @ sign, attempt entering the password as if the keyboard layout is set to US English, instead of UK. If none of this works, then you can hold down the F8 key as you laptop begins up and choose to start in Safe Mode. Choose to login as Administrator and you’ll be able to gain access to your files as normal.

Q. I’ve recently read a bunch in the national press regarding so-called Wi-Fi theft and the ways in which people piggyback onto their neighbours wireless connections to commit online crimes. If I wanted to check if somebody was using my wireless router to access the net without my permission, would I be right in thinking that if I opened the My Network Places dialog and selected View Workgroup Computers, I would be able to see intruding users? If not, then what’s the best way to monitor my wireless security?
A. Intruders will usually only show up in My Network Places if the intruder is using the same workgroup name as you. The best place to look is in your router’s admin area, to see which computers are connected. If your router is set to act as a DHCP server, which most are, then the intruder’s computer name will show up. However, you shouldn’t have intruders if you have properly secured your network, so let us show you how.
Step 1:
Login to your router and go to the area where you can change network settings. Have a look to see if your router assigns IP addresses through DHCP, which is the default. Examine the list of attached devices, if you don’t recognise them, you may have an intruder.
Step 2:
The best way to stop anybody connecting to your router without permission is to use WEP or preferably WPA encryption. Set your router to use WPA-Personal and the WPA2 standard if possible. Choose and enter your pass phrase and give it only to those who must connect.
Step 3:
If you router doesn’t support WPA, or you don’t want to use encryption, you can use MAC authorisation instead. You will must know the MAC address of your Wi-Fi card, as well as enter it into your router. You can use this alongside standard security for the utmost protection.

Q. Earlier this week my laptop failed to boot up. On removing the hard drive and putting it in a USB carrier I listened to hear it spinning up. I am somewhat familiar to the various sounds they make as they spin up, as well as all didn't sound somewhat right. My computer recognised that an external USB device had been connected, as well as searching in Device Manager, the hard drive was reported as working normally. Yet it does not get allocated a drive letter and so effectively it is unreadable. It also does not appear under Drive Management. Do you think the drive has totally failed? Is there anything else I can do to recover some of the data off it?
A. Hard drives can fail without warning, although you’ll normally receive some advanced notice, usually in the form or strange noises, or problems when reading or writing files. It sounds as if your drive is spinning, hence your computer is recognising it, but the read/write arm is not moving, because you’d hear that as a faint clicking noise. This corresponds with the drive not showing up in Drive Management. If this is the case, then the news isn’t good. Data recovery software will only work if the data can be accessed, which clearly isn’t happening here. Although data recovery services, like Kroll Ontrack (www.ontrackdatarecovery.co.uk) can take the platters from your drive, as well as put them into another drive, the cost is very high and likely not worth it for your needs. You can attempt downloading a program from the website though, called Verifile, which will tell you if your files are actually recoverable.

Q. The DVD drive on my Asus laptop has stopped working and it no longer shows up in My Computer. Its been troublesome for a while and I think its finally given up the ghost. Is there anyway to replace the drive, or do I must get one from Asus? Ive a feeling that a replacement from Asus would be horribly expensive.

A. Its certainly possible to buy replacement laptop drives, but whether it would fit your particular model is another matter. What you must do is remove the drive, usually through pressing a button or moving a slider on the bottom of the laptop, as well as have a observe the shape of the drive. This is important, because not all drives are the same shape. You also must observe the interface, as there's two main kinds of connector. You may also must remove the bezel from your existing drive and put it on the replacement drive, to ensure it matches the chassis. A couple of places you can attempt for replacement drives are drivemylaptop.co.uk and laptopspares.co.uk.

Q. I am running Windows Vista Home Premium and I have a huge number of digital photos on my hard drive and was wondering if you knew of a program that could be used to make a catalogue of them with names and file locations so I could browse them and know which folder to get them in?
A. Windows Vista has a feature called Meta Tags, which lets you easily search for your pictures, but it does involve some work on your part. You can use Windows Photo gallery to manage your photos, but you will must put them all into your C:UsersYourusernamePictures directory. You will then see your photos sorted into year, month, day, etc. as well as see all Meta Tags, plus you can add your own tags to untagged photos. An alternative is to use Google Picasa, that you can download from http://picasa.google.com. This is a really good photo management tool, which will help you to catalogue your photos with ease.

Q. I have a Sony VAIO VGN-FE31H with two 512MB sticks of PC2-4200 memory inside. If I bought two 1GB sticks of PC-25300 memory would this work? I have checked and it’s possible to remove both sticks from my laptop.
A. Your laptop manual will normally tell you how much memory you can fit, as well as what mode and speed you must use. However, if you don’t have that to hand, a very useful tool is Crucial’s memory advisor, at crucial.com/uk. You’ll get that this covers almost every laptop model, as well as desktop PCs and motherboards. In your case, the memory advisor confirms which you can indeed replace your two 512MB PC2-4200 sticks with two 1GB PC2-5300 sticks, as well as that it will cost you just £32.

Q. I have a laptop that’s three years old and the hard drive is rapidly filling up. I would want to fit a higher capacity drive and I’ve searched at various online retailers and know the mode of drive I must buy. However, as there's a bunch of data on it, is there way to transfer the contents of my new hard drive directly onto the new one, without reinstalling Windows?
A. It certainly is possible to do what you are asking, but you will need a bit of extra equipment to do it. As well as your new drive, you will need a hard drive imaging program, like Acronis True Image (£40 from acronis.co.uk) and a USB laptop hard drive caddy. A USB caddy for your new drive can be found on eBay for a few pounds. All you then must do is clone the contents of your old hard drive, onto the drive in the USB caddy, then take out your old drive and put the new one in.
Step 1: Connect your USB drive caddy into a free USB Port on your laptop, as well as then download, install and start the Acronis True Image software. Once on the application’s Welcome screen, click on Disk Utilities and then click on the Clone Disk icon to start the Disk Cloning operation.
Step 2: On the next screen, select the Automatic option as your chosen Clone Method and then click Next. The next screen will be this one will permit you to select which drive to clone, so select your existing laptop’s hard drive as the source. It should be labelled as Disk 1.
Step 3: The next process is to choose the drive in the USB caddy as the destination for the cloned disk. Your laptop will then reboot and copy the data to the new drive. Once it has finished, swap the drives around and remove data from your old drive if you wish.

Although lots of laptops come with CD and DVD disc burning software pre-installed, some do not or they are trial versions which soon stop working. While CD burning software used to fairly simple, most suites, like Nero Burning Rom and Roxio Creator suite have grown to become all-encompassing multimedia applications, which may offer far more than you actually need. Both Windows XP and Vista offer simple CD burning, but its not particularly flexible.
You can burn Audio CDs easily enough with Media Player or iTunes, but if you want to burn unique kinds of discs, its best to observe dedicated disc burning software. One program that offers a bunch of features, without being over-complicated or bloated, as well as which also has the distinct advantage of being free, is DeepBurner, that you can download from deepburner.com. Its a very simple way of burning ISO images you may have downloaded, as well as other kinds of disc.

Depending on your email client, you may get a way to backup the emails built in. However, not lots of have this facility, or if they do, it’s pretty basic. So, you will generally need to rely on a third-party program. If you use Mozilla Thunderbird, then there's an excellent program, called MozBackup which will backup all of your email, and believe it or not even some extensions, your addressbook and more. It can also be used to backup Firefox, including bookmarks. Mozbackup can be downloaded from http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com.
For Outlook and Outlook express users, there's a couple of choices, Fab’s autobackup will backup a number of Windows programs including your Outlook and Outlook Express emails, settings and address book. You can download it fromhttp://tinyurl.com/8f8rac. An alternative is Genie Mail Backup which is specifically created to back up Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail (Vista). It’s a commercial product, but you can download a 30-day trail from genie-soft.com.

Q. My laptop is a few years old now and it’s getting pretty grubby to be honest. The keys are dirty and the screen is covered in fingerprints. Is there way I can safely and easily spring clean my laptop without damaging it?
A. The first thing you must do is shut it down and unplug the power lead. It may be wise to remove the battery as well. To clean the chassis, a damp, but not wet cloth should be enough to remove most dirt and grime. For the keyboard, a soft paint brush is a good way to brush out dust and debris from between the keys. Again, a damp cloth can be used to remove dirt. The screen is a unique matter. LCD screens are somewhat fragile, as well as you shouldn’t press on them. Dust can be removed with an anti-static cloth, but for finger prints, you will likely need a screen-cleaning fluid. Some can be sprayed on the screen, while others must be sprayed onto a lint-free cloth, so make sure you read the instructions. For a full range of cleaning products, have a observe

www.mrpcclean.co.uk.

How to Speed your laptop up

Most laptops that are brand new come with loads of software pre-installed – a bunch of it trial-only, as well as many applications which you may not even use. The more software you install, the longer it’ll take your laptop to start up, but with a free third-party app it’s a simple process to speed things up.

Using Autoruns, which can be downloaded here for free, you’ll be able to choose which programs your laptop runs on start-up, deselecting the ones you don’t use very frequently to speed things up considerably.
You’ll get lots of applications start automatically – from Microsoft Office to DVD creation software – and it really is just a case of un-ticking the ones you don’t want to run. This should see a gigantic difference in your laptop’s Notification Area – the corner of the display that shows all the active programs. If you must run the software you’ve disabled from starting automatically, simply select it from the start menu.
Only un-tick the programs you recognise in Autoruns, however, as well as be sure to leave Windows method files and applications as they are.

How to Save space on your netbook

To save hard drive space on your Windows XP netbook, make sure to uninstall software applications which you rarely use. You can do this through searching to Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs and choosing exactly which programs will get the boot. To make it easier for you, Windows will tell you how frequently you use an application, so you can quickly determinewhich programs are useless.

Remove software to save space on your hard drive

Windows XP itself also has a range of default applications installed, lots of of which you may also not need. To remove these, again browse to Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs, as well as this time click on the Add/Remove Windows Components button. You can now un-tick applications you want to remove, as well as save yourself even more storage space.

While the compact size of netbooks makes them ideal for regular travel use, their tiny screens can frequently be awkward to use, when reading multiple pages of text or searching the internet. Their low screen resolutions somewhat compensates, but to make life easier, its well worth increasing your netbooks defualt font size, to make text bigger and more comfortabel to see.
To do this in Windows XP - the current netbook favourite - browse to Start > Control Panel > Display > Appearance, then set the Font size to either Large or Extra Large, depending on your needs.

When running a laptop at home from mains power, lots of users leave the battery plugged in at all times, so that its always fully-charged for when they want to hit the road. What they frequently do not realise though, is it through never letting the battery fully discharge every now and then, theyre actually damaging the battery and guaranteeing that its lifespan will be greatly reduced. As a result, its always a good idea to remove the battery as soon as it is fully-charged, as well as then let it fully discharge when using, before recharging again. That way, youll be able to enjoy your laptop for longer without having to but a new battery every few months.

While the cool mobility of laptops makes them really good for working on the sofa or on in bed, its always important to make sure your laptop has adequate ventilation, to avoid overheating. Since the majority of laptops have vetilation fans to keep internal components cool, you need to always ensure that these vents are unobstructed. This means no working on a duvet or cushion, as the extra heat it will cause your laptop to store could be fatal and cause your laptop to critically overheat. If in doubt, place the laptop on a tray when working in bed.

Due to the portable nature of laptops and netbooks, the data it holds is unfortunately always at risk of both theft and loss. While its impossible to keep your laptop 100percent safe at all times, you can ensure that your data is kept safe, even if your laptop is stolen or lost, through encrypting it.
What this means is that all your most important files will be password protected, so thieves would get it near impossible to access your data without authorised access. The technology behind encryption is somewhat complicated, but thankfully the actual process for the end-user is far simpler. One particularly easy free solution you can use is TrueCrypt, which can be downloaded from

www.truecrypt.org.

It’s all too easy to fill your laptop’s hard drive with files and applications, as well as the more software you add the slower it’s likely to run. Traces of programs are even left behind after you’ve uninstalled them, potentially slowing your laptop further. Thankfully, it’s easy to spruce things up using an application called CCleaner.
You can download CCleaner from here for free. Once downloaded, you’ll be able to clean your laptop using three unique tabs – Cleaner, Registry and Tools.
Cleaner lets you delete all your old or unwanted internet, explorer and method files – including your net history, cookies and files in the recycle bin. It’s all simple, but it can free up hundreds of Megabytes in one go.
Registry lets you tidy the Windows Registry – the place traces of applications are left after you’ve made major changes, potentially hampering your laptop’s performance. CCleaner makes it easy to remove redundant Registry files.

Tools, finally, lets you remove the applications you no longer need, again freeing up more space on your laptop’s hard drive. Using CCleaner on a regular basis should help to keep your laptop in tip-top condition.

By reading the national newspapers on given day, you can see just how frequently laptops are lost or stolen every day in the UK. The compact, portable nature of the technology means that light-fingered thieves can easily pick up a laptop and run off with it, the second you turn your back, so it makes sense to make life as difficult as possible for anybody with a greedy eye on your laptop.

Nearly all laptops are fitted with slots for a Kensington Lock, so invest in one as soon as you can. Their tough cables and metal locks let you tether your laptop to an inanimate object wherever you travel, making it almost impossible for a thief to run off with your portable, without you noticing. There are models available with combination locks and key locks, so you can easily choose the best one for your needs, as well as their affordable prices make them an essential purchas

How to: Protect your laptop's screen

While laptops are created to keep all components as safe as possible, there's nevertheless extra things you can do to keep it as protected as possible. While the most obvious process is to buy a well-padded carry case, you can also invest is a small cloth to keep the screen as well protected as possible.

The reason for doing this is, if pressure is applied to the lid of your laptop, the laptops keyboard can easily press against the screen and cause it to become scratched. By placing a soft cloth between the keyboard and screen when travelling, you can ensure that no damage will be caused, making it a very inexpensive and easy way to care for your portable.

This depends on your laptop’s graphics abilities to some extent, as well as the physical connectors on the laptop chassis. You will also need a TV that is able to accept an input from your laptop, because the signal used through a computer monitor is somewhat unique to that used through a TV. If you have a high-end multimedia laptop, then it may well possess an HDMI port, in which case the connection is very straightforward to a plasma or LCD TV. Using HDMI means that the sound will also be delivered, without the need for separate cables.
Some LCD TVs have a Standard D-Sub VGA input, sometimes called PC input. This enables you to link your analogue VGA or DVI output from your laptop to the TV, although you may need a DVI to VGA adapter. Some TVs also have DVI inputs. However, even though some TVs have this input, the resolutions supported next to the TV may be very unique to that of your laptop.
If your laptop doesn’t offer the resolutions your TV requires, you’ll must use a tool like Entech’s Power-Strip (www.entechtaiwan.com) to force a custom resolution. Using a VGA or DVI connection will also require a second connection for the audio, as these connections only carry a video signal.

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