Xp secure... 3asy

I have just started reading on securing my window XP professional... I am not to in to XP s vulnrability's because i normally use linux personally.

Well to start you should start by what programs you should have! ( just basic ones )

First off you have got to have an anti virus. I personally use Norton because i am not to fond of any others...

An Anti virus program will help by keeping your computer virus free. Also it will keep you from downloading anything with a virus if the program is updated and made to block that virus. It may not block everything. But if you did not have an anti virus you could not scan to get what it misses which is a very great feture of an anti virus program. This usually gets rid of all viruses that it misses during the time you are on your computer. This is why you should run a full system scan weekly.
And have an upto date anti virus program. Granite it does not stop everything... sometimes you have to go in and get dirty and get rid of them yourself. ( one time i had gotten blaster worm andfigured out how to get rid of it... it took me a few days research but once i new. I can now get rid of it in about 30 seconds tops ) That is pretty bad...lol

Also you should have a good upto date Adware program that is updateable. And also has a scanner. And quarentines and problems/adware.

The one i use in this case is Ad-Aware 6 by lavasoft programs. Personally it works very great and good at catching and detecting adware on your PC

Here is a link to download this. ( it is free ) PS you should get it... lol

www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
You should also have a program that gets rid of spyware.

And for this i personally use spybot search and destroy. it works very well and has a one great feature that i like a lot besides the updates and imunizing and restore points... you can advance mode it... IF you are sure you want all spyware gone and no what they are.

But here is a link for this to download( it is also free )

www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download
Also if you search downloads.com it is also there.

This is what spyware may do to your PC woth out you even knowing... might i add.

it could Steal your information (Identity Theft
it could Flood your browser with Pop-ups
it could Spam your Inbox
it could Slow down your connection
it could Slow down or crash your computer

This could be very sevure if you do not scan you comp...With this S&D program!( i am serious)

wink wink

No it is very possible if you are on the internet a lot and doing a lot of thing on it... and sending important info... It could be stolen!!!
For XP it comes with an internet connection firewall... Which basiclly is a block from hackers, people stealing your info...etc
How to turn this on ( on XP ) is to go to your Internet connection in control pannel then you go to all network connections and you right click on Your ISP and go to properties and then click and the advanced tab. And there will be a check box where you can check and apply and that is all done.

I also recomend you download a free firewall!
Here is a great one right here.OUTPOST FIREWALL
Here is a link to download this.

www.agnitum.com/download/outpost1.html

There is also a thing called a port scanner. I recommend you getting one of these. and closeing all unneeded open ports. I do not no of a simple port scanner because i use NMAP which is complicated for most people who are just getting into computer secureity.

http://www.blackcode.com

there is a link to a lot of good secureing tools such as ( port scanner )
Here is a link to get NMap by the way if you are interested. It is always great to push yourself and learn! Do not ever for get that.
www.insecure.org/nmap/nmap_download.html


Hopefully this will help you in securing your Windows. But i also hope it helps you in wanting to learn more in the security field of computers. And i hope you try to push yourself: Maby by getting linux and installing that and seciring it. What ever your interests are in s3curity. Follow them and do it. Start small but do not be scared to learn. Linux is great for learning. But may i suggest useing a simple more graphical linux. Such as Red Hat. You can also use peanut or Lindows. These are the easiest linux OS's that i have personally used.

Well hopefully i helped you in secureing your windows and maby sparking some interests or hopefully you decide to get linux and install that and play with it and learn it and have fun with it. If possible, secure it and write some TUT's on it.

Well have a great day.

am I picky.. I can see it isn't C&P.. bit more like retyped from the original web pages in many parts.. with spelling errors.. or as I said am I being a bloody pick and being picky?

Needs some work and detailing !

A Linux guy who says he is "not into XP vulnerabilities" and then attempts to write a tutorial
on XP security. And then goes on to plug Linux at the end....Nice info-mercial for Linux.
This is a 1/2 baked tutorial with very little value.
Nothing more than a clone of several higher quality posts from the past IMO.

I will apologise for the accusation of the Tut being a C&P..

Its basic layout and various points were strongly familure to me.. as i read it (and filtered the shockingly poor grammer and spelling) I recognised the style of a part of it as sonthing I had read in the past few days.. after a search of my browsing history.. I was unable to find the link in question.. But I am only commenting on my home PC's here.. I will also search my work PC as well ..
so as I am unable to follow through with backup / supporting information I will retract my original accusation..

Now points to consider in this tutorial:

Adaware and Spybot S&D are very closly related in what they do .. they both remove Adware & spyware..
Current version of adaware is Adaware se v1.05 (I doubt you can still update V6)
What does a port scanner have to do with securing your own box? sus out others weaknesse..
You want to know what is looing out your doors.. try TCPVIEW..
How much do you know about Linux? what Red Hat version are you running.. why not give a tutorial on locking down what you are useing..

You have missed the Golden Rule of ALL operating systems always check for updates.. and install patches as soon as possable .. not I said as soon as possable.. not immediatly ..some patches can break ..ASAP is a caution.. and implies after testing.. This rule applies to *nix as well as Windoze XP/2k/2k3

next time .. type the tut up in a fair Word processor that has a spell check.. use the spell check..
then read it to someone else, then have them read it.. fix it up .. re spell check, re-read..then copy over to the forum..

cheers

Good Day,

In the spirit of constructive criticism the following comments are provided:

When I read the title I was expecting to be taught some ways in which to secure the Windows XP OS, like how to shut down unnecessary services, tweaking XP to do this and not do that, etc., etc. You didn’t really tell us any thing about securing the OS.

Maybe it’s a personal issue I have, but I do believe if you are going to post a tutorial, you truly need to have it free of typos and grammatically correct. You lost me very quickly because of typos. The Internet is worldwide and thus everyone can read your thread. Armed with that knowledge, what creditability would someone give to your information if it were poorly presented?

Clean it up, repost it, and I'm sure it will be better received.

cheers