windows98 = insecure

i think most of you will agree with me that microsoft and security don't go togather .i have got some basic problems about windows98----
1)no one needs to enter a username or a password they just press the escape key is there anything in the world i can do about and in XP we can't just press escape key and access anything right so there must be some way of forcing a password on 98 as well!
2)i don't want my friends to be able to use cd ROM is it possible.
3)i know we can change start button label to anything how can we do it in XP.
i know AO is not meant to teach me anything of this sort but i am just curious to know

1) This can be disabled in policy editor, I think. Go and search for it. There is a registry option.

Even when this option is disabled, it is easily bypassed in other ways (f.e. Safe mode, DOS mode)

2) There are no ACLs on anything in Win98 (except shares with User-level access control). Therefore there is no way of restricting this. There are 3rd party security progs (intended for cafes etc) which might do it

3) Surely that's a UI issue, not a security one. I have seen a 3rd party prog that changes it.

Hi,
For Win98, u can use the following steps so that the user needs to log in and cannot be by-passed using the 'Cancel' button. am using the same and is very effective. Got this from Winguides. Hope this helps.
ffive



Usually users can simply press 'Cancel' at the Windows logon box to bypass the login process and gain access to the local computer. This tweak will logout the user if the authentication fails or the user clicks Cancel.

Like all registry tweaks, this is for advanced users, please do not attempt to try this if you are not confident with the Windows registry and recovering from any subsequent problems.

Firstly, setup your computer for multiple users by using the 'Users' wizard in the Control Panel. Create a new user in addition to any existing users, then restart Windows and login as the new user (this will become your new default account).

While you are logged in open your registry and expand the [HKEY_USERS] key, there should be several sub-folders including ".DEFAULT", "Software" and a folder corresponding to the new username you created above.

Open the key listed below (if the 'Run' key does not already exist then create it), and create a new string value named "NoLogon", and set the value to equal "RUNDLL32 shell32,SHExitWindowsEx 0".

Log-off and now when you login using the new username you should gain access to the desktop, but when you press Cancel or enter the wrong password the desktop should partially load, and then the computer should return to the login screen.

Note: If you have problems with this tweak, press F8 while the "Starting Windows 98..." boot-up message is showing, and select Safe Mode. Then open your registry and delete the "NoLogon" key created above.

Note: Once this tweak has been implemented any subsequent users accounts that are created will inherit the 'NoLogon' value and therefore reboot when they login. To avoid this; when you first create a new user, open the key below for the newly created account name (e.g. [HKEY_USERS\jdoe]) and remove the 'NoLogon' value.





(Default) REG_SZ (value not set)
NoLogon REG_SZ "RUNDLL32 shell32,SHExitWindowsEx 0"

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run



Settings:
User Key: [HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
Name: NoLogon
Type: REG_SZ (String Value)

thanks i think it would really help

For your third question, you can use a hex editor to change some of the things in explorer.exe, there are some limitations, like you can't change the size of the file so you could change the 'start' button into something like the 'smurf' button. . .the happy hacker site has (or had) a kewl little tut on how to edit the value of explorer w/ a hex editor, something titled "customising your. . .", eh, yeah, it's still there. . .

http://www.happyhacker.org/harmless/hex.shtml

thanks for the reply bludgeon but i know how to do it on 98 but i really wanna know how to do it on XP or ME

Here is a site I recently came across. It has lots of hints and tips for windows (all versions).

http://www.annoyances.org

You know, I think you can do the same thing with XP, it still has explorer.exe in /WINDOWS, I don't realy know though, haven't tried it myself.. .