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Create Your Own Windows Security Analysis Tool
The building blocks are in Windows XP Pro and 2000; also, get an enhanced Windows freebie.
Scott Dunn
From the March 2005 issue of PC World magazine
These days, security is on everyone's mind--as well as on everyone's computer screen. Security warnings pop up in your Web browser, your e-mail, your antivirus software, your network settings, and all your other apps. But tracking every nook and cranny where Windows hides its security settings--and choosing the correct ones--can be a full-time job.
Fortunately, Windows XP Professional and 2000 contain the building blocks of a comprehensive security analysis and configuration tool. (If you have XP Home, the security built into Service Pack 2 should meet your needs.) But you have to assemble the components into a security suite yourself. I'll show you how to put the utility together, use it to analyze your system, and decide what actions to take based on the results. While Windows' Security Configuration and Analysis utility does not address security for e-mail and other apps, it lets you assign all of Windows' system-level security settings in one place.
Changes to security settings can affect your network and Internet connections, your applications, and Windows' own Registry settings, so back up your system before embarking on any serious tweaking. (Read "Care and Feeding of the Windows Registry" from Stan Miastkowski's May 2002 Step By Step column.) After each change of setting, test your applications and network connection to make sure they're working properly. If a problem crops up, restore your Registry as explained in Lincoln Spector's April 2003 Answer Line column, "How Do I Restore My Windows Registry?".
More:
PCWorld Online
The building blocks are in Windows XP Pro and 2000; also, get an enhanced Windows freebie.
Scott Dunn
From the March 2005 issue of PC World magazine
These days, security is on everyone's mind--as well as on everyone's computer screen. Security warnings pop up in your Web browser, your e-mail, your antivirus software, your network settings, and all your other apps. But tracking every nook and cranny where Windows hides its security settings--and choosing the correct ones--can be a full-time job.
Fortunately, Windows XP Professional and 2000 contain the building blocks of a comprehensive security analysis and configuration tool. (If you have XP Home, the security built into Service Pack 2 should meet your needs.) But you have to assemble the components into a security suite yourself. I'll show you how to put the utility together, use it to analyze your system, and decide what actions to take based on the results. While Windows' Security Configuration and Analysis utility does not address security for e-mail and other apps, it lets you assign all of Windows' system-level security settings in one place.
Changes to security settings can affect your network and Internet connections, your applications, and Windows' own Registry settings, so back up your system before embarking on any serious tweaking. (Read "Care and Feeding of the Windows Registry" from Stan Miastkowski's May 2002 Step By Step column.) After each change of setting, test your applications and network connection to make sure they're working properly. If a problem crops up, restore your Registry as explained in Lincoln Spector's April 2003 Answer Line column, "How Do I Restore My Windows Registry?".
More:
PCWorld Online