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As computers become more and more in the lives and work of ordinary users, problems that only professionals can encounter, such as configuring small (home) networks, are now common among ordinary users.
The Windows family of operating systems has always been known for its ease of use, trying to make complex tasks a simple task. However, in some cases, ease of use and security are conflicting. At the same time, due to the widespread use of the network, each PC connected to the Internet is actually an Internet node, so security is a problem that every user must pay attention to.
1. Simple file sharing
In order to allow users on the network to share files with just a few clicks of the mouse, XP has added a feature called "simple file sharing", but it also opens up many NetBIOS vulnerabilities. To turn off the simple file sharing function, open "My Computer", select the menu "Tools" → "Folder Options", click "View", and cancel "Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended)" in "Advanced Settings".
2. FAT32
Many hard drives are formatted as FAT32 for new machines. To improve security, you can convert the FAT32 file system to NTFS. NTFS allows for more comprehensive and fine-grained control over the permissions of files and folders. It can also use Encrypting File System (EFS) to ensure that data is not stolen from the file partition level. You can view the current file system of the drive by right-clicking the drive in "My Computer" and selecting "Properties". If you want to convert the file system to NTFS, first back up the important files, select the menu "Start" → "Run", type cmd, and click "OK". Then, in the command line window, execute convert x: /fs: NTFS (where x is the drive letter of the drive).
3.Guest account
A Guest account is a so-called guest account that can access a computer but is restricted. Unfortunately, Guest has also opened the door for hacking. If you don't need a Guest account, it's best to disable it. In Win XP Pro, open "Control Panel" → "Administrative Tools" and click "Computer Management". Find "Local Users and Groups" in the list on the left and click on "Users". In the right pane, double-click the Guest account and select "Account is disabled." WinXP Home does not allow you to deactivate the Guest account, but allows you to set a password for the Guest account: first, execute the Net user guest password command in the command line environment, then go to Control Panel, User Settings, and set the password for the Guest account.
4. Administrator account
One of the common ways to hack is to try to get the password for the Administrator account. At least one account per computer must have Administrator privileges, but not necessarily the name "Administrator". So, whether in XP Home or Pro, it's best to create another account with full privileges and then deactivate the Administrator account. Also, in WinXP Home, modify the default owner account name. Finally, don't forget to set up enough complex passwords for all your accounts!
5. exchange files
Even if your operation is completely normal, Windows will leak important confidential data (including passwords). Maybe you never think about looking at these leaked secret files, but hackers will definitely. The first thing you need to do is to ask the machine to clear the system's page file (swap file) when it shuts down. Click the Windows Start menu, select Run, execute Regedit, find HKEY_local_machine\system\currentcontrolset\control\sessionmanager\memory management in the registry, and then create or modify ClearPageFileAtShutdown to set this DWORD value to 1.
6. dump file
When the system encounters a serious problem, it will save the data in the memory to the dump file. The role of the dump file is to help people analyze the problems encountered by the system, but it is not useful to the average user; on the other hand, like swap files, the dump file may leak a lot of sensitive data. To prevent Windows from creating dump files, follow these steps: Open Control Panel→System, find Advanced, and then click the “Settings” button under “Startup and Recovery” to write the “Write Debugging Information” column. Set to "(None)". Similar to dump files, Dr. Watson also saves debugging information when an application error occurs. The procedure for disabling Dr. Watsonistofind HKEY_local_machine\software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug in the registry and change the Auto value to "0". Then open Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\DrWatson in Windows Explorer and delete the two files User.dmp and Drwtsn32.log.
7. redundant services
For the convenience of users, WinXP launches many services that are not necessarily used by default, and also opens the back door of the intrusion system. If you don't need these services, it's best to turn them off: NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing, RemoteDesktop Help Session Manager, Remote Registry, Routing, and Remote Access, SSDP Discovery Service, telnet, Universal Plug, and Play Device Host. Open "Control Panel" → "Administrative Tools" → "Services", you can see the description and running status of these services. To close a service, simply right-click on the service name and select the "Properties" menu. In the "General" tab, change the "Startup Type" to "Manual" and click the "Stop" button.
