Securing WinXP by restricting Users access

Aaron Margosis' WebLog :
A series of articles on how to properly setup Windows XP (and other NT derived OS's) so users don't have admin privileges and can still function well. This is to massively reduce the security attack vector on computers. Will follow advice next time I reinstall WinXP.

LINK: Don't forget the Windows XP Security Checklist, provides a great checklist on Basic, Intermediate & Advanced measures you can take to secure you WinXP.

Stop bloody WinXP modifying folder (directory) dates

Optimise NTFS or Increase XP NTFS performance
I hate how XP changes the datestamp of folders with changing anything. Hopefully this fixes it and stops things like opening a Word document and suddenly the folder date changes.

BTW, TweakXP.com - Performance Tweaks & Tips has some good tips (& is a great starting place) on performance tweaks.

UPDATE: Turns out it's a "feature" of NTFS to alter the folder (and all parent folders) when files are changed (or added?). Seems there is no way to turn this off. FAT16 and FAT32 don't do this, so it might be better to make a FAT32 patition to put all user files on.

Optimising services in Windows XP

Windows XP Home and Professional Service Pack 2 Service Configurations by Black Viper and Windows XP Home and Professional Service Pack 2 Services Information
Seem to be a great example configs and references respectively.

Remove image and/or media preview in Explorer

TweakXP.com - Remove image and/or media preview in Explorer:

XP's Explorer annoys the crap out of me, because it seems to pause when dealing with image and/or video files. Apparently this works:

Simply do the following steps:

1. Open a command window (Start->Run, type in 'cmd' hit enter)
2. To remove image preview, type and hit enter:
   regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll
3. To readd image preview, type and hit enter:
   regsvr32 shimgvw.dll
4. To remove media preview, type and hit enter:
   regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll
5. To readd media preview, type and hit enter:
   regsvr32 shmedia.dll

How to maintain your computer (for normal people)

5 simple steps to keep you PC running smooth and fast
(Based on the How to Speed up your computer site)

1. Spyware and Adware removal (Monthly or so)
   Basically, install Ad-aware and make sure its spyware definitions are up-to-date by clicking the globe icon on the top right and following the prompts.
   • Keep Spyware definitions up-to-date by clicking the globe icon on the top right and follow the prompts to update.
   • Do a full system scan.
   • AFAIK, it's safe to delete everything that appears in the scan results.
2. Virus Removal (Monthly or so)
   I'd recommend the free AntiVir Personal Edition.
   + run it in the background ("background checking in installation options??)
   • To download, click on the Download button on the left, then click the "AntiVir logo" on the page to start the download.
   • To grab the latest Virus definitions file, click "antivir.vdf" link on the download page
     • Follow the instructions to download from within the program (clicking the "2 connected computers" icon.
     • or manually download the definitions file and overwrite the current file.
3. Speed up your computer Part 3 - Clear Startup Group
4. Speed up your computer Part 4 - Run Defrag
5. Speed up your computer Part 5 - Run Scandisk
6. Speed up your computer Part 6 - Free Software
7. Speed up your computer Part 7 - Update Windows and Drivers

The Producers

Bec & I went to see The Producers tonight, it was excellent.
Will write up a quick review later on...

Make Acrobat Reader 6 load faster

Good information to Make Acrobat Reader 6 load faster from Darrell Norton's blog (seems everyone links to his blog).

Plus use the Adobe Reader SpeedUp tool to help in selecting plugins (using a graphical checkbox system). I'm going to try just the Search/EScript/Weblink path and see how it goes. Currently Reader v6.0.2 uses 33.5Mb of mem opening with no documents :'(

UPDATE:I went with the SpeedUp tools "Fast" recommendation, only EWH32 (81k) / reflow (305k) / Search (201k). And the cool thing is all other plugins are moved to "optional/" so they will load if the plugin is actually needed...
It seems to load VERY FAST, and now only using 18.5Mb of memory :)

Running Batch files on a selected Folder in Explorer

Configuring Windows Explorer - Context Sensitive Menus

Great way to run a Batch file on a particular directory.
Eg. Say you want to run a batch file after right-clicking on a Folder, so it is performed on that folder.

1. Go to Explorer --> Tools --> Folder Options --> File Types
2. Select the "File Folder" file type
3. Select Advanced --> New...
4. Action = Moved to Fixed
5. Application to use = cmd.exe /c cd "%1" | C:\fixed_dir.bat

This runs fixed_dir.bat file in the currently selected folder and exits the DOS window straight away.
In this case fixed_dir.bat contains:

mkdir Fixed
move *.jpg Fixed

Having a non-usable foot is not fun

Thursday 2004-07-1

Went into the Western Hostipal last Thursday for my ankle operation.

1 week ago

Blah, blah

Pre thoughts

I was thinking when I went in that, being last on the list, there was a good chance that I was staying the night (ironic given the "Day Procedure Unit"). I imagine this was because the doctor and physio I need to see afterwards would of gone home (fair enough).

12pm

Arrived at the hosptial, went through a series of people asking questions, then finally got to put the robes on and wait my turn. Turns out the robe thing (front and rear robes + booties) is a complicated procedure, I suggested a flowchart or diagram (Graham would be proud). Chatted to a guy named Brian, he was going in before me. He had been through some wars (type 1 diabetes, skin cancer, cancer under the throught, cancer between the optic nerves), poor bastard.

3pm

Got called in, sat on a trolley for 30min waiting, then went into the theatre and got my knock out juice before going to la-la-land.

More to come

Blah, blah...

Palm Outlook conduit problems #42

For the last few days, the Outlook Calendar conduit stopped working, with:

Outlook Calendar
The selected source folder [Paul Gregg\Calendar] was not found in Outlook. Synchronization will be performed with the default source folder [Paul Gregg\Calendar].
- Not Synchronized
Outlook Calendar synchronization failed

Tried rebooting, reinstalling Palm desktop and the v1.0.1 Outlook conduit updates (the v1.1 conduits that come with Palm Desktoip v4.1.4 don't work for me), nothing worked. If only I was smart enough to Google for it before, I would of saved myself a lot of trouble. Google came up with one hit troubles with Outlook 2002/XP sync.
The "Outlook /resetfolders" solution worked a treat, and I have seen that one before, if only I had remembered....