Securing Windows XP Pro
If you are like me, you're dodging the bullet on upgrading your personal PC to Windows Vista. Maybe I'm just growing old, and resistant to change, but I just don't like Vista. So, many people ask, "With Microsoft sending XP to an early grave, what can I do to keep it running on my PC?"
Microsoft isn't killing XP entirely. They are just stopping the sale of new copies. If you don't already have it, you're not going to be able to buy it. If you already have a copy, it's not a big deal just yet, as far as I can tell. The best thing to do is just follow a few basic rules of computing to keep your PC secure. A secure PC is a happy PC, and will keep you up and running for as long as you are willing to keep it that way.
First things first, everything I'm about to spew out is from my personal and professional experience. These tips aren't meant for the corporate or enterprise network. This is for those of us at home with one or two PC's around the house. Please don't think this is going to work in any situation where you have more users or computers than you do fingers.
1- Don't trust anything.
Don't know what it is? Not sure where it came from? Is that big name brand spelled wrong? Don't install it, click on it, open it or read it. Unless you are 100% sure that it is legit, don't use it.
2- Stay up to date.
I know they aren't perfect, but stay on top of those Windows updates. It's safe to be leary of major updates like service packs, sometimes it's better to wait a day or two for the major bugs to be worked out. A couple Google searches for your model PC or laptop and the name of the update will usually turn up major bugs. Same goes for printers, network and video cards or even CPU brands or models.
3- Get a good anti-virus program.
Avoid the "all in one" type programs. It's been my experience that the more tasks a piece of software tries to take on, the worse it gets. (Norton Internet Security Suite, anyone?) Stick with a good old fashioned anti-virus program. I've used AVG for many years with great success. (http://www.grisoft.com) The free version should be more than enough for most home users, but the Pro version really stands out if you like to tweak, or have a more advanced setup.
If you need something to keep the malware away, Spybot Search & Destroy (http://www.spybot.info) and AdAware (http://www.lavasoft.com) are both tried and true. I think Spybot alone is usually sufficient, but you can't beat the one, two punch combo.
4- Don't set a password on your user account.
"Holy crap, are you kidding me? What are you, nuts?" Before you think I'm crazy, just understand this. When you don't set a password on a user account, remote access is disabled for that user in XP Pro. Unless someone is physically sitting at your computer, they aren't going to log in. And if someone you don't want using your computer is sitting at it, you've got more problems than I can address here.
If you absolutely have to have a password on your computer to get the "Warm fuzzy feeling," set a BIOS password, and leave your computer off when not in use. When you turn on the computer, you get prompted for a password. If you don't have the password, the computer won't even boot up. You shouldn't be wasting electricty by having it run 24/7 anyway. 
5- Don't use IE.
Sure, Internet Explorer has gotten better with IE7, but FireFox is really a better solution. Just don't go bogging it down with all those add on extensions. Do you really need to have the weather report constantly updating on your screen? They just end up sucking up memory and bandwidth. Opera is also another choice, if FireFox just doesn't do it for you.
Sure, there are some sites that are designed for IE, and some will even force you to use it. Not a big deal, just don't use it for your everyday, all the time browsing.
6- It's not a matter of if something fails, it's a matter of when.
I'm sorry to say it, but computers aren't perfect, and something is going to go wrong somewhere. Whether a piece of hardware fails, you accidentally delete something, a windows update breaks something, a program you install crashes your computer, lightning strikes, you get a virus, or the kids decide that the computer is hungry and feed it a ham sandwich and glass of milk. The possibilities are endless.
How can I make sure I don't loose my data? Backups. I recommend that everyone has an external hard drive of some sort.
I just bought a Western Digital eBook, which is a USB hard drive that you can hook up to any computer. Mine is 500 gigs, and it makes a great place to save pictures, documents, music or anything else you don't want to loose, and isn't likely to fill up any time soon. (My laptop currently only has a 40 gig hard drive in it.) I keep it hooked up to my laptop, and I make it a point to copy what important data to it regularly. That way, I have two copies of everything. One on my hard drive, and one on the eBook. If you want to be double safe, you can copy the data from the eBook and burn it to a CD or DVD on a regular basis, and have yet another backup, in case something happens to the eBook.
Hypermiling? Bah humbug
Unless you've been under a rock, I assume you've heard the medias latest buzzword, "Hypermiling." The easiest way to describe it is a method of driving to increase the fuel economy of your car. It involves various techniques such as drafting, and coasting in neutral down hill, and making as little use of your breaks as possible, to prevent distrupting the momentum of your car.
Every time I hear anyone talking about it, it's being touted as some brilliant new idea, and absolutely revolutionary. Yeah, I gotta throw out the red flag and challenge that one.
Hello? Am I the only person that ever took drivers ed in school? This stuff isn't new, or revolutionary. It's called common sense. Aside from drafting, which is technically illegal, (Tailgating, and "failure to maintain a safe distance" I believe is what the law calls it) all of these things were part of what I was taught when first learning to drive.
Slowing down and coasting to stop signs and lights, instead of "stop and go." Easing into a start, versus slamming on the accelerator. Taking all the excess junk out of the car to reduce weight, and keeping the cars exterior clean to reduce drag and improve arodynamics. Again, all not rocket science, just common sense.
I don't understand, I really don't. Has the whole world really lost common sense? Or am I just one of the lucky ones who paid attention and made use of it?
Well, let’s hope all…
Well, let's hope all those comic books aren't full of shit. I just got injected with some sort of radioactive dye and here's to hoping for some super natural powers. listen
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Movie Review: It Happened One Night (1934)
This movie really drew me in. I was all suckered in by the "man helps girl run away from her father and arranged marriage, and fall in love" until... tragedy struck. A scratch on my netflix DVD kept me from finishing. If I didn't have so many other movies to get through, I'd request another copy.
There's no question that I will add this back to my queue as soon as this quest is over.
Movie Review: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
This was a good flick. Nothing too impressive, but that may have been my own fault. I had a hard time distinguishing some of the characters, as they all began to look the same as time went on. I guess everyone will tend to let themselves go after a couple years out at sea.
Being that it was black and white, and everyone was wearing, you guess it, black and white, there weren't even many costume clues I could use. The scenes shot out at sea were very impressive, considering it was 1935, and there was no such thing as a "blue screen."
Less is more…
I love computers. I love technology. I especially love getting to play with the new toys. If you are here and reading this, then I’m sure you know this. Along these lines though, I just have to vent, and let the world know, “I hate working in IT.”
I was reading a nice article the other day, written by Michael Janke, at “Last in – First out http://lastinfirstout.blogspot.com” and it inspired me. He talks about how he surfs the internet with both java and flash, and basically everything he can, disabled. The only problem is, you’re hard pressed to find a useable “big name” website that can function like that. A great example, was his fight with trying to get information from the Acura website. You can read about that battle here: http://lastinfirstout.blogspot.com/2008/05/flash-javascript-and-clowns-that-design.html
At the end of the article, he makes a statement that ring very near and dear to my heart.
“I've got a solution though - Make all web site designers & testers use a 1Ghz Pentium with 256MB of RAM for their workstation. I'll bet that they'll design fast, lightweight web sites.
They'll have to.”
I agree. Many people come to me with problems, and when I can’t duplicate them, they are quick to say, “Oh you work in IT. You’ve got the latest and greatest equipment.”
False. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. I take pride in being at the END of the product replacement cycle. I want the oldest, slowest, dumbest stuff possible. I like to keep my users way ahead of myself, at least in hardware terms. In fact, I have NEVER owned a personal computer with more than 512 megs of ram, but that’s another story for another day.
My theory is, “If I can make due with the worst equipment, and make it work, then I know my users shouldn’t have any problems.” Am I the only one that takes a “Less is more” approach?
I found this new service…
I found this new service called Jott. And it seems work pretty well. I just see if it post to my blog or not. listen
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Marathon Training
Well, because I'm horribly off schedule and way behind, I've decided to make my workouts public. I bought a new pair of running shoes and a Nike+ kit for my iPod back in February and hadn't used either of them. So, last night, I calibrated everything and got it all setup, and tonight I had my first workout. Wish me luck, I've got a long way before I reach 13 miles.
Movie Review: Grand Hotel (1932)
I'll be honest, I couldn't watch this one. Typical thief falls in love with the target plot. About half way through, I started doing other things, like cleaning up around the house while it was on.
Maybe someday I'll give it another try, but this one just didn't grab my attention at all.
Movie Review: Cimarron (1931)
So far, this is the first movie I've seen from my list that I haven't liked.
The story centers around an old West pioneer, who helps establish some of the early towns of the great land rush. He becomes known for standing up for equal rights, and fighting for his beliefs. As time goes on, the thirst for adventure becomes greater, and he continually abandons his family, more and more often, for longer periods of time each trip until he finally disappears.
Even though our hero was a champion for equality, he was a terrible husband and a worse father. I found the movie the phenomenal up until the last act, where the end of the movie made absolutely no sense to me. It's really tough to talk about my problems with the movie without "spoiling" it, so I'm just going to leave it at that.