User talk:Tortoise

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Good luck! -- Herby talk thyme 16:22, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Securing XP
Good work - going to put in anything about using the HOSTS file as a protection measure? Maybe even not using IE . Cheers -- Herby talk thyme 17:18, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Thank you, praise is always welcome! :) I guess you mean redirecting urls of known "bad" sites to 127.0.0.1, as Spybot-S&D does. I might soon, although it would be one of a hundred hacks that reduce the window of exposure. Since a lot of details can be found e.g. in the various forums that talk about security, I think I shall try to give the reader some general ideas first.

Tortoise 17:49, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Fair comment - I guess it was one of the first "protections" I used (& not using IE). If you need it Wikipedia has some good stuff on HOSTS - I know, that's where I got the info!  Let me know if I can help - cheers -- Herby  talk thyme 18:39, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Of course one I saw on the internet somewhere some time ago is the one I really love. Q - "How do I make my machine completely safe?" A - "Unplug it, take it into your garden, dig a hole and fill it in - then it will be safe" - sorry - had to share! -- Herby talk thyme 19:37, 15 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Well, it still won't be safe from the rain, or from nuclear fallout. Perhaps embedding it in concrete and shielding it with lead would do the trick. Tortoise 19:50, 15 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Damn - knew I'd missed something  -- Herby talk thyme 19:52, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Services sub page
Fancy having a go at this together? I've found odd bits on the internet but it is not well covered. What can be switched off and what must not? Cheers -- Herby talk thyme 16:27, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Mmm... are you tweaking for extra performance or for security? I don't know much about services... some programs install extra ones (I recognize ZoneAlarm's TrueVector, avast!Antivirus uses 4 services, Matlab, MySQL, Toshiba's ConfigFree...), maybe a tool that recognizes "bad stuff" would be handy; some malware also adds a service but usually it has a glitch that distinguishes it (like gibberish in the "internal name" field); others are dormant waiting for some change in the configuration, so disabling them may mean that later, say, Plug&Play stops working and I don't remember why... ? Ah - did you see my link to www.sysinternals.com ?

Tortoise 17:32, 16 December 2006 (UTC)


 * End of dayish now for me so quick ramble and maybe some more tomorrow.
 * Services - tweaked for both - I HATE stuff that installs things without asking!. The one I gave you the link for allows a "right click search internet for info" approach which I've found v useful.  I know about sysinternals (& Mark's capture by MS) but I didn't find their stuff as friendly.  I'll look around and send you links if you like.  I still say for keeping bad stuff out load the HOSTS file.  You've done some useful constructive editing for which thanks - I think it would be good to work on some of this stuff with someone.  Enough for today I guess (tho I keep a vandal watch for a while!).  Catch you again - regards -- Herby  talk thyme 18:39, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Early bird etc
Morning - at work and a bit busy this am but will have some time at lunch and will hopefully be in touch then (vandals permitting! - they are getting a bit irritating at present). Regards -- Herby talk thyme 08:36, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Hi, not sure if I'll be around then. Got to be on the move today. Anyway, hope you have a good day. Tortoise 08:51, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

Loosing the plot!
Outbreaks of vandalism (& work) over the past couple of days have left me with little "ordinary" editing time ("life" what's that & no I rarely take offence at anything!). Kinda lost where we are up to at present. Some ramblings follow and I am not suggesting you do anything but they may help/interest you? I would also say if you are not familiar with it Gibson Research has some very good info/free software as well as ShieldsUp for checking firewalls.

Not aware that there are any issues with not loging out at all by the way.

Starter/services
The one I sent you is not the sysinternals one but one I think is a little better and allows you to search for items easily. For Wikibooks I would see two lists as being useful. FFS "don't touch these services" and "these are usually unecessary for most configs"? For example this page has some useful stuff

Browsers
I still see this as a good aspect of security that needs covering. Not just alternatives to IE but how IE can be made rather more secure - the settings are not a model of clarity for most people? Maybe worth a look at Wikipedia - we can import content from there if it is suitable -- Herby talk thyme 13:17, 18 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Hi, unfortunately I won't be able to contribute regularly since I am really lagging behind with University (I attend Computer Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano, and should have got my degree at the beginning of last year...!). There is no real plot anyway since the book was just a page when I began editing (actually I wonder if the wikibook linked above branched off this one). First attempt at a structure:


 * Hardware issues. Preventing data loss (backups)
 * basic security [?] (passwords)
 * networking, threats to data integrity (viruses, spyware...) - user is passive
 * networking, avoiding data theft (phishing) - user's initiative
 * tweaking Windows until it hurts
 * install Linux :) - the ultimate solution

Tortoise 13:30, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

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