increase security XP home edition.

[Les Ashton]

After one unwanted download too many by the kids I want to increase the
security of my PC running windows XP home edition.

I have set my own account up as administrator and the kids as limited.
Will this prevent them from downloading programs and installing them.

Any other advice on how to maximise security to prevent the kids from
mucking it up will be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Les

 

[Romulo A. Ceccon]

Hi,

After one unwanted download too many by the kids I want to increase
the security of my PC running windows XP home edition.

I have set my own account up as administrator and the kids as
limited. Will this prevent them from downloading programs and
installing them.

With a limited user account you can only change the files under your
profile's folder and your HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive. That's the best you
can do to ensure a secure installation of Windows.

Any other advice on how to maximise security to prevent the kids from
mucking it up will be greatly appreciated.

Almost every computer consultant recommends installing a firewall and
an anti-virus program. I don't do that. At home every one (including
me) uses a limited user account. The administrator account is used only
when installing programs and configuring some global settings. The risk
I run is greatly reduced (although not banished, because of a few virus
which attacks some Windows exploits, like Blaster).

I recommend reading Aaron Margosis' Weblog:

http://weblogs.asp.net/aaron_margosis/

 

[Romulo A. Ceccon]

With a limited user account you can only change the files under your
profile's folder and your HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive. That's the best you
can do to ensure a secure installation of Windows.

Also note that many harmless programs will simply not run in a limited
user account. Since you're doing this for kids, you'd like to know that
MSN Gaming Zone, for instance, requires administrator privileges
(power-user accout doesn't work). You'll need some advanced Windows'
security knowledge to set up those programs to work in a limited
account (feel free to ask).