Windows Vista - Security at Work

This article looks into the improved security features of Windows Vista, the most secure Windows ever. Most of these features are new to Windows; however, there are some features included in the previous version of Windows, with some modifications.

1.User Account Control (UAC)

This new feature of Windows Vista tracks the user activities, and prompts when a significant system level activity is about to be performed. Vista allows no free user intervention to tasks that require administrative privileges, such as new software or hardware installation, uninstallation, editing system settings, etc. Vista presents a dialog with information as to the impact of the task in the offing, asking user credentials to proceed. Limited users have to enter administrator password, and administrators have to click on the ‘continue’ button presented.

This feature is great since it doesn’t allow any accidental modification to the system due to ignorance or inexperience of the user. Also, the system can be fully managed securely from a standard limited account (tasks requiring elevation may be done by entering the administrator password). It can however be a nuisance since the prompts may come for even very simple tasks, such as changing desktop background, resolution, etc.

2.Bitlocker Drive Encryption

This security feature is used to encrypt the entire system drive (usually the C:\ drive). This is in effect similar to the EFS (Encrypted File System) in XP, but here the entire drive is encrypted. Vista always checks if the system is starting safely and that any of the system files has not been modified. If any malpractice is detected, it will lock the entire system drive and require an encryption password from the user.

3.Address Space Layout Randomizer (ASLR)

In the older versions of Windows, the system files were loaded to a designated memory segment. This actually facilitated the attacks of such systems, since the attackers always knew where the system files reside in the memory. ASLR randomizes the memory location where system files are loaded every time Vista boots up, thus minimizing the possibility of such an attack.

4.Windows Security Center

The first time we saw the Windows Security Center was with XP SP2. In Vista, the Security Center not only monitors the firewall, Auto updates, and antivirus as in XP, it can monitor and control almost all the security features of Vista, such as the UAC, Windows Defender, etc. It works from the tray and pops up whenever a user intervention is required.

5.Windows Defender

Windows Defender, renamed from Windows Antispyware, is not just an antispyware application. It has deeper coverage than that. Windows Defender detects changes to IE settings, installation of add-ons, ActiveX controls, auto-start programs, or system configuration that may be caused by spywares. Defender, however, currently doesn’t give any protection against viruses, Trojans, or worms.

6.Windows Firewall

Windows Firewall, first shipped with XP SP2, incorporates major changes with Vista. The firewall mainly gives the inbound protection and a limited outbound protection, supporting packet filtering, IPv6 connection filtering, and configuration rules.

7.IE7 Protected Mode

Internet Explorer, with the brand new looks and tabbed browsing, which may be an afterthought of Mozilla Firefox’s success, is one of the best browsers out there.

The protected mode of IE7 lets it run with limited control, and thus prevents advanced tasks when browsing the Internet. Any malicious software trying to exploit IE to attack the system will not be successful due to its limited privileges. However, this feature is not available for the standalone IE7 browser supplied for the XP systems.

The protected mode, just like UAC mentioned above, may be an annoyance in the long term, since it blocks you from tasks, such as saving cookies from the sites you trust.

8.Phishing Filter

Phishing is a form of attack in which the attacker presents you a website that masquerades a genuine one. The phishing websites, which look exactly like the original website, might ask you to provide such information as user login, password, email address, credit card numbers, etc. If you provide any such information, the attacker gets them. Such attacks usually start with an email, claiming to be from the genuine party, with a link to the phishing website.

Vista phishing filter links to online database of millions of phishing websites. The feature checks the site status and warns the user if the site is found to be a phishing website.

9.Parental Controls

Parental Controls, which is introduced for the first time in Windows, lets the users control their children’s activities on the system. The parent can specify which of the programs, websites, or games the child has access to, and set time limit for using the system.

10.USB Device Lock Down

Using this feature, administrators can block the users from connecting USB devices, such as iPods, handhelds, cameras, storage devices, etc., to Vista. The corporate customers take advantage of this feature, as the company system administrators can restrict employees, access to the USB devices. This will make the company systems a lot more secure.

11.x64 Features

These features, available only on the 64-bit versions of Vista, are these: PatchGuard (protection from the modifications to the Vista kernel) protects kernel modifications. Digitally Signed Drivers ensures all the drivers in Vista are digitally signed. The removal of 16-bit subsystem (DOS) makes the system simpler and more user friendly, since all the tasks will now be completed through Windows GUI; however, this will reduce the compatibility of older applications in Vista.

How to Speed Up Windows Vista

Microsoft Windows Vista is an Operating system par excellence, the most visually stunning OS from the Windows family so far. Microsoft Vista has a wonderful graphical interface (GUI), Microsoft AERO. However, Vista is very resource-thirsty. It needs more than 1 GB of system memory (RAM) and high processor power. Everything about the new Windows is superlative (Windows AERO itself takes up 128 MB of RAM). Hence, it warrants doing some system tweaking to get high performance out of Vista. Here are some tips to increase the speed of MS Vista PCs.

1. Disable Unnecessary Features

Windows AERO interface is a great and visually stunning feature that makes Vista look wonderful. The AERO glass, flip 3D, live thumbnails, etc., make Microsoft Vista a very beautiful OS. But this all are at a price. A very hefty system is required to run AERO alone, which takes up as much system memory as required to run the whole of Microsoft Windows XP. This is why Vista is too heavy to run on ordinary systems. You don’t need AERO if you are not using the system just for visual appeal. Vista’s graphics is stunning even without AERO, and all your programs will run just fine. So you can get rid of Windows AERO. For this, right click desktop and choose Personalize. Click on Window Color and Appearance, and then Open classic appearance properties for more options. Here you can turn off AERO by choosing Windows Vista Basic under color options. Vista AERO is available only in four editions of Vista, Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, Vista Enterprise, and Vista Ultimate; it is not shipped with Vista Home Basic.

Every time Windows starts, Vista gives a welcome screen, Windows Welcome Center. This feature helps the novice Windows users tweak their systems for the first time use. If you are familiar with Vista and want to get rid of the Microsoft Welcome Center, then you can follow this simple Windows registry tweak. Open registry (type ‘regedit’ in Start->Run); search for “Windows Welcome Center” from registry’s Edit->Find menu option; remove the key when you find that under Windows->CurrentVersion->Run.

Another feature that may be turned off for performance boost is UAC (User Account Control). This feature can be turned off from Control Panel. However, this is a great security feature of Vista, and it is not recommended to turn it off completely.

Vista has a Sidebar, which houses some useful widgets on the side of the desktop. These small applications like clock, calendar, currency converter, and more you can download from Microsoft website (Windows Support Website) may be removed safely for a better performance of the system.

You can get a list of all the programs installed with Vista in Control Panel->Uninstall a Program->Turn Windows Features On or Off. In this window, you can view all the applications currently installed in the system. If there is any new feature that you wish to remove, just uncheck it.

2. Disable Unwanted Startup Programs

This is the same with Windows XP Operating System. All Windows versions have some built-in startup programs that are loaded when the OS loads (Windows Live Messenger for instance). These startup programs can be disabled. You can use Windows Defender for this. Windows Defender in Vista is an antispyware application that monitors more than spywares. It monitors Internet Explorer settings, startup programs, system configuration changes, etc. So, make use of Defender for disabling the startup programs that may be running in the background. This can be done from the system tray icon of Defender. Retain only the applications that you need to run Windows effectively.

3. Readyboost

Readyboost and Superfetch are two brand new Microsoft applications supplied with Vista. They are Windows tools, which boost the system performance by optimizing the system memory. This is done with the help of additional storage media like USB Flash drives. Readyboost can use the Flash storage devices and SD cards as system memory, and Superfetch will make the applications more optimized for this memory cache. If you can get a fast Flash drive, you have two uses with that in Vista. One is normal use of data transfer and storage. The second is it can be used as an external RAM cache to supplement the memory capacity of the system. So, get hold on the fastest Flash drive out there, and get it to working.

4. Enable Advanced Disk Performance

Advanced Disk Performance feature, accessible from Disk Management in Device Manager, is a disk write optimizing tool, which enables hard disk write caching. The contents to be written to hard disk are not written directly; instead, it is stored into a cache first. The data are transferred to the hard drive only at the end. This can dramatically improve the performance when applications accessing HDD a lot are being run. However, there is a risk of data loss in cases of power failure. So, this warrants the use of good power supply in the background for the hard disk drive.

This feature can be enabled from Device Manager->Disk Manager->Disk Properties, and then in policies, you can click Advanced Disk Performance option.

These performance tweaking options, when worked along with the other normal performance options for generally all versions of Windows should give you great performance boost in Windows Vista.

Windows Vista's Graphics: New AERO Features

Windows has revolutionized its graphics with the new AERO GUI. AERO, which expands as Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open, is the name of the new Windows Graphical User Interface (GUI). AERO features like glass window borders, 3D flip, live thumbnails, etc., make Windows look a lot different and more visually appealing than its previous versions.

AERO is available in these versions of Windows Vista: Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, Vista Enterprise, and Vista Ultimate; the Home Basic version lacks it. The requirements are roughly these: 1 GB of system memory with 128 MB of graphics memory at the minimum, 1GHz processor, DirectX 9 compatible graphics driver with WDDM facility (Windows Display Driver Model) and AGP 8.x or PCI-Extended, Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware, 15 GB HDD free space, DVD-ROM drive, etc.

The Features of AERO

1.Flip-3D: This enables the windows on the desktop to be viewed in three dimensions. When a number of application windows are open in Vista, you can press Windows key + tab. This will show the windows on the screen in a 3D stack, which you can flip through to get to the desired window. Users can flip through the windows using the key combination or by scrolling with the mouse wheel.
2.AERO Glass: The windows in Vista have translucent borders. The borders blur the background to achieve this effect. The window in focus has its close button in red color, helping determine the topmost window in case so many windows are open side by side. The AERO Glass effect is present also on the start menu.
3.Live Thumbnails: You can view what is happening in a particular window, which is minimized, by placing the mouse pointer over its task bar button. This shows the contents of the window live on a thumbnail. The feature is available also when we use Alt + Tab (Windows Flip).
4.Support for High-resolution Monitors: Vista AERO supports high-resolution monitors, so that you can get a visually stunning picture on smaller screens. Vista can boost the graphics of certain programs to as much as 144 dpi (dots-per-inch), thereby making the view rich in detail.
5.High Performance Desktop: AERO supports very high performing and smoother desktops. The open windows glide across the screen smoothly as you move them. They do not show any latency, redraw ‘specters,’ etc., which are common in older GUIs.

Customization:

Is AERO customizable? Absolutely! For this, you have to go to the Control Panel applet, Appearance and Personalization->Personalization, using which you can edit the features in AERO. You can edit anything from Display Settings, Visual Appearance, Desktop Background, Screen Saver, Sound Effects, Mouse Pointers, or Theme from this dialog.

The Visual Appearance link opens a new window allowing deeper customization to AERO, such as Color Schemes (Aero, Frost, Smoke, Seafoam, Heritage, Sky, Heart, or Candy); Enable or Disable Translucent Glass; Color Mixer, which gives more profound customization to the already selected color scheme; and Open classic appearance properties. Color Mixer can also set the brightness, contrast, and saturation.

AERO is great in visual appeal. It will make Vista the most visually stunning OS in the market ever. However, AERO can gorge up much of the resources, thereby making the system performance a little low. This is particularly true in systems fulfilling just enough of the requirements. In such cases, you might want to switch off the AERO feature. This can be done from the Control Panel applet said above, Personalization. From Windows Color and Appearance, you can select the classic theme for Windows.

Windows Vista Readyboost and Superfetch

System performance depends on various factors. Microprocessor speed is one thing. System memory or (RAM [Random Access Memory]) is another; cache memory also has a part to play in performance. We have a limit to the processor power, we can’t increase it; we cannot increase also the cache, which resides inside the processor. However, we can increase the system memory and optimize it for better performance. Microsoft Windows Vista has two great built-in applications for memory boosting and high performance. They are Windows Readyboost and Superfetch. These programs of the new Windows are reviewed in this article. In the first part, Microsoft Readyboost is focused on, and the second part is dedicated to Microsoft Superfetch.

Windows Readyboost

In the history of Microsoft Windows, this is the first time that Windows Operating System introduces an artificial RAM addition program. RAM is a very necessary component to boost system performance. And Windows Vista naturally requires a lot of system memory (specifically for its visual appeal, Microsoft AERO). How to supplement this need, when you don’t have enough of system memory? One option is using the virtual memory by configuring the hard drive (it requires a little more technical knowledge!). But the hard disk has limitations in terms of speed and capacity. It is not at all a great replacement to system RAM, and you cannot notice any performance difference by increasing it. In this case, as boon to the low memory systems, Microsoft Windows Vista introduces Readyboost, a memory addition program.

With Readyboost, you can use a non-volatile storage device such as a Flash drive to give more memory to the system. The Flash disk drive, which is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) device, can be plugged into the USB slot on the back of your system. USB Flash storage devices are usually very fast with high data transfer rates. So, it can serve as a memory cache, when the normal system RAM is filled up. Since Flash drive is accessible faster than the system hard drives, it is an ideal choice for this purpose. You can also use SD (Secure Digital) memory card.

Using Readyboost is very easy. When you insert a USB Flash drive or SD card, Vista checks whether its performance is good enough for using as RAM. If found OK, you will get an alert asking whether to use the USB storage device as RAM. You can use either the whole drive or part of it for the purpose.

Windows Superfetch

When you work on MS Windows, there may be many background tasks running without your knowledge. These background programs, which usually run from the system tray, use up part of the available RAM, thereby making the system performance lower. In previous versions of MS Windows, these background tasks run randomly accessing the system memory (also the virtual memory). And this can make the system slower.

To fight this issue, Windows introduced a new program along with Readyboost, Microsoft Superfetch. Microsoft Readyboost uses Superfetch to load files and programs into the Flash memory device faster. Superfetch can monitor the user programs and background programs: their memory needs, priority, and frequency of usage.

Superfetch checks which of the applications are used the most by the user, and loads them into the system memory before execution. So, you can get access to them readily whenever you want. Also, Superfetch can make the system performance greater by changing the priority of the programs (user programs have higher priority and system tasks have lower). In this way, Superfetch dramatically increases the system performance by working with Readyboost.

These applications definitely are a welcome addition to Microsoft Vista; they will make working with the system much faster. One major factor is that in Vista, at a designated amount of RAM, the performance you can get is much better than that you can get with Windows XP, at the same amount of memory. So, though Vista is resource-thirsty, it can optimize the performance much better. This is what makes Vista a great OS, in terms of visual appeal (by Microsoft AERO features) and system performance.

Alternative Operating Systems

Are not computers supposed to make our lives easier? Should your computer do what YOU say, and not vice-versa? Why should you have to spend your hard earned cash on a computer that does hat not do what you want, when you want it to? You probably shopped around before buying most of your other household appliances, why not look at some alternatives to Microsoft Windows?

Whether you´re looking for simplicity, security, or just peace of mind, something brought you here. Operating systems aren´t only developed behind the closed doors of Redmond. There exist quite a few alternatives to Windows and some of them you´ve probably heard of. Before getting into the specific alternatives it´s necessary to give a little background information - mainly on Unix and Open Source Software.

Unix was an Operating System originally created by AT&T employees in the 1960´s. It was meant for portability, security, and clarity. The Unix philosophy splits tasks up to be accomplished (and accomplished well) by groups of smaller programs rather than a large complex kernel. There´s a familiar filing system for Unix based Operating Systems; files that configure your computer are editable in plain text. Unix was made to be simple and usable. The Open Group that sets the standards for computing defines Unix with the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) standards.

When software is free, it can be free as in "FREE BEER!" or free as in "Free to distribute, edit, reproduce, and use" (Open Source). Microsoft Windows is not free in either sense of the word. Much of Windows is closed source and they take great pains to insure their software is not pirated. Some versions of Linux are Open Source - but you have to purchase the software.

Reprinted with permission from Andrew K Nelsen original author

Windows PC Maintenance: Uninstalling Old Programs

When you haven’t used a program for a few months, you tend to forget that it’s still lurking somewhere on your hard drive. Even if you have plenty of extra space left for more files and programs, you should still clear out some of the clutter from the hard drive. You’ll have more room and your computer will work faster. The less your system wades through to find a file, the faster it can bring that data up on your screen.

Another common problem is that we like to take advantage of trial software to find the right program, but forget all about the several “duds” that we leave on our hard drives. These trial programs need to go as soon as possible. If you find another, similar program that works better, you’re obviously not going to go back and use the others again. These installations waste megabyte after megabyte of space that could be better used.

The best way to uninstall most programs is to go through the “Uninstall Software” menu in your Control Panel. You’ll get an updated list of all the programs on your hard drive. Along with this information, you’ll also find out when you installed that program and how often you use it – rarely, frequently, or somewhere in between. You’ll also find “uninstall” links that remove the program permanently.

However: many programs come with “uninstall” icons, which are often listed in the program group on your Start menu. Use these links if you can’t find the program in the Control Panel’s list.

Before you do that, though, you should know these things:

-If you don’t recognize the program, you should leave it alone. Some of the weird things in the Control Panel’s list of installed software were put there by your computer’s manufacturer or the operating system. They’re vital to your PC, so don’t uninstall or alter them.

-Be sure that you have a copy of the installation file before you delete anything. You might not care for that card game now, but what if you want to play it again in six months? Have the files on hand so that you can reinstall and enjoy again when you want to play.

Now that you know how to remove some of the clutter from your hard drive, spend a few minutes looking for programs that are safe to uninstall. You’ll appreciate the extra space – and not having to wait so long for your hard drive to find the files that you want.

Tips to Secure a Windows XP System

Securing a Windows system in this era of viruses, hackers, malwares, etc., is a big concern, particularly since Windows is a very insecure Operating System. You might need to do a little more work on your system to get it completely secured (you needn’t do this in case of Linux or Unix based systems). The following are some of the tips you should follow to give the maximum protection to your Windows system.

1. Consider an upgrade: If your OS is safe, its upgraded version is safer. If you are using Windows XP Home edition, then an upgrade to either Professional or Media Center edition is a prudent thing to do. They are obviously more secure than the Home edition. Professional edition is used mainly to serve business needs, and has more security features. Now, since the Windows Service Pack upgrades are available for XP, downloading them makes your system still more secure. One of the features of XP Professional is EFS (Encrypted File System), which is available also in the lower version of Windows, Windows 2000, but ironically, Windows XP Home edition lacks this. The Simple File Sharing system in Windows XP Home, which doesn’t give you much choice on the individual files (like who can open it, and who can change or delete it), is an inadequate security feature. All these clearly point to the need of an upgrade.

2. Use a limited user account for general use: The Windows system gives you several user account types. They are Guest Account, Administrator Account, Limited Account, etc. Limited Account doesn’t have much privileges. It can alter neither the hardware configuration, nor the basic system configuration, but is perfect for a general use of the system. If you are a novice user, or are not in need of much system level tweaking, then you should use a limited user account, and reserve a password protected Administrator Account for advanced tasks.

3. Use a password on Guest Account: The Windows has a guest user account in place. This is for use by the guest users of the system, and is in effect a limited account. The Guest Account is by default disabled. However, you can enable it using the User Accounts module in Control Panel. If many people have to access your system, you should password-protect the Guest Account, so you can be sure that only the authorized people (whom you gave the password) use the system, and skittish kids or unpredictable lot do not access the system and play with your data.

However, keeping the Guest Account disabled will not help you in this regard. The Guest Account never gets actually disabled. The option “Turn off the Guest Account” will only turn off the direct Windows Login with it. But the account will be used, because XP uses it to grant access to the remote users to the shared system resources over a network. Therefore, you cannot fully withhold the effect of the Guest Account. However, Windows doesn’t allow you to choose a password for this account within the User Accounts tool. It should be done through the Command Line. Here is how:

Open the command line console (type “cmd” at Start->Run); type in this command in the console: “net user guest ” (without the angle brackets and replacing “password” with your new Guest Account password). This will create a new password for your Guest Account.

4. Private Folders Protect User data: Windows XP has Simple File Sharing feature to share your files over a network. Windows XP Home doesn’t provide you a further customized file sharing, as does Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional. In Windows XP Professional, you can customize the file sharing by unchecking “Use Simple File Sharing” in the Folder Options->View tab. The Folder Options resides in the Control Panel. In Windows XP Home, you can make a folder secure by making it private. View the folder properties; there is a tab, “Sharing and Security.” Here you have the option to make the folder private.

In Windows XP Professional, when you disable the Simple File Sharing, you can get advanced file sharing options. There will be a new tab, “Security” when you view the properties of a folder or file. In this, you can virtually choose which user can do what (read, write, modify, or delete) on the file.

5. Enable ICF: The Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), provided by both Home and Professional editions, is a built-in firewall application. You can enable the firewall for any network connection you make. This can be done from the properties of your new connection. Within the Advanced tab, you can turn on the Windows Firewall and the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS). However, you can leave them disabled, and install a third party antivirus and firewall application instead. Also, it is recommended to do so. Windows Firewall, though provided by Microsoft, is not an exhaustive firewall application. It is only better than nothing. Using a professional third party antivirus and security suite, on the other hand, you can get more extensive security to your system at a minimal cost.

It is difficult to achieve high security in Windows; however, the techniques discussed above and many other understood methods should make your system very secure. I needn’t instruct you not to open attachments from unknown emails, not to share important personal information, or regularly update your Antivirus and Firewall software.