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XP
Tweaking
Home and Pro
**
If you are on a corporate network or at work, ask your
IT team if making changes is OK. I am not responsible
for use of any software or computer settings. **
Most everything you see here is FREE and recommended
by geek's.
Hackers
Virus's
Clean
system
Never
do's
Free
software
Security
(Keeping your system safe from Hackers):
There are many ways to stay
safe from hackers. This can be done with software firewall's
or hardware firewall's. The faster you internet connection,
the more you are a target. You can purchase both hardware
and software firewall's, but most people don't realize
that this can be done for free. We will talk about free
or low cost methods.
Lets
look at hardware methods first.
-Router.
Routers are used to hook into a cable or DSL high speed
internet connection, then sharing that connection with
multiple PC's. Most routers today have NAT (Network
Address Translation) built in. This makes you "invisible"
to the outside world. So hackers can't really "see"
you. I recommend the Linksys BEFSR41 router.
It can be found from $40 to $60- depending on where
you shop.
-Smoothwall.
If you have an old PC that can't hang with today's software,
you can get SmoothWall
for free. It's a distribution of Linux that will act
as a standard router. You can customize it for your
network, and never touch it again. Just get an old Pentium
100, 64Mb RAM, CD-ROM and as many Network cards as you
have PC's in the house (+1). Then download Smoothwall
.ISO, burn to a CD, then boot from that CD. Here
is documentation to configure Smoothwall. Once configured
you do not need a monitor/mouse/keyboard or sound card.
Now
software methods.
Sure you
can go out and spend a lot of money for firewall software.
There is no reason for any home computer user to do
so.
First of
all lets talk about just fixing your Windows XP system
to venture out into cyber space. First and foremost
-DO
WINDOWS UPDATES- I can't stress that enough (critical
updates). Microsoft DOES have issues with software,
get the fixes. The next thing you should do is turn
on the default "windows firewall". It comes
standard with XP, although isn't the greatest- it's
better than nothing at all. To do this, right-click
network neighborhood, properties, then you'll
see the network your using there. Right-click
on your connection, properties, "advanced".
Fill in the check that says "protect my
computer and network."/ "OK".
A very nice
and FREE firewall is ZoneAlarm from www.zonelabs.com .
Zonealarm has been around for years. They offer a "Pro"
version to buy, but really the freebie is good enough.
Just download, install. It will configure itself. Once
installed and running, every time you launch a program
it will ask you "Do you want **** to access the
internet?" Just check the box that says "remember"
and say "yes". It will never ask you about
that program again. This program will auto run each
time you boot your system (by default).
Another choice
for a good/free firewall is Sygate.
Sygate is very similar to ZoneAlarm, and free.t.
This one is by far the best.
Wireless
(WiFi).
Having a
WAP (Wireless Access Point) is very convenient and is
becoming more and more popular. However, as of today
they are the most easiest networks to hack. The second
you turn on your WAP, the signal goes through your walls,
into the street as well as into your neighbors house.
There are a few things you can do to make it "harder"
for hackers to get access to your network, and bandwidth.
The
first is to turn off
broadcasting of your SSID. Basically, this is just so
your WiFi router doesn't yell out to the world it's
name. You will need to go into your controls of the
WAP via a browser (internet explorer). Turn off broadcasting.
Once you turn it off, you will need to tell your computers
what it is manually (just once).
Turning off the broadcasting will slow
your network down a bit, especially if there are multiple
WAP's in your area. On top of this, this only stumps
the "newbie" hacker.
Secondly,
change the name of
the SSID. By default all wireless routers come with
a name. This name can still be "found" even
though you did step #1. So if you have a Linksys wifi
router, the default SSID is "Linksys". If
I see that, I know already how to get onto your network..
So, while your in the controls of your router (IE),
change the name to something much different.
Thirdly,
they all have default passwords just like the SSID name.
Change it. (through Internet explorer- read your manual)
Number
four. Turn off DHCP
and manually assign your PC's a static address. If your
SSID is found, they will have to get an IP. That IP
may already be in use by you.
Five.
Use MAC filtering. Every device that gets onto a network
(internet) needs it's own unique MAC address. If you
configure your WAP to only allow your MAC's,
then it makes it REALLY hard to get on that network.
All of these
steps will make it very hard to get on your network,
there is more steps but you should be fine. However,
still turn on your default firewall and/or get a firewall
in Windows for the "internet hackers". Read
the manual that came with your WiFi access point and
these steps should be easy. Until companies utilize
WPA (authentication service), this will help.
If you would
like to detect people using programs such as "NetStumbler,
MiniStumbler or MacStumbler" on your WiFi, you
can set up a machine running KisMet 24/7 in "listen
mode." Stumbler software emits a packet of data
after it has detected a wireless network. This packet
has a signature that can now be identified by Kismet.
To learn more about these, read my WarDriving
/ WarStrolling
sections. KisMet itself cannot be detected.
Think
your safe? Go to BroadBand
reports and let them scan you.
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Antivirus:
You can go out and spend
a LOT of money on antivirus software. Again, it's just
not needed.
The number 1 reason you get
a virus is by opening an E-Mail attachment. DO NOT,
NEVER, EVER open an E-Mail attachment unless you are
expecting it. Period. There, now that cuts down about
90% of virus flow.
There is a lot of software
out there made to run continuously on your PC. One of
the best antivirus software is free ~AVG.
It's updates are free. They do offer a couple versions
to buy so you can get more documentation and support,
but this is good enough for me personally. I had to
give them my E-mail address, but I have only received
one e-mail from them.
Another free Antivirus is
Avast:.
It also works very well.
If you don't want software
running in the background and you want to scan your
system, just go over to Trend
Micro and do a free online scan. This just takes
a "snapshot" of you system, looks at it- then
reports to you. It will auto-clean for you (if it does
not auto-clean, just right click the bad stuff and say-delete).
This is good if you don't have active software running
in the background, and you just downloaded a new file.
Before double clicking on the file, scan it.
With
ANY Antivirus software, if it's Norton or AVG (or whomever),
always let it do updates. If you don't update you antivirus
software, it's as good as not having any. Yes, it's
worthless.
I tend to never recommend
Norton. Norton uses up way too many system resources,
and carries it's own issues. It is NOT free. I am un-installing
this garbage daily.
Technically the best Anti-virus
I have ever used and use to clean PC's with Norton trash
is NOD32. That's why I'm a re-seller - because
I believe in the product.
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Keeping
your system Clean (keep is running fast):
Most the time you
don't even need to upgrade your PC to make it fast;
just keep it clean.
The main reason a technically
faster PC is slower than a technically slower PC is
due to poor and improper care and maintenance. After
surfing the web, downloading software, installing software
and un-installing, things tend to get a bit slow. Follow
my tips to keep your machine speedy- again all for FREE.
-Clear
you cache: Open up Internet Explorer,
Tools, Internet Options- "Clear history".
Just say yes to the pop-up screen. Over time it's just
good to do. ~ Run at least once
a week~
-Clear
document history: Right click the task
bar (blue border at the bottom of the screen), properties,
Start Menu, Customize, Clear. ~
Run at least once a week~
-Defrag:
When you move software around, (install, delete, un-install)
over time you hard drive becomes fragmented. So in turn
when you launch an application it will take longer for
you PC to find all the bits and pieces it needs for
that application, thus making it slower than it should
be. I recommend Diskeeper
because it shows you more information and is faster
than the one XP comes with. The XP free one is fine
though. Go to Start, All programs, Accessories, System
Tools, Disk Defragmenter. Just highlight the drive C:
and "defrag". It will take a while the first
few times. ~ Run at least once
a month~
-Killing
Spyware: Spyware is a big problem. A
file (usually a cookie) is downloaded onto your hard
drive without you even knowing it. You visit some sites,
they are automatically installed onto your system, they
then track and report your movement online back to there
server. This can be used in telemarketing research or
who knows what purpose. The main issue I have with them,
is they suck up your bandwidth, causing your internet
connection to become slower than it should be. So luckily
there is some nice geek's out there who have created
free software to search and kill these pests. The one
I use is Ad-Aware
6.0. It has free updates, does not run in the background
continuously, and has made me happy. It's easy to set
up and configure. I set it to not create a back-up file,
hit "start", "next"
and it will search your system. Once done hit "next"-
check every box in that list and say
"next" again. Now your network
traffic is yours again. ~ Run
once a day~
A lot of
people also like SpyBot,
you can customize more in depth. It's also free.
-Disk
Cleanup: Here is another small program
that should be ran. This just gets rid of the junk files
on your PC. Do not worry, it will not delete anything
you care about. Start, all
programs, Accessories, System
Tools, Disk Cleanup. If this
is the first time you ran this or it's been a while,
it will take some time to scan. Once the window pop's
up, put a check in all boxes, say
ok and say yes to the conformation
box. After you do this once, it should only take about
five seconds to finish next time.. just depends on your
system. ~ Run once a day~
-Disable
Messenger: Many people get a weird pop-ups
on the screen, even though there not surfing the internet.
This has NOTHING to do with Windows Messenger or MSN
messenger. This service was left on by default from
Microsoft. It was designed to let your IT administration
let you know issues about the network, and has NO function
for a home user. Click on the Start
button. Click on the Run item in the
Start menu, Run box will appear. Type in the Run box:
services.msc /s and hit OK, Services Panel
will appear. Under name you will fine
Messenger. Right-click on it, properties,
in the middle you will see start up
type , use the drop down box and select disable.
Then say apply, then ok.
close out of everything.
If you would like to do more
tweaking in the services screen, please look at
BlackVipers
website.
-Speed
up your internet: If your on cable or
DSL internet, go here,
open from current location, choose
typical latency. (turn off any antivirus
software)
For everybody- open internet
explorer, tools, internet
options, under temporary internet files choose
settings. If your on dial-up change
this to 300MB, if your on broadband change this to 100MB.
-Disable
Start-Up programs: By default Windows
XP alone has messenger start at boot up. You can usually
see the programs that are running in the background
just by looking next to your clock in the right/bottom
corner. All those icons are TSR's (terminate and stay
resident). They load and use up your system resources
(using your memory) even if you never use the program.
This is sick and wrong. Some programs allow you to disable
its startup just by right-clicking on the icon, going
to some type of "properties" and finding a
disable button. Some programs you have to launch (like
windows messenger) and go into "configure"
and stop it. The other programs you should shut off
manually by going : Start, Run then
type in msconfig. Once the System Configuration
Utility is open, click on the tab at the top right that
says Startup. Here is your list of
programs that launch automatically when you boot your
PC. Really, XP doesn't need any of it, but you may want
some to stay. The ones you might want to let run automatically
is antivirus or firewall's. Me personally I have Nwiz
and NVcpl checked because those are for my Nvidia grafix
card. It's up to you, and you can't hurt anything by
trying. If you notice something is not running after
playing in there, just go back and and re-check a few.
It will be trial and error with some programs. By getting
rid of most, you will speed up your PC.
-Clean
out your registry:
Caution, be sure you know what your doing!
RegCleaner
is a good program and I have never had an issue with
it and XP. This one is a 30 day trial. Install this,
let it update and run. Once it finds all the invalid
items, go to the top and click on select - all, then
say fix. It will ask you to name your backup file (make
up something). Just re-boot and if you have no issues,
I recommend deleting the back up file.
Here is the older
version (that I still use) and is Free. Just install,
open and go to tools, registry
cleanup, do them all. Select
all , remove selected (I go into options and tell it
to do everything automatically). Once done, explore
to the regcleaner folder, go into backups and delete
all those files (this is after you verified everything
is ok by doing a reboot). ~ Run
at least once a week~
-Setting
up a custom swap file (virtual RAM)
Your swap file is a set part
of your hard drive that acts as RAM. When your system
starts to run out of real memory, your operating system
uses a part of the hard drive as virtual memory. No
matter how much RAM you have in your system you always
need some sort of swap file allocated. Normally,
Windows will do this for you - however you can make
it faster than default. The idea is to make the swap
file separate from the Operating System, this way it
will not become fragmented or changed by the operating
system. You can do this in a couple ways:
The best way
is to set a static swap file on a separate hard drive
(D:). Assuming your have a second physical drive in
your system. This way the actuator arm on the hard drive
will be accessing the swap file on "D:" while
the actuator arm on your system drive "C:"
can access your programs at the same time (verses one
drive trying to access both at the same time). How
to: Right-click my computer, properties, Advanced,
performance -settings,
Advanced, change. You
will see your drives listed here.
High light-drive C:, and choose no page file,
set. Then high-light drive D: and set it at
1000, 1000 (minimum, maximum)- set.
Reboot, then
defrag both drives.
The second best way
is if you only have one hard drive in your computer:
Making a separate partition (1GIG) as the first partition
on the hard drive and setting the swap file as that
partition. The beginning of the hard drive is the fastest.
You can do this when re-installing Windows XP and doing
a fresh install. During installation set a 1GIG partition
first, then the rest of the drive as a second partition,
install Windows to the second partition. If you want
to do this without formatting your drive, you can use
Partition
Magic. Or use the "free" version of partition
magic here.
Or if you know how to do this, just get the
first CD of almost any Linux distro (free) and boot
from it (Redhat, Mandrake, SuSe..ect). After you get
the partitioning section done of the Linux installation,
take out the CD and reboot. After
you have a separate partition, use the same formula
as above to set the swap file. This will insure
the swap file does not change or become fragmented.
-Other
personal settings I do myself:
Right-click My Computer,
properties, Advanced. Under Performance click Settings.
Un-check the top three items AND both "slides".
This will make your system feel much better. RIght-click
the desktop, properties, Appearance, Effects. Un-check
the top box and make sure the second box is checked.
Right-click the task bar,
properties,check show quick launch,
start menu, classic start menu, apply.
Or at least uncheck "hide inactive icons"
and check "show quick launch".
Then you can right-click
the task bar and click on "lock the taskbar".
This will allow you to slide the dotted line, and drag
and drop any shortcuts you want in there, then re-lock
the bar.
Right-click the desktop,
new, folder. Call it "tools". Then right-click
on all your tools i.e.-> Antivirus, Ad-Aware, Disk
Cleanup, Disk Defragmenter, etc. "create shortcut".
Then drag and drop all these shortcuts into your tools
folder:
-Free
up some hard drive space.
Right-click the Recycle Bin, properties, move that slider
down to about 2-5%.
Right-click My Computer, Properties, System Restore.
Either turn it off or drop the slider down to about
2%.
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Never
Do's:
-Never install or
go near "Bonzi Buddy"
-Never install any "internet/download boosters"
-Never install or click yes to "Gator, GAIN
Publishing or Claria"
-Never install "GoHip"
-Never install "Hotbar"
-Never open up E-mail attachments (unless your
expecting it)
-Never install or go near "xupiter"
-Never install or go near "GoBack"
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Free
& *good* software/sites:
The free sotware now has
it's own
page.
Burke~
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