Ryan's Blog - Latest Comments

Re: Securing Windows XP Pro

Jaosn Ware — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 10:41:51 -0000

was looking for an email address for you and cannot find one. I would like to know when your situation at The Marietta Brewing Company Happened. Thank you

Re: Securing Windows XP Pro

windows sucks — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:42:29 -0000

format and put linux on it.

Re: Ryan’s Blog » Blog Archive » Windows CD Burning

Matt Simmons — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:59:37 -0000

Excellent. Looks almost like k3b for Windows

Re: Securing Windows XP Pro

Will — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:02:50 -0000

Ehh, there's better ways to secure Remote Desktop than not using a password! Start > Run > secpol.msc to see security settings for such things, as a start...

Re: Documenting NTFS Permissions

Matt — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:30:54 -0000

wow! Nice find! I don't admin many Windows machines, but I'll keep that in mind for when I do!

Thanks!

Re: Staying on top of the game

Matt Simmons — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:16:51 -0000

Hey, do you have a link to the practice exam? I'd like to see how my skills have atrophied since I took the class.

Re: Securing Windows XP Pro

Seandon Mooy — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:27:41 -0000

Start>Run>Services.msc
Find and disable "terminal services client".

Re: Securing Windows XP Pro

Seandon Mooy — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:26:46 -0000

1- Don’t trust anything.
Trust open-source software (yes, that exists for Windows too).

2- Stay up to date.
Or use XP2600 SP3 and have a SPI firewall between you and the internet. Updates more or less don't apply with a stable windows install, no software needs to be updated. If you need to update to something new, test it first. Also, see #1.

3- Get a good anti-virus program.
Spybot S&D is good, but ClamWin anti-Virus is _the_ virus scanner for Windows.

4- Don’t set a password on your user account.
Phyiscal secuirty counts too. This is second best to having a good password.

5- Don’t use IE.
Firefox is good, but not the only option. Opera is also great.

6- It’s not a matter of if something fails, it’s a matter of when.
Don't use XP for anything but a ultra-stable workstation. Not a single service should be offered to the internet, and no direct connection to the internet should ever be made. Like I noted before, never updating your proprietary software (once its at the most stable version: Build 2600 SP3) as keeping an open-source application for every task updated, you'll find that really, nothing ever fails sotware-wise.

As for the backups, if you care at all about information security, you wouldn't be keeping it on a windows machine anyways. If you want backups, setup a NAS and do network backups.

The only excuse for using Windows just flew out the window(s?) anyways, that being Wine 1.0 now supports D3D.

Re: Securing Windows XP Pro

clpo13 — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:18:40 -0000

Isn't there a way to manually disable remote desktop in WinXP Pro?

Re: Securing Windows XP Pro

Matt — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:47:47 -0000

This is all great advice! I don't admin a lot of windows machines, but the ones I do have the typical "Windows" problems like you mention.

Thanks for writing this!

Re: Hypermiling? Bah humbug

Keithius — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:54:33 -0000

Regurgitating common sense is a great way to make yourself seem smart these days. You're not the only one who learned this in driver's ed, you're just the only one awake enough to recognize when people start talking about some new "revolutionary idea" that has really been around since forever.

Sad, but true.

Re: Hypermiling? Bah humbug

Ryan Nedeff — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:09:53 -0000

True, but I guess my main point was that I was taught 90% of these techniques when learning to drive. I've just always thought it was the way you were "supposed" to drive.

Re: Hypermiling? Bah humbug

Michael Janke — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 21:21:39 -0000

Nope - it's not new. 1974, first oil crisis, the media is full of all kinds of advice on how to save gas. 1980, second oil crisis, the media is full of all kinds of advice on how to save gas.

2008, third oil crisis...........

I've been doing the 'hypermiler' sort of driving since the first crisis.