Hardening Windows XP Professional
Windows XP has considerably more functionality than Windows 2000. With this functionality come more services and more potential security holes. Some of the measures undertaken by IST to reduce the risk are outlined in the extracts below. These are the security-related sections IST follows when building a Windows XP image for distribution within Academic Support.
NOTE: Most of these changes require you to sign on as an administrator.
The first and most important change to be applied is to set a password on all user accounts. Next it is very strongly advised that you do not log on with an administrative account but rather a ?User? or ?Power User? account.
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Differences between the XP Home and Professional Edition !
Windows XP is based on Windows NT4 and Windows 2000 technology. Microsoft is positioning the Windows XP Professional Edition to replace Windows NT4 and Windows 2000 Professional. In addition, the Windows XP Home edition will be replacing Windows 95/98/ME.
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Microsoft to Kill Pirated Windows XP Professional
Having dealt with the SoftMod Windows Vista activation crack, Microsoft will start hunting down and “killing” pirated copies of Windows XP Professional, the flavor of the operating system labeled by the company as most popular with pirates.
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25.3.2009 Feature Comparison: XP SP3 Professional vs. Vista SP1
Call it a sign of desperation, a new attempt to blow some wind in the sails of its latest platform, or a reaction to the proverbial last drop, but Microsoft is delivering its own perspective in terms of the comparison between its two Windows clients sharing the vast majority of the operating system market. Just ahead of the availability cut-off date for Windows XP through the OEM and retail channels, the Redmond company has “come out gunning” in a move designed to settle once and for good the XP vs. Vista face-off.
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22.5.2008 Dell to Sell Windows XP Professional with PCs Through 2009
In a letter to some of Dells customers, they said that "XP Professional is available for OEM installation on your Dell PC purchases through at least 2009 and likely longer."
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9.6.2008 Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2c Release
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2c has released to manufacturing and will be available to system builders in September 2007.
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10.8.2007 How to Downgrade from Windows Vista Business or Ultimate OEM Edition and Install Windows XP Professional
A lot of users still don’t getting used to Windows Vista. A lot of reviews have been labeling Windows Vista as bloated, hard to use, tons of compatibility issues, inconvenient, not user friendly, not stable and etc.
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22.8.2008 Cup of IT professional
IT professional in gallery
Advanced Installer Professional 4.9
Advanced Installer Professional is a Windows Installer authoring tool which enables developers and system administrators to easily build reliable MSI packages.
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5.4.2007 EASEUS Partition Master Professional 3.5
EASEUS Partition Master is a comprehensive partition software, which not only provides a comfortable user-interface to simplify your tasks but also enables you to configure and manage partitions of hard disk(s).
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12.5.2009 Windows 7 RTM Professional 110-Screenshot Gallery
With Windows 7, Microsoft is no longer referring to the business edition of the platform as, well, Business.
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13.9.2009 Windows 7 Professional Build 7055 - winmain.090303-2130
Microsoft’s “translucent” and mum communication strategy on the actual development milestones of Windows 7 as the operating system advances in the development process should in no way be considered a mark of inactivity.
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17.3.2009 Hack windows home edition cd into professional edition
Easy way how to spare some money. Raymond found this hack from Technipages and think it's pretty cool. It enables the features found in Windows XP Professional on your Windows XP Home Edition installation with this hack. It will allow you to turn your Windows XP Home CD into a Windows XP Professional CD.
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27.12.2006 Windows 7 Professional $99.99 and Home Premium $49.99 Discounts Now Live
On the same day that it announced officially the pricing of Windows 7, Microsoft also revealed that customers would have the opportunity to buy the two main editions of the next iteration of Windows at discounted prices.
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26.6.2009 Vista SP1 RC Leaves XP SP2 in the Dust, but What About XP SP3?
Although Microsoft has indicated a strong disapproval of benchmarking tests involving development milestones of Windows Vista Service Pack 1, the temptation is simply too big to ignore.
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17.1.2008 Microsoft Makes Its Own Vista SP1 vs. XP SP2, Leaves XP SP3 Out
Ever since the advent of Window Vista, at the end of November 2006 for businesses and in January 2007 for the general public, Microsoft has virtually invited the comparison between the two operating systems.
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8.5.2008 Microsoft Hands out XP SP3 beta – Final SP for XP
In an email sent to selected testers telling them they have been accepted to begin testing XP SP3, Microsoft has also informed them that this will be the final Service Pack for the now aging OS.
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5.10.2007 Windows XP Service Pack 3 - Will it turn XP into Vista?
Microsoft is currently cooking the third and last service pack for Windows XP. Released back at the end of 2001, and overhauled in 2004 with the introduction of Service Pack 2, the next refresh for XP is long overdue.
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19.10.2007 XP SP3 Does Not Support Windows XP
Believe it or not, but Microsoft does not support Windows XP with XP SP3. Well, maybe that's not entire true. But it is true nonetheless. End users will find they they are unable to deploy XP SP3 on top of XP. What is the catch?
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16.1.2008 Windows XP LogonUI Changer - Change Windows XP Logon Background
Windows 7 has got built-in feature to change Windows 7 Logon background and we have already covered Logon Changer & LogonUI background changer for Windows 7. For Windows Vista & XP Logonstudio is best tool to use.
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12.8.2009 VISTA vs. XP
Want to know the differences between Vista and it's biggest competitor, Windows XP? An
online article in the US has some basic information, but we thought it needed a bit more detail. So here's a much better rundown on the differences to expect!
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7.1.2007 Plus! for Windows XP
Thanks to gavo for this download. This is Plus! for Windows XP but users report, that it works with Vista too.
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28.4.2007 XP Antivirus Still Available!
A new rogue antispyware application was spotted a few days ago on the web and it may really trick you in case you’re not ready for it. Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT download it!
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27.3.2008 What Does It Take to Get a PC With XP?
Our reporter tried to buy a computer with Windows XP preinstalled on it from the United States' nine biggest PC makers. His findings: You can get one, but be prepared to fib.
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16.7.2008 Which edition of Windows XP is right for you?
Five editions of Windows XP compared
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3 x DOWNLOAD Windows XP
DOWNLOAD Windows XP 9 IN ONE with service pack 2,
DOWNLOAD Windows XP Professional 64 Bit,
DOWNLOAD Windows XP Professional 32 Bit
This is Windows XP Unofficial Download page.
Windows XP is designed for businesses of all sizes and for home users who demand the most from their computing experience, Windows XP Professional delivers the new standard in reliability and performance.
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Vista and XP Comparisons
Microsoft has promised the largest upgrade since Windows 95 in Windows Vista. In this article we take a look at build 5270, which will probably be one of the last intermediate releases (this one is actually labeled Beta 2 on the desktop) before the feature complete Beta 2 release. In this article we will look at what this upgrade means in real terms by comparing it with the venerable Windows XP.
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13.1.2006 Hack Windows Xp All in One
Include:
CIA Commander
WPa kill
Activate
Enable Updates
Windows genuine validation bypass
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31.1.2006 Windows XP on a MAC?
Apple has formally given its thumbs-up to attempts to install and run Windows XP on Intel-based Macs. It has posted a tool called Boot Camp that allows iMac, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini owners to run the Microsoft OS more easily. The company also confirmed the next major Mac OS X release, Leopard, will integrate the twin-OS technology.
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5.4.2006Exploring Windows XP
Professional x64 Edition
In this overview of Windows XP
Professional x64 Edition,
Columnist Charlie Russel
explains what hardware and
software it supports...
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04.01.2006Windows XP SP3 Final Available at MajorGeeks
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new
functionalities, which do not significantly change customers experience with the operating system.
Supported Operating Systems:
Windows XP; Windows XP Home Edition ; Windows XP Home Edition N; Windows XP Media Center Edition; Windows XP Professional Edition ; Windows XP
Professional N; Windows XP Service Pack 1; Windows XP Service Pack 2; Windows XP Starter Edition; Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.
winbeta.org -
23.04.2008Dell to Sell Windows XP Professional with PCs Through 2009
In a letter to some of Dells customers, they said that " XP Professional is available for OEM installation on your Dell PC purchases through at
least 2009 and likely longer." The "official" OEM and retail end date from Microsoft is June 30, 2008, just a few weeks away. There has been
much talk of whether Microsoft would bow to the demand of the consumers to keep XP alive, and with this it is still hard to tell if Dell bought a
years stock of licenses ahead of time, or if this is the precursor to an announcement from Microsoft.
Dell's plan for users is to have
Windows XP Professional installed on their machines, but include the Vista install disk for when they are ready to upgrade. "With XP installed,
we will send media for both Vista and XP with each PC so that when you are ready to migrate to Vista you may at no addition upgrade cost." The
demand seems high, so let's hope others follow suit to allow companies the time and resources to fully upgrade.
Read full story.....
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10.06.2008OEMs to Continue Shipping XP
If you already own an XP license and are still hesitant to switch to Vista, Microsoft's "downgrade rights" policy, which initially began to be
exercised in 2001, may be in your favor if you would still like to purchase a machine running Windows XP after the June 30, 2008 deadline when
Microsoft will stop offering the operating system. OEMs such as Dell have said that they still have no plans to stop offering XP as an option:
"Dell has the ability to exercise 'Windows Vista downgrade rights' on your behalf in the factory if your business is still reliant upon
Windows XP and you'd prefer to have Windows XP Professional preinstalled on your PCs," according to their new downgrade policy section for XP.
"Downgrade Rights means that anyone with a Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate operating system can downgrade to Windows XP
Professional provided they have the media for Windows XP Professional."
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27.04.2008Frequently asked questions
about Windows XP Professional
x64 Edition
Columnist Charlie Russel
answers questions about
Windows XP Professional x64
Edition that have appeared
frequently in the new (and
very active) Microsoft Windows
64-bit Newsgroup...
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04.01.2006Windows XP Common Criteria Administrator Guide 3.0
This guide provides sufficient guidance to allow an administrator to securely operate Windows XP Professional in accordance with the requirements
stated in the Windows 2003/XP Common Criteria (CC) Security Target (ST).
The Windows 2003/XP CC ST, henceforth referred to as the
Windows 2003/XP ST, provides a set of security requirements taken from the CC for Information Technology (IT) Security Evaluation. The Windows XP
Professional product was evaluated against the Windows 2003/XP ST and found to satisfy the ST requirements.
This guide is
targeted at the administrator and provides a description of how to perform the administrative security functions needed to securely operate Windows XP
Professional in accordance with the ST requirements.
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15.09.2008Windows XP Mode final release coming October 22
Microsoft's Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 Professional or higher has RTM'd (Release to Manufacturing) today and will be available for download
from Microsoft Download Center on October 22. OEM manufactures will be able to offer Windows XP Mode on their PC's, based on their shipping
schedules to consumers. The design purpose for Windows XP Mode is to help put businesses minds at ease when upgrading to Windows 7 to ensure their
applications are backwards compatible. Windows XP Mode will allow any program to run smoothly in Windows 7 Professional or higher just as it does in
Windows XP.
Read full story.....
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02.10.2009System Builders: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2c RTM
Windows XP Professional with
Service Pack 2c has released
to manufacturing and will be
available to system builders
in September 2007.
Due to the longevity
of Windows XP Professional, it
has become necessary to
produce more product keys for
system builders in order to
support the continued
availability of Windows XP
Professional through the
scheduled system builder
channel end-of-life (EOL) date
of January 31, 2009.
There are no other
features or fixes included in
this service pack; it will
only allow for the inclusion
of additional product keys.
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09.08.2007Microsoft Extends XP Media Availability to July
Microsoft has now extended the availability of Windows XP on new PCs by six months.
Computer makers that "downgrade" machines from
Windows Vista Business or Vista Ultimate to Windows XP Professional will be able to obtain media for the latter through the end of July 2009, a
Microsoft spokeswoman said Friday.
The new date is a change in policy. Previously, Microsoft had planned to halt XP Professional media
shipments to major computer makers after Jan. 31, 2009.
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13.10.2008Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2c Release
Windows XP Professional with
Service Pack 2c has released
to manufacturing and will be
available to system builders
in September 2007.
Critical Action Item:
System builders who use
imaging must create new
Windows XP Professional images
with Service Pack 2c when
shipping Service Pack 2c
product keys; otherwise end
users will not be able to
complete installation.
SP2c to Resolve
Shortage of Windows XP Product
Keys
Due to the
longevity of Windows XP
Professional, it has become
necessary to produce more
product keys for system
builders in order to support
the continued availability of
Windows XP Professional
through the scheduled system
builder channel end-of-life
(EOL) date of January 31,
2009.
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10.08.2007Exploring the World of
Professional Computer Gaming
Joel Durham Jr. is content as
a writer, but he dreams of
being a professional gamer.
It's a possibility, and you
might even be qualified!
Here's a look at two options:
the World Cyber Games and the
Cyberathlete Professional
League...
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10.01.2006Dell Brings Back Windows XP as Option
In response to huge customer
demand, Dell has brought back
Windows XP Home and
Professional as operating
system options on a handful of
consumer PCs. The computer
maker, like most others, had
largely switched its product
lines entirely to Windows
Vista...
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20.04.2007Microsoft to target Windows XP Pro users with Genuine 'nagware' notifications
Microsoft is stepping up its war on software pirates by rolling out new Windows Genuine notification software for what it is calling its most pirated
version of Windows: Windows XP Professional.
In an August 26 posting to the Windows Genuine Advantage blog, Director of Genuine
Windows Alex Koch said XP users should expect Microsoft to begin rolling out
a new version of Windows Genuine
Advantage (WGA) notifications starting this week. Microsoft is expecting the rollout to take several months.
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27.08.2008Helping Small Businesses With Windows 7 Professional and Windows XP Mode
Q&A: Scott Woodgate discusses how Windows XP Mode helps customers maximize productivity and manage their technology infrastructure, while migrating to
Windows 7. Woodgate also shares how Windows Virtual PC works with Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V)...
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29.04.2009Windows XP Gets Security
Certification
Touting the success of it's
new Security Development
Lifecycle (SDL) process,
Microsoft late Wednesday said
Windows Server 2003 and
Windows XP SP2 Professional
and Embedded have secured the
highest Common Criteria
security certification from
the United States
government's National
Information Assurance
Partnership...
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15.12.2005Microsoft releases XP mode RC for Windows 7
Microsoft has released updated bits of Windows XP Mode for Windows 7. XP Mode is a method to provide better compatibility in Windows 7, and to pull
it off with as little trouble as possible. It's also dubbed XPM, or formerly Virtual XP. XPM is built on the next generation Microsoft Virtual PC
7 product line, which requires processor-based virtualization support (Intel and AMD) to be present and enabled on the underlying PC, much like
Hyper-V, Microsoft's server-side virtualization platform. XP Mode will bring a Virtual PC-based environment, as well as a fully licensed version
of Windows XP SP3, free for all owners of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions. XPM will provide 100% compatibility with Windows
XP.
Read full story.....
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04.08.2009Virtual XP for Windows 7 Beta released to MSDN and TechNet
According to Paul Thurrott, a beta version of Virtual XP for Windows 7 has been released to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. The download comes in two
parts. The first is KB958559, an update for Windows 7 that includes Windows Virtual PC for Windows 7. The second, is another exe that installs the
Windows XP with SP3 virtual machine itself. To run Virtual XP Mode, users must be running Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate with
preferably 2GB of RAM with at least 256MB available to virtualization, and a processor that supports hardware virtualization. Many times hardware
virtualization needs to be enabled in the BIOS to be functional.
Read full story.....
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30.04.2009Microsoft: XP SP3 won't
arrive until '07
Aiming to keep its focus on
Windows Vista, Microsoft is
now targeting 2007 for its
next Windows XP service pack
update.
In a
posting to its life cycle Web
site, Microsoft set a
preliminary date of the second
half of next year for the
release of Windows XP Service
Pack 3 for both home and
professional editions. That
puts its debut well past the
arrival of Vista, which is
slated for the second half of
this year and later than both
outsiders and some insiders
had originally
predicted.
"We
will be releasing another
service pack for XP over the
course of the product life
cycle, and we are tentatively
targeting the second half of
2007 for release," a
Microsoft representative said
in an e-mail to CNET News.com.
"However, right now our
priority is Windows
Vista--we'll have more
information to share about the
next service pack for XP after
Windows Vista ships." ..
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18.01.2006Dell triples charge to downgrade PCs to XP for $150
More than five months after Dell stopped selling its popular Inspiron line of consumer desktop and laptop PCs with Windows XP, Dell is offering the
systems with the aging operating system for a surcharge of $150 over the newer Windows Vista. It's now selling Inspiron consumer PCs with XP
for three times June's surcharge! Dell's Inspiron 1525 notebooks and 530 desktops can be ordered with Windows XP Professional pre-installed
for an extra $150, according to the company's Web site.
Read full story.....
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08.12.2008Windows Server 2003 - XP
Conversion Pack
Windows Server 2003 is well
known for its superior speed,
stability, and security when
compared to Windows XP. This
fact is proven by
Microsoft's use of the
Windows Server 2003 kernel in
both Windows x64 Edition and
the upcoming Windows Vista.
Given this fact, it's no
wonder that many Windows users
have already switched to
Windows Server 2003 to gain
such improvements. However,
these users will have no doubt
also discovered that
compatibility issues are
common when using Windows
Server 2003 as a primary
home-use OS. Until Now... We
are proud to present version
2.0 of Windows X's
popular Windows Server 2003 -
XP Conversion Pack. This tool
will convert the Windows 2003
codebase from ServerNT to
WinNT, which will enable
locked features and transform
Windows Server 2003 into a
more compatible, and usable OS
like Windows XP. After
converting, your OS will
perform like Windows XP
Professional x64 Edition.
Finally you can gain all the
advantages of running Windows
Server 2003, without the
compatibility headaches!..
windowsvistax.com -
21.08.2006
