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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Understanding Windows Vista Service Hardening
Microsoft has been touting Windows Vista as the most secure Windows ever. Backing up that claim, Microsoft has included a number of new security features in the operating system. Thanks to pacpis for this news.
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3.9.2007 Windows 7 Migration Tool to Move From Windows XP to Windows 7
In past we had covered guide on upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7. Unfortunately there is no direct upgrade path from Windows Xp to Windows 7 and you have to use Windows Easy Transfer utility if you want to move your user and program files from XP to Windows 7.
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22.11.2009 Vista SP1, and then Windows 7, Windows 8 and Non-Windows Midori
2008 saw the release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Server 2008, but Microsoft's journey on the Windows path is far from over.
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5.8.2008 Windows 7 RC Brings Windows XP Mode Beta and Windows Virtual PC Beta
The Release Candidate of Windows 7 will bring with it the first Beta development milestones for Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC.
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29.4.2009 Windows Reactivator 2.0 - Backup & Restore Activation Status of Windows XP with Windows Reactivator
Every time you reinstall your windows XP you need to reactivate it online using your product key & worst if you lost your Windows XP product key.
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3.6.2009 Windows Vista SP1 vs. Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2
Feb 26th, 2008. Principled Technologies has released two Microsoft commissioned reports on Windows Vista SP1 performance. In these tests, Principled Technologies measured responsiveness of Windows Vista SP1 vs. Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2 when performing a set of common business and home tasks.
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28.2.2008 Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 9 – 1 Billion and Counting
Is Windows dead? Or, at least, is this the beginning of the end for Microsoft's proprietary operating system?
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15.9.2008 Week in Microsoft: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 9
This week in Microsoft, we covered 128-bit support possibly coming to Windows 8 and Windows 9, Windows 7, Windows Mobile 6.5, Bill Gates, Office 2010 Starter, Microsoft MVP status, Windows Live Hotmail, the EU, and Microsoft Security Essentials.
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10.10.2009 Windows Vista Build 5231 and Windows Media Player 11 Leaks!
Windows Vista Build 5231 has leaked to the web. The new build is said to include Windows Media Player 11 included. View the screenshots below! This is a Main branch build that was released on September 12th, 2005 at 8:20PM.
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Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3: Official Release Dates
A French website, PC Inpact, has posted the official Microsoft product change request forms for Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3.
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6.2.2008 Download Free Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2 Straight from Microsoft
Via the Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image. That's right! Microsoft is offering access to free downloads of Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2.
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6.3.2008 Windows Vista SP1 outperforms Windows XP SP2 in file copy
"Its interesting that people seem to think that Vista under performs in every area of the system which is quite an incorrect perception.
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27.5.2008 Windows Fiji Has RTMd as Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008
Microsoft officially confirmed that Windows Fiji has been released to manufacturing.
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18.7.2008 Windows 7 Beta Doesn't Play Nice with Windows Azure Cloud OS Tools
The promise for Windows 7 is that it will deliver an evolution when it will come down to stretching into the Cloud compared to its precursor, Windows Vista.
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16.1.2009 Internet Explorer 8 MUI packs for Windows XP, Windows Server 03
As detailed in our previous blog post, the following Internet Explorer MUI packs shipped today.
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17.5.2009 Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta adds Windows 7 support
Microsoft announced the release of Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta, along with news that it will feature Windows 7 support.
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20.7.2009 Check for RAM Error or Defect in Windows 7 and Vista with Windows Memory Diagnostic
Memory or RAM is one of the most important electronic hardware component on a computer systems, not only in term of speed or clock frequency and size, but also the reliability of hardware ecosystem of the RAM sticks or memory modules and its subsystem.
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1.10.2009 The Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 98 Threat Mitigation Guide
Well, Microsoft still puts effort in old Windows versions...
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31.3.2006 Windows Vista comes with 19,500 drivers on DVD – more on Windows Update
Ever needed to find a driver for a product and wished Windows would either just have the driver in it, or that their Windows Update service could provide it? With Vista, it can – and new features and updates will be forthcoming too. It’s about time!
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20.11.2006 Windows XP Home No Longer Qualifies for Windows Vista Upgrades
Windows XP Home Edition no longer qualifies for Windows Vista Business Upgrade or Upgrade + SA through Volume Licensing.
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17.10.2007 Microsoft Offers a Complex Windows Vista vs. Windows XP Perspective
A new standard of security is an integer aspect of the evolution puzzle represented by the move from Windows XP to Windows Vista.
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3.11.2007 Windows XP SP3 to Drop Concomitantly with Windows Vista SP1?
Yes, it's time for every Windows user's favorite obsession: Windows XP Service Pack 3. The third and final service pack for Windows XP has been quite elusive for the past three years.
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25.11.2007 Windows Vista vs. Windows 9x/Me, NT Server, 2000 and XP
If at just a couple of weeks short of the first anniversary since Windows Vista hit the shelves you are still looking for reasons to upgrade to the latest Windows client, then Biplab Paul, Partner Technical Consultant with Microsoft India, has an impressive, and exhaustive list of features that are bound to tilt the balance in Vista's favor.
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14.1.2008 Free Windows Vista Business and Windows XP SP2 on Parade
Free Windows... Not a concept you would expect from Microsoft. With a business strategy focused on proprietary software, the Redmond company is by all means at the opposite technology spectrum from open source and free software.
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9.3.2008 Microsoft Presents the Lost Comparison: Windows Vista vs. Windows XP
With both Windows XP and Windows Vista being available concomitantly on the market, Microsoft is doing nothing more than inviting the consumers to compare the two operating systems.
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20.4.2008 Windows Server 2008 = Windows Vista SP1 Minus the Pain
Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn, is essentially intimately connected with Windows Vista Service Pack 1, to the level in which the RTM version of Microsoft's latest server operating system features the
SP1 label
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6.5.2008 Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 - Latest Windows Platform from Microsoft
The latest Windows operating system is available for download as of June 16, 2008. And no, it's not a new release of Windows 7, nor the first taste of Windows 7 Server.
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16.6.2008 Free Windows for Supercomputers Available for Download - Windows HPC Server 2008
Microsoft made the latest iteration of its Windows operating system for supercomputers available as a free download.
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23.9.2008 How to Install Windows 7 or Windows Vista on Physical Machine Without DVD Media
A lot of Windows Vista and Windows 7 license has been sold media-less nowadays, where buyers only receive a piece of authenticated certificate with a genuine and legitimate product key printed on it.
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23.12.2008Understanding Windows Vista Service Hardening
Microsoft has been touting Windows Vista as the most secure Windows ever. Backing up that claim, Microsoft has included a number of new security
features in the operating system. These new features are designed to address some of the common vectors by which previous versions of Windows have
fallen to anonymous miscreants and other criminals.
One such new feature in Windows Vista is known as Windows Service Hardening.
In older versions of Windows, services did not necessarily run with the least possible privileges. In fact, Windows services often ran under accounts
with very high level of access, such as the LocalSystem account. Further, users are often not aware of the services running on their systems, and do
not realise that some services are safe to disable. Finally, services and user applications ran in the same space, which could result in inappropriate
access. As a result of services running with privileges that did not match necessity, and services running that users did not require, Windows
desktops were left more vulnerable to attack.
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04.09.2007IE7 for Windows XP Moves to Optional Updates
Some of our members are
reporting that earlier today Microsoft
removed Internet Explorer 7
from Critical updates (or
forced Automatic Updates if
set to Automatic) to Optional
updates, after a brief
disappearance all together
from the Windows Update
site.
Initial
reports indicate that Windows
Server 2003 still gets IE7 as
a critical update, most likely
because of the in-built
"hardening" that forces
Internet Explorer to confirm
web browsing outside of the
local intranet. Hardening is
set by default on Windows
Server 2003, a significant
security update over IE6.
However, the forced
update to IE7 on Windows XP
systems had Microsoft
scrambling to issue a patch
that blocks IE7 from being
shown on Windows Update.
Generally speaking IT system
managers roll out a browser
update only after extensive
testing, not when Microsoft
makes it available. I'd say
this move is one where
Microsoft really is listening
to the customer, and has been
widely appreciated in our
board
discussion.
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22.02.2007Hyper-V Security Guide
This Solution Accelerator provides instructions and recommendations to help strengthen the security of computers running the Hyper-V role on Windows
Server® 2008. It covers three core topics: hardening Hyper-V, delegating virtual machine management, and protecting virtual machines.
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31.03.2009Who's Inflating Vista Security Expectations?
Opinion: Unsatisfied with
Microsoft's boring,
conservative claims, critics
invent new and unreasonable
ones that they can blame the
company for not meeting. As I
see it, the biggest question
in the security business this
year is how well Windows Vista
will hold up against what will
be the most concerted attack
in the industry's relatively
short history. The standards
for a fair analysis of this
question are more complicated
than many would have you
believe: Vista doesn't have
to be perfect in order to hold
up well. As even Microsoft
will tell you, if you actually
listen to what the company
says, nothing's perfect, and
a big part of hardening a
product against attack is to
be prepared for when a failure
occurs.
This is
why you keep hearing from
Microsoft about "Defense in
Depth." The idea is that a
failure in one form of
protection can be mitigated by
other protections. And these
protections don't stop with
what is provided in Windows
Vista. Any reasonable person,
business or consumer, will add
further security software to
Windows Vista. There is a
widespread consensus in the
security industry that Vista
is a more secure Windows and,
for what it's worth, the most
secure version of Windows
ever. Of course, they'll tell
you that's not enough, and of
course they're right.
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09.01.2007Microsoft Evaluating Yahoo Bid
Microsoft Corp is evaluating its bid for Yahoo Inc because the Internet company may have lost value since Microsoft made its offer, people familiar
with the matter said on Friday. The news, sent Yahoo shares down more than 5 percent in extended trade.
After weeks of silence, recent
comments from various sources to journalists suggest the software maker is hardening its stance and pushing Yahoo for action. The sources told Reuters
that Yahoo has lost key personnel, making the company less valuable, while generous severance packages it handed out to executives and full-time
employees in the case of a takeover have made it more expensive.
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05.04.2008Office 2003 SP3 to be mainly a security upgrade
Microsoft plans to make some
of the security improvements
and features it built into
Office 2007 available for
Office 2003 by releasing
Service Pack 3 (no release
date has been disclosed),
which will be primarily
focused on security, according
to Joshua Edwards, a technical
product manager for Office at
Microsoft. " We're trying
to take what we learned from
building Office 2007 and bring
as much as we can to Office
2003. We're not going to take
everything, but we will take
as much as we can ." So
far at least one apparently
serious security bug in Office
2007 has been reported.
Many of the changes
will be invisible to users,
hardening the applications and
file parsers against attacks,
Edwards said. Such changes
under the hood could help
protect against attacks that
exploit security
vulnerabilities in Office
applications. However, some
user features may also make it
to the older version,
including the ability to
select a preferred encryption
mechanism, a feature the U.S.
government requested for
Office 2007. The last service
pack for Office 2003 was
released in September 2005 and
also was aimed at beefing up
security, enhancing
application stability and
adding support for Microsoft
SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft
Visual Studio 2005.
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27.04.2007VM Security Risks: Phantom or Menace?
Virtual machines are threatening to crack the walls of data centers with a host of potential security threatsnothing that's been publicly exploited
yet but a fact that's borne out by a slew of vulnerabilities patched over the past seven months by major virtualization vendors
VMware, Microsoft and
XenSource.
David Lynch, vice president of marketing at
Embotics, a VM life-cycle management vendor, said during a presentation here at Interop Oct. 23 that a fundamental issue with
VMs is that they've come into enterprises via the back door, thereby slipping past standard security hardening. Meanwhile, VM sprawl has
virtualization instances popping up with nobody keeping track of them. Simply stated, organizations won't be able to secure these things, given that
nobody knows how many have been created, Lynch said.
"Even if you just replace
completely,
how do I make sure I replace all instances of virtual appliance?" Lynch told eWEEK following his presentation. "I asked the audience how many
people knew how many virtual machines . Three people put their hands up, out of about 50. That's a fundamental issue. People
don't know how many machines they have out there. How can you manage them? How can you make sure configurations are maintained, that they're where
they're supposed to be?"
winbeta.org - 25.10.2007
Office 2003 to get security upgrade
Microsoft plans to make some
of the security improvements
and features it built into
Office 2007 available for
Office 2003, a company
representative said Thursday.
Service
Pack 3 for Office 2003 will be
focused on security, said
Joshua Edwards, a technical
product manager for Office at
Microsoft. "We're trying to
take what we learned from
building Office 2007 and bring
as much as we can to Office
2003," Edwards said in an
interview with CNET News.com.
Microsoft
hasn't yet set a release date
for the Office 2003 update,
which like other service packs
will be available as a free
upgrade. Also, there are no
details of what will be in the
update, other than that
Microsoft is "backporting"
work it did for Office 2007.
Click Read
More to view the rest of
this article.
jcxp.net - 28.04.2007
Windows 7: Superbar Overview
So far, in our Windows 7 Overview series, we have published the following: Windows 7 beta quick review Windows 7 Tips and Tricks Windows 7: HomeGroup
Overview Windows 7: BitLocker To Go & Biometric improvements overview Windows 7: Easy Connect Windows 7: Problem Steps Recorder Windows 7: Action
Center Overview Windows 7: User Account Control (UAC) Overview Windows 7: Calibate Your Display Windows 7: Federated Search Windows 7: Device Stage
Windows 7: Internet Explorer 8 Overview Over the next few weeks we will be adding many more focus items on Windows 7 including Touch, Windows 7
networking and media enhancements. Stay tuned for the ultimate Windows 7 focus from Neowin.net.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 15.01.2009
Windows 7: HomeGroup Overview
So far, in our Windows 7 Overview series, we have published the following: Windows 7 beta quick review Windows 7: BitLocker To Go & Biometric
improvements overview Windows 7: Easy Connect Windows 7: Problem Steps Recorder Windows 7: Action Center Overview Windows 7: User Account Control
(UAC) Overview Windows 7: Calibate Your Display Windows 7: Federated Search Windows 7: Device Stage Windows 7: Internet Explorer 8 Overview Over the
next few weeks we will be adding many more focus items on Windows 7 including Touch, Windows 7 networking and media enhancements. Stay tuned for the
ultimate Windows 7 focus from Neowin.net. Here is an overview of HomeGroup in Windows 7.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 13.01.2009
Windows 7 Beta 1 Vs Windows Vista Vs Windows XP
After Windows 7 beta 1 leaked, many bloggers caught hold of it very soon and started testing/using Windows 7. We saw Ed Bott from ZDnet reporting
about the changes in the Windows 7 beta 1 license agreement. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes from ZDnet has benchmarked Windows 7 with its successors Windows
Vista and Windows XP. The Windows 7 build 6.1.7000.0.081212-1400 was considered for testing. Since its 32bit, it was tested against 32bit versions of
Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 03.01.2009
Windows 7: Vista Upgrade & Anytime Upgrade overview
So far, in our Windows 7 Overview series, we have published the following: Windows 7 beta quick review Windows 7: HomeGroup Overview Windows 7:
BitLocker To Go & Biometric improvements overview Windows 7: Easy Connect Windows 7: Problem Steps Recorder Windows 7: Action Center Overview Windows
7: User Account Control (UAC) Overview Windows 7: Calibate Your Display Windows 7: Federated Search Windows 7: Device Stage Windows 7: Internet
Explorer 8 Overview Over the next few weeks we will be adding many more focus items on Windows 7 including Touch, Windows 7 networking and media
enhancements. Stay tuned for the ultimate Windows 7 focus from Neowin.net. Here is an overview of Windows Vista to Windows 7 Beta upgrade.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 13.01.2009
Windows 7: Easy Connect overview
So far, in our Windows 7 Overview series, we have published the following: Windows 7 beta quick review Windows 7: Action Center Overview Windows 7:
User Account Control (UAC) Overview Windows 7: Calibate Your Display Windows 7: Federated Search Windows 7: Device Stage Windows 7: Internet Explorer
8 Overview Over the next few weeks we will be adding many more focus items on Windows 7 including Touch, Windows 7 networking and media enhancements.
Stay tuned for the ultimate Windows 7 focus from Neowin.net. Here is an overview of Easy Connect in Windows 7.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 11.01.2009
Windows Live Strategy Inches Forward, Slowly
Microsoft is continuing to
flesh out its Windows Live
strategy, on Wednesday
releasing beta versions of
Windows Live Photo Gallery and
Windows Live Folders. The
additions will join Windows
Live Mail Desktop, Windows
Live Writer, and a number of
other applications as part of
the Windows Live Suite...
betanews.com - 28.06.2007
Windows 8 already cooking, beyond Windows 7
After almost 3 years since Microsoft released Windows Vista, we are now heading for a wonderful release of Windows 7, the next version of Windows OS.
Windows 7 RC is expected to be released next month, April 10th. But, what about the next version of Windows OS? Let us call it Windows 8 for now.
Soni Meinke, a senior program manager in the Windows Server group in an interview with Channel 9 revealed very little info that the next version of
Windows OS is already in its planning stage and her work being engaging with various customers and partners, she is already discussing the plan and
strategy around them.
Read full
story.....
neowin.net - 12.03.2009
Windows Mobile being rebranded as Windows and Windows Phone?
With few hours for the Mobile World Congress to start, we already have snaps of Microsoft stand and Windows Mobile banners showing up. Microsoft is
expected to announce various mobile offerings and also unveil its newer version of Windows Mobile, which is Windows Mobile 6.5 at the Mobile World
Congress. There is one thing to note once you see these snaps, a very important thing Below are some snaps As you may have guessed it
already, its Windows and not Windows Mobile in those banners! Is Microsoft rebranding their Windows Mobile to Windows and call it Windows Phone?
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 16.02.2009
What do you want to know about Windows 7?
We're going to be sitting down shortly with Mike Nash, Vice President of Windows Product Management, who heads up Windows 7 development. Now that the
news and screenshots are out there, what else do you want to know about Windows 7?..
betanews.com - 28.10.2008
Microsoft confirms Windows 7 downgrade rights
TechARP had been constantly giving updates on the Windows 7 Downgrade Rights Program all these days. Now Microsoft has confirmed the same in a blog
post, regarding Windows 7 Downgrade rights program. Users can downgrade to Windows XP and Windows Vista from Windows 7 via OEMs for 6 months after
Windows 7 General Availability. For customers and businesses running Windows XP, Microsoft still recommends an upgrade to Windows Vista before moving
onto upgrading Windows 7.
Read full
story.....
neowin.net - 16.04.2009
AntiSpyware Named 'Windows
Defender'
Microsoft's Windows
AntiSpyware application, which
entered beta testing last
January, has been given a new
name: Windows Defender.
Alongside the branding change,
the anti-malware engine has
been moved to a Windows
service and signatures will be
delivered through Windows
Update...
betanews.com - 08.11.2005
Windows 7: BitLocker To Go & Biometric improvements overview
So far, in our Windows 7 Overview series, we have published the following: Windows 7 beta quick reviewWindows 7: Easy ConnectWindows 7: Problem Steps
Recorder Windows 7: Action Center Overview Windows 7: User Account Control (UAC) Overview Windows 7: Calibate Your Display Windows 7: Federated Search
Windows 7: Device Stage Windows 7: Internet Explorer 8 OverviewOver the next few weeks we will be adding many more focus items on Windows 7 including
Touch, Windows 7 networking and media enhancements. Stay tuned for the ultimate Windows 7 focus from Neowin.net. Here is an overview of Problem Steps
Recorder. Microsoft has introduced BitLocker To Go with Windows 7.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 12.01.2009
