Owner: Windows XP Security Tips URL:http://vectrosecurity.com Join Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 23:50:04 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Useful articles about keeping XP computers secure. Valuable information about online privacy and identity protection. Keep kids safe on the net. Site statistics:Click here
What is RSS and how can I view RSS feeds? 2007-06-07 07:16:40 RSS is a powerful way to have the latest blog and news articles streamed directly to your computer. Whenever a new entry is added to your favorite blog, your RSS reader will automatically find it and send you a notification.To add an RSS feed to your reader, Just look for this icon when you are viewing blogs and click on it. It will either take you to a page with more info, or it will add the feed directly to your reader. In the case of the feed for this site, you will be taken to a page listing all of the items currently in the feed, and from there you can click the RSS icon on that page and it will be added to your reader. Give it a try.FeedReader is a good free app to use if you don't have one.
6 Reasons Why Firefox Is Better Than Internet Explorer 2007-06-05 22:11:56 6 Reasons
Why Firefox
Is Better Than InternetExplorer
Web browsers are a useful every-day sort of thing. You're using one right now to read this page. How do you know the one you use is keeping you safe while you surf? If you use IE7, here are some things to keep in mind. Reason 1: Better Management of Personal InfoInternet Explorer
stores information about the web sites you visit in several location. Not all of them are removed when you clear your cache. Some information about the web sites you visit is stored in the Windows registry on your PC. This information can be stolen by spyware programs.Firefix stores your information in one location, which can be cleared at any time. You can even set it to clear the info each time you finish your browsing session and close the browser window.Reason 2: Less Vulnerable To Attacks Most malicious programs which exploit web browsers are written for Internet Explorer, which has required more patches to fix problems over time. Reason 3: Extensi
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For Webmasters: Why Discount Web Hosting Can Be a Nightmare 2007-04-17 13:28:25 Web hosting companies are the backbone of the web. Without them, there would be no web sites. Sorry to state the obvious, but I want to make the point that there are tens of thousands of web hosting companies in America and one common problem. Most hosting companies offer what you could call "bulk hosting" service. The idea behind bulk hosting is to sell discount hosting service with a large amount of features to profit from hosting a large bulk of accounts. This can be good for the consumer's wallet, but be warned, discount web hosting can give webmasters headaches. Discount
web hosting businesses face two major complications. The first is having to handle the demand of customer service needs to a wide customer base. The second problem is that in order to profit from selling the service at such a low cost, they have to place a large number of accounts on each server. This can cause stress on the server which in turn causes low performance or even downtime if it becomes o Read more:Hosting
, Nightmare
, Web Hosting
, Webmasters
Disable Local Networking and File and Print Sharing If Your Computer Is Not Networked With Others 2007-04-09 21:30:23 Most home computers are not networked, or 'linked', to other computers for sharing files directly and for other local networking capabilites like printer sharing. However, Windows XP Home comes with these things enabled when you get your computer. It is a good idea to disable these to increase network security and to save some meory if you are not using them. A good example of someone who does not use file or print sharing is a person who has one computer in their home. You might be wondering if disabling networking also disables your connection to the Internet. The answer is NO it does not unless you have set something incorrectly or did not follow the steps exactly. Here are the instructions on how to disable networking.NOTE: It is very important that you do these steps correctly to avoid disabling things you need. 1) Click "Start"2) Click "Control Panel"3) Double-click "Network and Internet Connections" 4) Double-click "Netwo Read more:Computer
, Disable
, Local
, Others
, Print
, Sharing
Back Up Your Important Stuff 2007-04-08 07:30:34 Not everyone has a system set up to back up their entire hard drive. This is why it is highly recommended that you at least back up your important files onto one or a few CD's. If you write important documents for school or work, or have things like photo archives, or maybe web pages you are working on, it never hurts to keep extra copies in a safe place.
Why To Avoid Upgrading to Windows Vista 2007-04-07 07:30:34 Here are some reasons for holding off on installing Vista
, at least for the time being: 1) Problems with DRM.2) Security problems and bugs found in the first week. 3) Too soon to switch to something that has not had many of its bugs discovered. 4) The driver support for gaming and power apps is only in its infancy, as is the Vista OS itself. Read more:Avoid
, Windows
, Windows Vista
Windows XP Security Basic Checklist 2007-04-06 07:30:34 Here is a basic checklist for keeping your Windows
XP computer protected from viruses, spyware, hackers and identity theft.1) Replace the firewall built in to Windows with a professional solution or a good free one.2) Make sure you have a quality anti-virus program installed.3) Remove any programs you are not using, especially ones that connect to the Internet. Read more:Basic
, Checklist
Keep Your Windows XP Computer Secure 2007-04-02 10:54:06 About Us Vectro Security is a web site devoted to helping people make their Microsoft Windows
XP computers more secure and stable. With all of the threats of viruses, spyware and hackers it is important to keep your home computer secure. This web site will give you specific tips, hints and instructions on how to protect your PC. Over the past several years security has become a large issue on the Internet, particularly on the world wide web. More and more malicious code is being written to prdoduce viruses, worms, trojans, spyware and other malware that can harm your PC and cause you to lose data. When theives get their hands on your personal files, they can gain acces to things like your bank accounts. In the worse case scenario, your identity could be stolen. Keep checking back here or subscribe to one of our news feeds for regular updates on how to prevent being a victim of cyber-crime. Subscribe To Our RSS Feed To stay informed subscribe to our RSS feed. This s Read more:Computer
, Secure
3 Great Security Add-ons for Firefox 2007-07-06 10:52:12 Mozilla Firefox
is a great web browser, mainly because it is much more secure than competing browsers. Firefox also allows you to download add-ons from their site which add features and functionality to enhance your web surfing experience. There are 3 particular ones which enhance security in addition to the protections which are already included. Here is a review of Firefox add-ons that blocks advertisements, cookies and JavaScript unless you allow them for a particular site. NoScript - This will automatically block all JavaScript code from running on all web sites. To allow scripts to run on a certain site, right-click the NoScript icon in Firefox and click "allow" or "temporarily allow". If you only do temporary, scripts will be blocked the next time you go back to that site. There is also an option to permanently allow all cookies for all sites until you choose to go back to using explicit rules. CookieSafe - The same idea as NoScript, but applies to coo Read more:Great
How To Make Firefox Clear Private Data When You Exit The Browser 2007-07-05 10:52:57 Firefox has a nice feature which allows you to clear private data from the browser each time you close it down. This is a good idea since information about where you have been on the web is stored in your browser history. Sometimes web sites give out what are called "cookies". These can either be helpful or harmful. The helpful ones add functionality to web sites. The harmful ones can steel information from your history to see where you have been browsing. This data is then sent to shady advertising companies. Firefox also stores information which you have entered into forms as well as your passwords. Some people like to have all of this information removed each time they close the browser with a nice feature called "clear private data". 1) Click "Tools" in the top menu of Firefox. 2) Select "Options" at the bottom of the list. 3) When the Options window is open, click the "Privacy" tab at the top of it. You will be taken to Read more:Clear
, Firefox
, Private
How To Clear The Internet Explorer Browser History 2007-07-31 14:38:35 Microsoft InternetExplorer
keeps a record of all of the web sites you have visited. Spyware objects that infect your computer from the web and other sources will sometimes steal this data. It is then used to profile your browsing history. The worst part is spyware can be hard to detect without the right programs. One safe habit is routinely deleting the list will help to make sure you don't leave a trail laying around for intrusive advertising companies to find. Here are the steps for clearing the Internet Explorer
browser history. 1) Click "Start" 2) Click "Control Panel" 3) Double-click "Internet Options" 4) When the "Internet Options" window opens, click the "General" tab if you are not there already. 5) Under "Browsing history" click the "Delete" button, this will open the "Delete Browsing History
" window. 6) This window allows you to clear on types of data at a time, or to erase the Read more:Clear
How To Scan For Spyware and Immunuze Your System From Spyware Programs 2007-07-30 15:07:07 Some of the best anti spyware programs are free. They will find and eliminate spyware that it hides itself in your system and does not show itself on the surface. Most of them come from different web sites and other places on the net. These infections can steal your personal information and use it for advertising research, or even to place advertisements on your computer. Other times they can create web pop-ups that seem like they come from different web sites, but are really the result of dubious hidden applications. These are just some of the ways they can negatively impact your Windows XP system. Security measures such as having more than one anti spyware program are crucial to the performance of your PC because infected systems can be slow and sometimes barely even usable because of all of the spyware running on the background. The two anti spyware programs highly recommended by Vectro Security are Ad-Aware and SpyBot - Search & Destroy They both scan your hard drive(s) tho Read more:Programs
, Spyware
, System
How To Indentify Phishing Attacks 2007-08-12 00:29:16 What Phishing Attacks Are Phishing attacks are one of the oldest forms of malicious activity on the Internet. They date back to some time in the early 1990's and were popular on AOL. The definition of a phishing attack is an attempt to obtain someone's personal information by posing as an established organization or business and asking for personal details. The most common form of phishing attacks are sent through e-mail. The target receives a message from an organization that seems legitimate but is really from a fraudster. For example purposes, we'll say the target thinks it is a letter from their bank. The message they receive may even contain the same images and logos that the bank usually sends in e-mails to their customers. They phisher will usually claim something to the effect of on-line banking usernames and passwords having been lost during a technical failure. This is the set-up for asking the victim to enter their login details. Similar fronts have been used to
How To Disable Background Processes In Windows XP 2007-08-13 12:25:51 Overview Disabling background processes in Windows
XP is one of the steps necessary to improve the performance of your computer. Many of the programs which run behind the scenes are important system applications. On the other hand, many of them are not needed at all but still run whenever the computer is on. They can waste memory which could be used for other things and pose security risks. This article explains how to get to your list of services and disable the ones which most people rarely use. Included are explanations of the needless Windows XP background processes and why they are probably not useful. How To Get To The List of Services 1) Click 'Start' 2) Click 'Run' 3) In the box that says 'Open:' type the following: services.msc 4) Hit 'Enter' This will open up the list of background processes. How To Disable
An Item From The List 1) Click the item once to highlight it. 2) Right-click the item to pull down
How To Close Port 445 In Windows XP For Good 2007-08-21 11:37:41 Even after you disable local file and print sharing, Windows
XP still leaves port 445 open and listening for incoming connections. If you are not using local networking, this can pose a security risk. To close this port you need to make a quick change to an entry in the Windows registry.NOTE: It is very important that if you do not feel comfortable editing the registry or have never done it before that you avoid doing this right away and learn more about the Windows registry. Changing the wrong setting or changing a setting incorrectly can cause Windows to not function correctly.Please be advised that Vectro Security takes no responsibility for any damage caused to the operating system.Here are the step-by-step instructions to close port 445 in Windows XP:Click "Start"Click "Run..." Where it says "Open:" type "regedit"Navigate to HKLMSystemCurrentControlSetServicesNetBTParametersFind the value "TransportBindName" and right-cli Read more:Close
How To Clear Windows Temporary Files 2007-09-12 17:02:54 Windows XP stores temporary files to track things it needs to "remember" for short term use in a few different temporary folders. This helps different applications have some blank space to work with when needed. Even though the files in these folders are only used once or twice, they remain on the system. The drawback is the amount of temporary files accumulate over time and can waste precious hard drive space.Here are step-by-step instructions for how to clear Windows temporary files:Click "Start"Click "Run"Where it says "Open:" type the following command: %tmp%Click "OK" When the "Temp" folder opens showing all of your temp files, hold down Ctrl+A on the keyboard to select all files. Hit the "Delete" button on the keyboard OR drag all of the files to the Recycle Bin. Wait patiently for the everything to delete. When it is finished, there may be a warning message telling you that some of the files are still in use. Read more:Clear
, Temporary
, Windows
How To Automatically Clear The Windows Paging File When The Computer Shuts Down 2007-09-07 13:14:01 Windows has a nice feature called "virtual memory" which converts hard drive space into RAM. This works in addition to the RAM already installed in your PC. The file is named pagefile.sys. The purpose of this is to have more memory available for running applications. As much as the paging file is a helpful feature, there is one drawback: Data remains there even after the computer has been shut down and started back up. If the machine is infected or has been hacked into, this is one thing the intruders might look for since information such as passwords and browsing history can be stolen from it. There is a simple value that can be added to the registry to have Windows automatically clear the paging file when the computer shuts down. This may slow the shutdown time by one to two minutes, but is worth it to be safe in the long-run.NOTE: It is very important that if you do not feel comfortable editing the registry or have never done it before that you avoid doing this right away Read more:Automatically
, Clear
, Computer
, Paging
, Windows
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