can you help me set up my computer, please?

hi, ive just been reinstalling XP. can you tell me if i've missed anything? the picture shows the patches and software i have. ive got my AV AT sorted out too.

im going to go through services and turn a couple of things off, and im going to do the the schrap file thing, but i cant remember how to spell schrap can you tell me?

i disabled Net-Bios - (shown in the sreenshot)

are there any other system changes i need to make?

im going to change the way i log on too.

thanks.

 

do i need to change anything in these pictures? thanks.

 

i found the shscrap.dll on the page below. does anyone know anything i should do to secure my computer?
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=5367

 

My 2 cents or so>
Much of what you change will depend upon what YOU NEED to run.....for starters i would say turn off services that you do not need to run (Start>>Run>>Msconfig) the MS stuff you see can be checked out, as far your needing or not needing it, at www.eldergeek.com i would also suggest getting a copy of Windows XP Annoyances...i have found it very helpful....like i said...starters

 

Hi, iceni60

No need for a wallpaper with all them shortcuts.

I use XP-AntiSpy and BlackViper service configurations since W2k, now using the XP-Pro SP2 Config.:- BlackViper

Take Care,
TheQuest

PS: Name will never be again.

 

Take the check out of "client for MS networks" in the internet properties.

-Get SafeXP http://www.theorica.net/safexp.htm (this will replace a lot of the smaller patch tools)
-Another hardening tool: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=93893&package_id=133078
-Firewall?
-Maybe get the full (free) versions of a2 and Ewido
-Get Total Uninstall (http://www.snapfiles.com/get/totaluninstall.html) and install everything with it!
-CrapCleaner
-A couple other programs you might like are XPSecurity (http://www.bitfantasy.com/content/view/12/45/), puts all your security settings in one place, and XP-Smoker (http://www.xp-smoker.com), a nice performance tweaker without the extra crap. Plus it makes disabling most unnecessary services very easy
-And don't forget updated drivers for all your hardware


What are you reffering to when you say "schrap file"? Do you mean the swap file (virtual memory)?

 

thanks, Rainwalker, TheQuest and Notok i'll go through what you said . i'll take the check out of the client for MS networks, thanks. i did a custom install and it gave me the option to not install any of those 4 - I/P (TCP/IP) , QoS etc. but i couldnt remember what i did, or didnt, need. i didnt install the file and print sharing for MS though.

yes, i really did mean schrap, but shscrap.dll, not file. if you do a search you'll find it/them on your system, they should be renamed to something else - shscrapold...
http://www.cknow.com/cknewsletter/0407.htm#scrapfiles
http://www.pc-help.org/security/scrap.htm

ive only ever updated my drivers once, the first time i installed XP, and ive no idea if i did it correctly , i was looking at them a few days ago and they're mostly about 2-3 years old. is that quite bad? is it easy to update? you know that link i gave to that shelltoy program, on that site there's a program which tells you all the drives you have installed, i was just playing around with it a few hours ago, but didnt take a close look at it as i was going to reinstall. ill go and have a look for it, then update some drivers.

 

this will tell you all the drivers that are installed on your system, and it will back them up too. i think i'll try it out

 

Nice, thanks for the info iceni! Don't forget to make the changes in gpedit, too.. settings are in the link in my sig, courtesy of.. you!

 

i dont have gpedit i think im getting abit over-tired, and confused, but, yes sometime tomorrow i'll check out afew links, the uk security site, MJ and few others. i also have to remember to defrag. thanks for the help.

 

Do your install one or two steps at a time. That makes it easier to undo something that goes wrong. Reboot often to make sure everything works consistently. No need to rush .

Nick

 

Speaking of gpedit and the QoS packet scheduler... I thought you (and everyone at Wilders for that matter) might find this useful for optimizing your internet connection... By the way this only works if you have XP Pro.
Open the "Run" command. Type "gpedit.msc". From the tree on the left under Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates folder. Network folder, Qos Packet Scheduler, Limit Reservable Bandwidth. You have to "Enable" the setting and set the Bandwidth Limit to 'zero' otherwise the system will reserve this bandwidth for the QoS packet scheduler which most people don't use anyways!! Leave it to good old M$ to give the people what they need!

 

That's actually a myth.

 

As affiliated as that site is with M$ you're really gonna believe them? My first clue came from how confusing the article was. It kept using the word 'programs' without specifying whether they were 'user' or 'system'. And even if this were true how do you know some Micro$oft program won't request bandwidth just when you need it most?

 

If you're really so paranoid about the supposed affiliation, you should note that their Spyware page (http://www.tweakxp.com/tweak2079.aspx) recommends going to Wilders.. so perhaps you should run before all the MS shills around here get you

You can see the rest of their performance tweaks here:
http://www.tweakxp.com/performance_tweaks.aspx

And some good security tweaks here:
http://www.tweakxp.com/security_tweaks.aspx

I see no reason to doubt the information there, but there are plenty of other sources on the net if you so desire, just search for "qos myth"

 

i've tired to get to some of the links from the links above. i can get to links above, but when i click on the links from them i get errors, like the one in the screenshot. can you get there? thanks

 

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