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Author Topic: Completely off topic...but is Windows XP dead?  (Read 7030 times)

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Offline Ami_GFX

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Re: Completely off topic...but is Windows XP dead?
« Reply #89 from previous page: January 26, 2013, 09:26:21 PM »
That is a bit much for one post, but here is the esseence of it. This is not something I came up with. I got it from a US Navy manual on securing computer systems running WinNT 4.0. In the ntfs file system of the time, file permissions were much simpler than in the current version but the basic principle still holds and was modeled on file permissions in UNIX systems.

To set file permissions manually in Windows Xp, you need the Pro version. In the tools menu in explorer select folder options and select the view tab. At the bottom of the menu deselect "Use Simple File Sharing". You will now be able to manually set file permissions on any level from a whole drive to a single file. You do this by right clicking on the file or folder you want to set permissions on in explorer. The permissions are set in the security tab. This is the easy part, setting the permissions and getting them right is complicated in ntfs. I never use deny. The basic structure for a file or folder I want to have executible files in is full control for admistrator and system and users get read and execute, list folder contents, and read. The folders that get this permission are Windows and Program Files. All the other folders are set to read/list folder contents/write/delete. Delete permissions are set in the advanced tab. You also have to reset permissions on all child objects in the advanced menu to change permissions on the contents of the subfolders and files. I also delete all users and groups except Adminstrators, system, users, and power users. There is a default "everyone" group that will override everything unless you delete it.

I wouldn't recommend doing this on your main system until you get a feel for it. It will take some trial and error to get it right and some software won't work without further file permission tweaking. Microsoft made this way to complicated as far as I'm concerned. In a Unix/linux system, all there is is read, write and execute in 3 groups and that is all you need.

Doing this makes a system more secure but much less convenient. That is the trade off. It is satisfying to see an error message because some piece of malware is trying to write itself into a protected area but it also means that you have to log on as an administrator--or run an installation program as an administrator--to install software.


You won't need to reformat your driver or reinstall your system but it might be a good idea to repartition your system into seperate system and data partitions if you want to use imaging software and image your system. The best imaging and partitioning software that I've found for free is the Easus suite. Imaging is a the best way to back a system up. I started doing it after losing days of my time trying to get a system to work right and trying to trace down what piece of software or what registry entry messed things up. It is much simpler not to even try and wait a few minutes as the image of the system is restored. The built in system restore in Xp will work in most cases pretty well but imaging is better.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2013, 05:27:15 PM by Ami_GFX »
A2500 owned since 1993 with A2630/DKB 2632, DKB Megachip, GVP EGS Spectrum, A2320 and GVP HC+8 on the inside and a DCTV on the outside. A4000D with CSPPC, Cybervision 64 and a Flicker Magic flicker fixer. A4000T Toaster Flyer & CSMKII. All systems completly retro and classic and mostly used to do geometic art as in my avatar.
 

Offline NoFastMem

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Re: Completely off topic...but is Windows XP dead?
« Reply #90 on: January 27, 2013, 11:46:01 AM »
Quote from: AAACHIPSET;723948
dead ..well i went from 98 to xp  ..have it on both machines  ..old pent400
an my i3  machine..i  will have to upgrade  ..my xp discs wont install any more  ..microsoft thinks ive used it enuff ...yes i did buy it ...when i went to activate it got a message that the software has been used to much  basically ..an i cant activate it again ..prob stick with xp..just use a cracked copy ..
in my opinion its wrong to disable software that u have paid for an  use ..then  again its microsoft ..what choice do i have..


Not saying that this isn't a pain in the arse, but I'm pretty sure you can call Microsoft in these instances and get it reactivated.
AKA that_punk_guy
 

Offline SilvrDrgn

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Re: Completely off topic...but is Windows XP dead?
« Reply #91 on: January 27, 2013, 02:49:26 PM »
Quote from: AmigaClassicRule;723975
This is after all YOUR PRODUCT!! THIS IS AFTER ALL YOUR ITEM!!

Uummm, no. Developing the products that Microsoft does requires millions/billions of dollars.  Do you really think you are buying the product for $200 if they've spent billions to create it?!?! You're not buying the product. If you were, you would never be getting any future updates. It would be stuck in its current state at the time you bought it. Think about buying a car. Same thing. Well, maybe that's not a good example since car companies spend billions to develop vehicles.  Anyway, in the case of software, you're not buying the product. You are buying a _license_ to use the product. As such, they are free to change the product to suit new needs. That's how the majority of software in existence works.

Back on the real topic, I still use Windows XP for most of my VM's (virtual machines) on my home media server.  Great to test out new and/or downloaded software that way without worry of infecting the real, physical machine. Also run my web server (non-Windows) in a VM. Set its imported share to read-only so if the web server gets hacked, the contents cannot be trashed.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2013, 02:58:05 PM by SilvrDrgn »
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