"Remote Procedure Call terminated" problem

[mikeymike]

There are quite a few steps needed to secure RPC and Windows filesharing services, so I can't just quote a particular step, but my install guide for win2k might help:

win2k install guide

I've not installed XP from scratch before, but XP is similiar enough to Win2k.

[mikeymike]

AFAIK there's a worm that propagates via insecure RPC as well as via email.

[mikeymike]

1) It's not a virus in the traditional sense.
2) Norton or any other virus killer has no way of stopping new viruses and worms. The virus/worm need to be captured, analyzed and finally detection and removal code written for it. This is very specialized handwork and cannot be made automatic, so it takes time.

Oh no, please let's not start one of those discussions :-)

[mikeymike]

One upto-date hardware firewall or a linux/bsd box routing all traffic should be enough to stop 99% of the baddies.

Actually no, well-educated computer users should be enough to stop 99% of the baddies.

[mikeymike]

i never leave my ports opened.

Web browsing must be tedious :-)

[mikeymike]

Gibson (of GRC) is sort of a benign loon

Agreed, if he had just kept to the point and not tried to over-dramatise everything, he'd probably have a v. good reputation today in techie circles.

And firewalls are not the be-all and end-all of human existence, nor will they fend off all attacks, or even the majority of attacks aimed at Windows machines.

The only time anyone should give a stuff about a port closed response and no response at all is on a high-profile publicly accessible facility (such as a well-known website), where more time is taken responding to all packets than letting a firewall do it for you.

There is no substitute for a well-configured machine, except for the power cable being pulled out :-)

[mikeymike]

Your system has achieved a perfect "TruStealth" rating.

You need to switch your machine on first.