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Suggestions for maximum-lockdown XP system
Carol Haynes:
Clean install of Windows XP (you can use the license key of the edition already on there - if you don't know it download SIW and it will tell you - if it hasn't been activated in the last 90 days there shouldn't be an issue with Microsoft).
Then fully update and install any software he needs to use.
Don't bother with security software - buy a copy of Farionics DeepFreeze Standard.
Deep Freeze means that anything that happens in a session will be wiped and the 'standard install' you built will be restored when the computer is restarted or booted from cold.
If you want to make changes to the protected partitions you have to boot the machine in 'thawed mode' and then turn on the deepfreeze again when you have finished.
You can stop anyone tinkering with the Deep Freeze setting by requiring password access to the thawing functions.
If you want antivirus protection it is designed to integrate with your security of choice (Microsoft Security Essentials is free and very good, and has minimal interruptions to the user) or the same company do an AV product that works with DeepFreeze so that it can be updated.
I wouldn't bother with a firewall beyond windows firewall. Any non-savvy user can't manage an active firewall - they just let everything through or nothing - either way you have a big headache!
Basically he would have a computer that always clears any nasties from the system at startup or restart and the computer always starts in a known state.
There is a free trial version if you want to play with it and it is compatible with XP, Vista, 7 and MacOS
Stoic Joker:
The only problen with going the draconianware route is it locks the machine down too tightly. My wife isn't an adept user, and has no interest in becoming one. However she does like to change her wallpaper from time to time with the latest really cute picture of our granddaughter.
She also spends a great deal of time on FaceBook (a.k.a. Virus World) ... But using only a standard user account has left her machine running perfectly fine and trouble free for the past 6 years.
Ehtyar:
+1 for Security Essentials. I agree with all the other choices except for Firewall - those things generate more confusion than helpfulness, and I don't see how they help prevent infection (assuming the machine is not directly connected to the Internet, in which case you're buggered regardless).
As for rescuing the machine, I'd probably just schedule restore point creation daily or something like that. Little effort involved, and it should sort out most types of infection.
Should any businessy types come across this thread, a skim of the NSA hardening guides (page erroring at time of writing, google cache here) can provide you with some helpful nuggets.
Ehtyar.
4wd:
As for rescuing the machine, I'd probably just schedule restore point creation daily or something like that.-Ehtyar (October 21, 2011, 08:10 PM)
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Having never had any System Restore work on either XP or W7, (I have always had to do a full system recovery by installation or image restoration after using System Restore), I would heartily recommend you use some other program to do a full image backup of the OS.
Just one of the reasons why I always turn the useless piece of rubbish off, (or in the case of XP, nlite it out of existance).
Carol Haynes:
I have used System Restore numerous times to fix registry corruption problems and it can be really helpful. Not (IMHO) terribly useful to protect against malware though as in WIndows XP it is only intended to revert critical system files and the registry.
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