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Suggestions for maximum-lockdown XP system

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CWuestefeld:
I'm looking for suggestions of how to best lock down a Windows XP system to avoid malware infestations for a non-savvy user.

My grandfather has been the victim of identity theft at least twice over the past year. Without making this too long, there is some reason to think that the leak of his personal info was through his PC. In addition, there's some circumstantial evidence that his habits aren't as sanitary as one might hope: he's had to have someone remove viruses twice, and his IE toolbars take up half the display space. Since the viral infection doesn't seem to be removed successfully, I'm going to cut the losses and just build a new machine.

So, I'm looking for your suggestions for the best way to set it up to protect him from getting into trouble in the future. One limitation is that I've only got spare licenses for Windows XP. I know that Win 7 would improve his security, but it would require me pumping in some extra cash (not to mention being a training issue), so I'd like to avoid that if I can.


* I think the first step is to keep the admin account secret, and only let him use a login that has minimal privileges.
* Install good quality Internet Security package, or separate antivirus and firewall, and ensure that he keeps it up-to-date. I've got some spare licenses around, or there's good freeware available.
* Don't let him use Internet Explorer, instead use Chrome. This isn't because recent IE versions are bad, but because of the way Chrome keeps itself up-to-date.
Can anyone offer additional suggestions, or comment on what I've already listed?

mouser:
Given that he was already a victim of identity theft i think that's all the more reason why the best thing would be to upgrade to windows 7.
I know it's not what you want to hear, but a clean OS install or an OS upgrade would be the best way to solve this going forward.
It's not so much that windows 7 is so much more secure, it's that you don't really know what's on that machine and the safest thing would be a clean start.  And if you are going to do a clean start, win7 is the way to go.

Jimdoria:
Microsoft used to have a free program called SteadyState for Windows XP that let you set up an XP system to work the way it would in a cyber cafe, where you'd basically want the machine reset back to a default state after someone's browsing session was over.

They have discontinued it (not compatible with Vista/Win7) but you may still be able to find it for download somewhere.

If not, check out the wikipedia article for SteadyState that lists some alternatives that do the same thing.

MerleOne:
I would recommend TodoBackup 3 *Workstation* Edition which has a snapshot feature and it is maintained so far. 

app103:
Another vote for SteadyState, since you plan on installing XP and are looking for something free. Microsoft took it off their website last year, though.

If you have any troubles finding a copy of it, let me know. I am pretty sure I have it, downloaded for a reason very similar to your situation.

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