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cosmicB
FemaleFirst Grand Master (1000+ Posts)
Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 2921
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 Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:53 pm Post subject: Which Windows operating syastem would you choose?.. |
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MonoS and others...
If you had a CD of each of the Windows operating systems, which you probably do, which one would you install in an old Compaq desktop, 600mghtz, 6gig..? And why..?
...Then what softwares would you add? And how would you tweak the system for peak performance? |
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monosodium
FemaleFirst Guru
Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 5766
Location: In UR base snifin all UR pantys
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| Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 11:18 pm Post subject: Re: Which Windows operating syastem would you choose?.. |
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| cosmicB wrote: |
MonoS and others...
If you had a CD of each of the Windows operating systems, which you probably do, which one would you install in an old Compaq desktop, 600mghtz, 6gig..? And why..?
...Then what softwares would you add? And how would you tweak the system for peak performance? |
that's a toughie - I've decommissioned machines less powerful than that. Honestly though it depends on what they're planning to use it for.
If it's for office tasks (email, wordprocessing, spreadsheets etc) and not connected to the internet or will be behind a hardware firewall (NOT a software one) then I'd say go with Windows 2000, don't install anything that's not needed, patch it to the hilt then think about other software.
If it is not behind a hardware firewall then Windows XP SP2 all the way, just for patching purposes if nothing else.
IMHO software firewalls are ok for certain jobs, but I'd always prefer hardware between my box and the internet.
Create seperate admin and user accounts even if they aren't needed. Do not give users admin rights to the machine from their normal account (this will help prevent spyware from getting onto the machine reducing the need for dodgy antispyware applications), if users don't have permission to install things. Put the user into the admin group while setting up if you think that will help, but take them out when you're done.
Use TweakUI and the display settings to turn off the fades & transitions.
Look at the list of services. You do not need all of them, but you may need to know what they do before you disable them, If you don't know then leave it alone.
Fix the size of the virtual memory file as this will improve performance and use NTFS as it has better fragmentation characteristics (ie it's better if it's in a situation where it is not maintained than FAT). Again do this before you install other software.
Schedule a defrag for once a month via the command line.
Apps wise, Office 2003 if you can stretch to it, FireFox I suppose if you must (I wouldn't bother myself but some people like it), IE7 if you can, beyond that it's down to what does the user want to do?
Adobe Reader, Quicktime, Messenger maybe.
Once you've set it all up then remove the user from the admins group. This will help any slowdown from spyware invasions (because the user won't be able to install anything without going into the admin account. Then test all the apps to make sure they work. |
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cosmicB
FemaleFirst Grand Master (1000+ Posts)
Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 2921
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:10 am Post subject: |
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| Oy yoy yoy!!! This is gonna be one hell of a wicked job!... oh sigh.. and thanks... |
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michxx
You Go Girl (100+ Posts)
Joined: 14 May 2006
Posts: 142
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 12:51 pm Post subject: |
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none of them..get a mac  |
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cosmicB
FemaleFirst Grand Master (1000+ Posts)
Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 2921
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Mic... Good advise...
I already have one... an old iMac, sitting beside this PC... I use it exclusively to open suspect emails... It has saved me from a lot of super nasties.. like when I opened emails that had natas or slammer in it.. a popup reads, " the system doesn't know what to do with this program"...
It's good that Apple has combined with PC... Maybe that will make for safer better computers when it catches on... but when malware creators catch onto the new system, all hell will break loose... |
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monosodium
FemaleFirst Guru
Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 5766
Location: In UR base snifin all UR pantys
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| Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:42 am Post subject: |
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| cosmicB wrote: |
Thanks Mic... Good advise...
I already have one... an old iMac, sitting beside this PC... I use it exclusively to open suspect emails... It has saved me from a lot of super nasties.. like when I opened emails that had natas or slammer in it.. a popup reads, " the system doesn't know what to do with this program"...
It's good that Apple has combined with PC... Maybe that will make for safer better computers when it catches on... but when malware creators catch onto the new system, all hell will break loose... |
Too late - they already exist. Proof of concept code for current Mac OS's for various 0-day exploits is well publicised and available. The only reason more people don't hack Mac OS isn't because at the moment there's not enough people running it to make it worthwhile (that is changing though).
Hacks for the various linux servers and apache builds etc are quite common, it's only a matter of time before they start taking bigger chunks out of BSD (which OS X is based on).
I hate it when people say macs/unix/linux/windows/whatever is more secure, because no matter which you choose it's not true. Some are attacked more / less often than others - but that is very different from being more or less secure.
Combine that with Apple charging for security updates and it doesn't take a malware author to work out what happens. Gaping security holes and unpatched users = $$$.
Just FYI - Slammer wasn't email based which would suggest that maybe someone is talking out of the top of their hat, it was a "zero-day" attack against a specific software package and not the operating system. Email borne virus protection is also equally good in windows now - the kinds of file which would cause problems are generally blocked in outlook / outlook express by default.
I do own a couple of macs by the way - one new style iMac and an old PPC, so I have experience of both sides of the fence there. |
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cosmicB
FemaleFirst Grand Master (1000+ Posts)
Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 2921
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| Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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That's interesting...
I opened a suspect email in the iMac, and it twitched a little as it tried to open.. so I did a search on everything I found in the email.. and the AVS data sites sent me right to slammer data from all my searches...
Years ago I was having troubles with what seemed to be mac viruses and mac spywares.. and three times someone did something that wouldn't let the mac reboot... I entered mac forums asking about mac malwares, and all I got was flamers telling me that there aren't any mac bugs... I didn't believe them in the slightest... I figure they just don't have a clue that there are mac malwares... In one forum, I got into a little flamers battle, and the next day I clicked a link to that forum, and the OS got instantly killed... Not good when a major helper forum directly bullies the kids...
Agreed, the big thing is that most malwares are made on PC for PC...
I doubt there will be many malwares for the new Apple/PC combo system... Most people just can't afford that high priced Apple equipment...
Bottom line in all this abusing the Internet.. is one day it will need to be regulated and policed... and to pay for all that Internet legal stuff, we will all be paying per email.. even the hackers and bullies and flamers... It sure would be nice if we could somehow wake them up to a little realty, so we won't have to pay for emails... Those crazy bullies just can't seem to grasp that there is reaction from action... I wish I could figure a way to wake them up, before they serious damage the Internet toy... I wonder when China is gonna implement their ChiNet and OriNet, and break with America's Internet..? I estimate seven years... |
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Gladys
FemaleFirst Senior Member (500+ Posts)
Joined: 08 May 2005
Posts: 833
Location: Lancashire
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| Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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| I use windows 95 in my 11 year old computer because it is a lot quicker than XP. It starts up in about 15 seconds and shuts down in about 3 seconds and never freezes like XP seems to do all the time. |
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monosodium
FemaleFirst Guru
Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 5766
Location: In UR base snifin all UR pantys
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| Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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| cosmicB wrote: |
Agreed, the big thing is that most malwares are made on PC for PC...
I doubt there will be many malwares for the new Apple/PC combo system... Most people just can't afford that high priced Apple equipment... |
Apple is pretty popular in the US, and it's an easy target because of the large unpatched population. It's just a matter of time. Attacks on Linux based systems are also quite prevalent despite their constant bleating about how good they are. A pal of mine used to get his linux server hacked on a regular basis, I helped him catch it (turned out to be an unpatched flaw in Apache). Hackers don't care about how popular a system is because they can attack a wide number of machines easily.
| cosmicB wrote: |
| Bottom line in all this abusing the Internet.. is one day it will need to be regulated and policed... |
I'd disagree there, because the internet already is very much regulated and policed. Emails must be logged and held by UK ISP's by law, as are traffic logs (currently only the type of traffic, source and destination) but that's a matter of time I'm sure. |
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Slimmi
FemaleFirst Newbie (20+ posts)
Joined: 03 Jul 2006
Posts: 32
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:55 pm Post subject: RE: |
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I don't think Apple is overpriced. They have some very nice models for a very affordable price plus a lot of bundled software with it. I rather pay a bit more and don't have the Spyware and virus problems.
I would recommend Apple to anyone looking for a new computer.
Cheers. |
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