User Accounts - Internet and Firewall Problems

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gaya
  • Start date Start date
G

Gaya

Hello, i like to learn from Windows XP as a hobby, and
knowing folders like my room;) my problem is now: i have a
new user account, which is just restricted to use some
programs, internet, and chatting, in order to connect
WITHOUT a firewall to the internet. so that no
worm/virus/dialer could install itself in the windows
system. wrong thought. well i can remove them one by one,
and i can evenstop iruses to do it. they use mainly
tftp.exe and ftp.exe for transferring to my computer. i
removeed those two exes from my system, backupped. without
them i can do everything i want, but i cannot connect well
to internet, seems logical. sometimes(rare) it works as
well, and i do not get worms. when i switch the firewall
on, everything works normal and perfect. my question is how
i can get safely online with windows xp pro, and no
firewall with restricted user? i disabled many services,
and deleted some users from security administrations, i
have worked in the group policy settings as well. now i
dont have much more to try. please help! a friend got
windows 2000 and just restricted anyprogram he doesnt use,
and it works fine with him. is windows xp just too "open"?
thanks for any help!
 
Gaya said:
Hello, i like to learn from Windows XP as a hobby, and
knowing folders like my room;) my problem is now: i have a
new user account, which is just restricted to use some
programs, internet, and chatting, in order to connect
WITHOUT a firewall to the internet. so that no
worm/virus/dialer could install itself in the windows
system. wrong thought. well i can remove them one by one,
and i can evenstop iruses to do it. they use mainly
tftp.exe and ftp.exe for transferring to my computer. i
removeed those two exes from my system, backupped. without
them i can do everything i want, but i cannot connect well
to internet, seems logical. sometimes(rare) it works as
well, and i do not get worms. when i switch the firewall
on, everything works normal and perfect. my question is how
i can get safely online with windows xp pro, and no
firewall with restricted user? i disabled many services,
and deleted some users from security administrations, i
have worked in the group policy settings as well. now i
dont have much more to try. please help! a friend got
windows 2000 and just restricted anyprogram he doesnt use,
and it works fine with him. is windows xp just too "open"?
thanks for any help!
Click to expand...
[-]
Putting the words "safely" and "online" in one sentence makes for a nice
joke, really. It simply doesn't matter what system you use -- you aren't
safe while someone or something can talk to your machine and the really
good ones are able to break into and use your machine without leaving a
trace.

Now you can put restrictions on applications with XP, too, still having
a connection to the Internet without, at least, the built in firewall
enabled just isn't a good idea. Simply do a netstat -a to see what's
still listening and you'll see that even disabling various services
isn't the final solution.

To be safe, or as safe as it is possible without too much ado:

You don not need to be Administrator for your daily work, so use a
restricted account.
Enable XP's firewall for all your connections.
Install or let XP install all relevant updates.
Do not use IE for surfing.
Disable Outlook's preview window.
Switch Outlook offline before reading your email.
Use text format for mail and news.
Use your brainware as to install a dialer for instance it does need
someone to agree to the installation.

If you want a more in-depth guide you may download the "Guide to
Securing Microsoft Windows XP" white paper from the NSA's site. Not a
step-by-step guide, but makes for an interesting read.

Cheers,
Juergen
 
-----Original Message-----
Gaya said:
Hello, i like to learn from Windows XP as a hobby, and
knowing folders like my room;) my problem is now: i have a
new user account, which is just restricted to use some
programs, internet, and chatting, in order to connect
WITHOUT a firewall to the internet. so that no
worm/virus/dialer could install itself in the windows
system. wrong thought. well i can remove them one by one,
and i can evenstop iruses to do it. they use mainly
tftp.exe and ftp.exe for transferring to my computer. i
removeed those two exes from my system, backupped. without
them i can do everything i want, but i cannot connect well
to internet, seems logical. sometimes(rare) it works as
well, and i do not get worms. when i switch the firewall
on, everything works normal and perfect. my question is how
i can get safely online with windows xp pro, and no
firewall with restricted user? i disabled many services,
and deleted some users from security administrations, i
have worked in the group policy settings as well. now i
dont have much more to try. please help! a friend got
windows 2000 and just restricted anyprogram he doesnt use,
and it works fine with him. is windows xp just too "open"?
thanks for any help!
Click to expand...
[-]
Putting the words "safely" and "online" in one sentence makes for a nice
joke, really. It simply doesn't matter what system you use -- you aren't
safe while someone or something can talk to your machine and the really
good ones are able to break into and use your machine without leaving a
trace.

Now you can put restrictions on applications with XP, too, still having
a connection to the Internet without, at least, the built in firewall
enabled just isn't a good idea. Simply do a netstat -a to see what's
still listening and you'll see that even disabling various services
isn't the final solution.

To be safe, or as safe as it is possible without too much ado:

You don not need to be Administrator for your daily work, so use a
restricted account.
Enable XP's firewall for all your connections.
Install or let XP install all relevant updates.
Do not use IE for surfing.
Disable Outlook's preview window.
Switch Outlook offline before reading your email.
Use text format for mail and news.
Use your brainware as to install a dialer for instance it does need
someone to agree to the installation.

If you want a more in-depth guide you may download the "Guide to
Securing Microsoft Windows XP" white paper from the NSA's site. Not a
step-by-step guide, but makes for an interesting read.

Cheers,
Juergen

.
Click to expand...
Danke Jürgen:)
I have no internal Firewall in use. the one i use is Zone
Alarm, as i was ever satisfied, but now i dont want any
Firewall. i already dont use any Microsoft Program besides
Windows itself, and the fast Notepad. The dialer or elses
Software gets just into my system, and some cause Buffer
overflows, so the System restarts with lsass.exe shutdown.
If not, i have the cmd, tftp and ftp exe working often
using the CPU completely. Closing different Ports wont work
i believe. I dont assume anybody to get into my Computer,
if so, i dont care very much, because i dont have any
important data. its so to say, just for learning:) With or
without Firewall anybody can get onto my Computer, but i
believe if it works in win2k with restricted user, it
should work in win xp as well. thanks for more help:)
 
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