Running Windows Securely and Efficiently By Gary Esworthy

Overview ● About me ● Microsoft Windows ● Windows Security ● Passwords ● Malicious software ● Prevention ● Removal ● Keeping your computer running efficiently ● Why it runs slowly ● What you can do

About Me Name:Gary Esworthy From:Pittsburgh, PA Year:Junior Major:Applied Computer Science Plans:Internship

Microsoft Windows Windows 3.1 (1992) Introduced Virtual Memory Windows 95 (1995) First Windows OS to reduce DOS to only a boot loader Windows 98SE (1999) Windows NT/2000 (2000) Released for businesses Windows XP Home/Professional (2001) Currently the most widely used operating system. During this presentation, we will be referring to Windows XP Professional.

Operating System Statistics ● Windows XP  76.1% of Internet users ● Windows NT  7.4% of Internet users ● Windows 98  0.7% of Internet users ● Windows Vista  1.2% of Internet users ● Linux  3.5% of Internet users ● Mac  3.8% of Internet users February

Windows Security As we can see from the operating system statistics, Windows XP dominates in terms of its percentage among Internet users. This makes it clear why so many viruses and worms are written specifically for Windows XP. Is Linux a safer option? Or is it only safe because there aren't many people using it and/or writing malicious software for it? Or Lack Thereof

Creating Good Passwords ● The first step to ensuring your computer's security  Use upper and lowercase letters  Do NOT use a single dictionary word ● Dictionary or brute force attack  Use at least 1 or 2 symbols or numbers  Make it at least 8 characters long Good Password: Password: steelers

Malicious Software ● Originally designed for DOS as pranks or jokes ● Once people realized how fast viruses could spread, they took advantage  Destroying files  Corrupting the file system  Vandalize web pages  DOS attacks and spam ● Two types of malicious software (malware)  Worms/Viruses  Spyware/Adware

Worms and Viruses ● Before the Internet, viruses were spread by infecting programs or executable boot sectors on floppy disks  Viruses need to attach themselves to other files ● With the Internet, the worm came into play  Searches for holes in network security  Enters the hole and copies itself onto your computer  Runs itself as a separate process on the system

Spyware and Adware ● People realized that they could use malicious software for personal gain ● Spyware  Used to track users browsing habits, personal information, passwords  This information is usually sold to companies ● Adware  Used to force advertisements on Internet users using popups and toolbars

Spyware ● Unlike viruses and worms that “sneak” onto your system, Spyware is deployed by tricking the user into thinking they are downloading something that they are not ● Usually bundled with other software  File sharing clients  Toolbars  Search enhancers  “Security Software”

A Computer Plagued by Spyware

Adware ● Short for “Advertising-supported software” ● Used to display ads on a user's system without their consent ● Just like Spyware, Adware is bundled with other software that you may download ● Causing a huge controversy about the legality of forcing users to view these advertisements

A Computer Infected with Adware

Malware Prevention ● Tips to keep your computer safe from malicious software  Always have an anti-virus running  Have scheduled scans of your entire hard drive  Regularly run Spyware and Adware removal tools  Only download from trusted sources  Never open strange attachments  Never click on strange links on the Internet

Useful Prevention Tools ● These are all great tools to help keep your computer safe and are all available free of charge at  Anti-virus ● AVG Free  Spyware/Adware ● Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition ● Spyware Doctor  Firewall ● ZoneAlarm ● There are many more out there, also

Malware Removal ● If you are already infected with some type of malware, there are several things you need to do  First, run all of your anti-virus and adware/spyware scans  Check your Add/Remove programs list for anything that you don't think you should have  Check your startup list for anything that secretly starts up with your computer ● Start -> Run -> msconfig

Malware Removal (cont'd) ● If you are still having problems  Run other adware/spyware scans  If all else fails, you can always back up your data and format your hard drive ● It takes time, but it may be the only way to be sure you completely got rid of the malware ● After any malware is removed, be sure to follow proper prevention steps to ensure your computer's security

Keeping Your Computer Running Efficiently ● So you're free of viruses and adware/spyware and it still runs slowly. What can cause that?  Too many processes running  Using high quality Windows visual settings  Using programs that take up too many system resources  Lack of running system cleaning tools ● How can we make our Windows XP system run faster?

Too Many Processes Running ● Sometimes you can have several processes running that you don't know about  Many programs run without showing anything in the taskbar  To see what is running, you can use CTRL-ALT- DELETE for a complete list of user and system processes and how much of your system they are taking up  Close any processes that you don't need

Windows XP Settings ● You can tweak Windows XP's settings to greatly improve your computer's speed and efficiency  Use Windows Classic mode  Turn off shadows, animations, etc  Use a detailed view in folders instead of the huge icons  Turn off error-reporting ● Security hole

Windows XP Settings (cont'd) ● More settings that can improve your computers speed  Cleaning temporary files and recycle bin ● Temporary internet files, internet cache, stored passwords, cookies, etc  Turn off system restore ● Takes up huge amounts of system resources and isn't a very good backup method

Using System Tools ● On a regular basis, you should  Run a disk defragmenter  Run disk clean-up ● Deletes temporary internet files ● Deletes downloaded files ● Compresses old files ● Empties recycle bin  Task scheduler ● Can schedule these activities to occur automatically every day, week, etc

Conclusion ● Using these techniques, our computers should run faster and safer ● There is no system that is completely safe from attacks, so you must use caution ● If you don't know what a file is or where it's coming from, do not download it or open it ● Use smart passwords ● Use common sense