Simple IT Support

Reset windows security settings to default

Posted by sporg

Ever had a problem with windows security settings and just wished you could reset the security settings back to default. Well here is a quick article showing how.

One word of warning this method relies on the setting contained in a file called Secsetup.inf, this file contains the original security settings and will not contain security settings that have been changed during the windows setup or by other applications you may have installed. I would recommend this solution only as a last resort or in cases where you have a backup or setting up the computer form scratch is not a problem.

Now to the fun part

• Click Start, then Run.
• In the run dialog type in “cmd” then click OK

For Windows XP users type in the following command then press ENTER on your keyboard:

• secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\repair\secsetup.inf /db secsetup.sdb /verbose

For Windows Vista users, type in the following command then press ENTER

• secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\inf\defltbase.inf /db defltbase.sdb /verbose

 

 

 

 

When the process has completed you will see a message telling you that the task is complete. In some cases you will also receive a warning message but these warning can be safely ignored. But to make sure it may be worth checking in %windir%\Security\Logs\Scesrv.log. This file will contain the reason for the warning.Secedit parameters

For further information Click Start, then Run. Type in %windir%\help\secedit.chm and Click OK for help on secedit.

Technorati Tags: Windows, Vista, Security, secedit

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How to install SATA native mode drivers after installing windows with native mode disabled

Posted by sporg

SATA hard disks will outperform a standard IDE hard drive but only if your SATA drive is running in native mode. Some desktops and laptops have the option to disable native mode so that you are able to install windows using an install CD that does not have the SATA drivers. All well and good but once you got the computer running and you have a copy of the SATA native drivers how do you make windows use the correct drivers. Just follow this guide.

1. Make sure you have the right drivers. If you install the wrong drivers you may need to re-install windows to get your computer working.
   
2. Start windows click on the start button
   
3. Under Programs then Accessories you will find Windows Explorer.
   
4. Click Windows Explorer. On the left pain of the windows explorer you will find My Computer.
   
5. Right click My Computer and click on manage.
   
6. In the new window that opens, look through the list on the left and find Device Manager.
   
7. Click Device Manager. Then expand the IDE controllers in the right hand panel.
   
8. Under the IDE drivers find the driver for your hard disk.
   
9. Right click on the driver and click update driver.
   
   1. At the first dialog click no when asked to connect to windows update.
      
   2. On the next dialog click install from a list or specific location.
      
   3. On the next dialog click Don’t Search, I will choose the driver to install.
      
   4. The next dialog will show you a list of driver windows has installed. If the driver you need to install for your SATA drive is not listed click Have Disk.
      
      1. If you have clicking have disk you will be asked where the drivers are located. Point to the directory where you have downloaded the drivers. Make sure the drivers are not in a zip file or some other archive. Click OK
         
      2. You will now be shown a list of drivers that are contained in the downloaded folder.
         
   5. Click on the driver that supports your SATA drive in native mode and click Next.
      
   6. You may see a windows warning that Windows cannot verify that the device is compatible with your hardware. When asked if you want to continue installing the driver click Yes.
      
   7. The installation is now complete.
      
10. Reboot your computer and go into the BIOS settings.
    
11. Enable the SATA native mode, save settings and exit. If you have the correct driver windows will now load as normal.
    
12. If you find windows will not start you will need to boot off your Windows install disk and run a Windows repair.
    

Hope this helps and my next article will describe how to use your install CD to repair windows.

Technorati Tags: Sata, Drivers, Native Mode, Install

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What is a Computer Worm in plain English

Posted by sporg

From our last article we had a look at the good old virus. If you have read the article you will know that the common computer virus is very reliant on the user of a computer to copy it around. In this article we will have a look at the computer worm. A real nasty peace of software as the worm can copy itself around and infect other computers without any help at all. All the worm needs is a computer connected to some sort of network. This could just be an internet connection or the thought to be safe network at your work place.

This kind of virus came out when the computer networks started to become common place. Internet was also readily available and businesses started communicating using e-mail. As with all viruses there is more than one type of worm so let’s have a closer look at some of the variants.

Email Worms

This version of the worm is reliant on a computer having an email client installed. The virus hides inside an email as an attachment or link to a webpage. Some can hide inside the e-mail as a script and infect your computer just by looking at the e-mail. When you double click the attachment or the link the virus is also started and it can do one of two things. It can attaché itself to every e-mail you send out or it can have a look thought your contacts list and send out emails with itself attached. Some worms have even been known to look thought your documents to try and find e-mail addresses. The e-mails that are sent out sometimes have random addresses put into the sent from section making it hard to find out where the virus originated from.

Instant messaging worms

If you have ever used a program like msn or yahoo messenger this type of worm could infect you. The worm sends out a link to random people using the messaging service. When the link is clicked on you are directed to a website that infects your machine. Once infected, the worm can use your messenger program to send the link to your friends. There are also versions of this type of worm that can use IRC chat systems.

File sharing networks

File sharing networks allow users to share files over a global network. This type of sharing is also know as P2P and has had a lot of bad press due to copyright material being shared over these networks a lot. The worm will copy itself into the programs shared directory in a harmlessly named file. When someone downloads it and executes it gets to infect the computer and try to get shared out again.

Internet worm

This is the most dangerous of all. Microsoft windows is a very complicated operating system with billions of lines of code. No matter how hard they try to make windows secure there will always be a way for someone to get windows to do something that it should not. Programmers have learnt how to take advantage of these bugs and have developed worms that can copy themselves onto your computer and install themselves without any help from anyone. These worms then search the network looking for other computers to infect. Once you get a few machines infected these worms can cause delays on the network that can get so bad that you are unable to use the network. These viruses prove to be very hard to detect and even harder to get rid of.

Technorati Tags: virus, computer worm

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