making xp password

dezz99

Hi i dont have to input a password when i log into windows xp it just loads up.

how can i set it up so that when i first turn on my pc it asks me my user name and password?

i dont want other people who turn on the pc to be able to view all my files, favourites etc etc

i guess this would make me the main administrator also?

thanks

fwor

Control Panel, User Accounts, select your account and add a password.

As a security measure it's not very strong protection though (in fact it's trivial to get round unless you take other measures to protect your data).

dezz99

fwor wrote: »

Control Panel, User Accounts, select your account and add a password.

As a security measure it's not very strong protection though (in fact it's trivial to get round unless you take other measures to protect your data).

thanks mate


what would be the best way to protect everything you think?

cit_k

dezz99 wrote: »

thanks mate


what would be the best way to protect everything you think?

Physically lock the computer away.
CCTV on it to, and alarm the area.
Remove hard drive and carry it with you.

RussJK

cit_k wrote: »

Physically lock the computer away.
CCTV on it to, and alarm the area.
Remove hard drive and carry it with you.

...and never sleep!

Well the next step would be to set up a password on the bios, then disable the multi-boot menu & disallow booting from anything other than the main hard drive. This would stop people loading an alternative operating system or program from disc or USB.

The next problem is that the Windows password can easily be bypassed, so you'll have to password the hidden 'administrator' account and 'Guest' account.

The problem after that is that the hard drive can be physically removed and your files read, so you'll have to look into encryption methods.

When the robots come, all your encryption methods will be useless anyway - then what will you do.

Browntoa

I can bypass a windows password in 2 minutes, waste of time

fwor

dezz99 wrote: »

what would be the best way to protect everything you think?

Depends how well hidden you want it to be. Something like Truecrypt might be an option.

If you were to use a Linux variant such as Ubuntu, that now has the facility to automatically encrypt the /home directory, which in that environment is where all your user data is stored, but I doubt that you're paranoid enough to want to change OS for that reason...

cit_k

Bios passwords, even admin passwords/biometric fingerprint locks etc on many laptops etc are useless too if someone knows what they are doing.

RussJK

cit_k wrote: »

Bios passwords, even admin passwords/biometric fingerprint locks etc on many laptops etc are useless too if someone knows what they are doing.

If it's a laptop, then the OP has bigger problems if he's expecting someone to dismantle his laptop to get at the CMOS battery.

I remember playing with bios cracks in the 90s for fun, and needed to when people forgot theirs. I never did find a computer that a backdoor password worked on though, nor have I used this method.

giraffe69

I can bypass a windows password in 2 minutes, waste of time

You're very big and strong but most people can't thus it is a decent method of protection against 98.2% of casual snoopers albeit it can be defeated by you, the Spooks team and some others whilst simultaneously knitting and doing the 100 metre dash.

SailorSam

Buy a big vicious dog and chain it to the computer.
How many bytes would it take to stop even cit_k.