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Good morning... I have a quick question. I am currently running xp home edition on a church laptop computer. How easy would it be for someone to gain access to the contents of the laptop if they do not have a user account/password? I want to protect financial records for the church. Would it be wiser to purchase xp pro for this laptop or are the contents of the laptop pretty safe with xp home? Thanks for your input.
To be honest, if someone really wants to get into your computer, they probably will. Other then that, Just use an xp password, run a good firewall (software or hardware), antivirus, antispyware, and update your windows on a weekly basis if not daily
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does this laptop have to be connected to the internet?
also if this information is very confidential a good way would be to save it on a zip disk rather than on the laptop then keep this disk in a safe or even a draw at home.
no one could access the data unless they got hold of the diskAthlon xp 2500+ @2.17
pc 3200 512mb ram
radeon 9200se
win xp home oem
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I agree with simon. Thats the alternate, storing it somewhere else man. Buy a flashdrive, or a backkup harddrive. Then just restore the files from there when you need them. Its a little more expensive then free but hey, solution to the problem.
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There are numerous types of security which are relevant to data stored on a computer.
The brand of security that you're seeking would not be changed by upgrading from Home Edition to XP Professional.
A really good way for you to protect the laptop from the Ninja antichrist would be to store all the financial records on a removable medium, like an external ZIP drive. Then, while the computer stays in the sacristy, the files stay in your pocket, or in a safe.
If you're the only person who uses the laptop, your private account provides some protection, but the hard drive can be removed from the laptop, so you're out on a thin limb anyway.
Can't you just lock the laptop itself up in a safe?
If you really need to share the laptop with some other people, ask the reverend to let you buy an external drive with or without removable media. Here's an example:
http://www.iomega.com/direct/products/category.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=55291&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=67&bmUID=1109009649923
...and you're welcome to check back here before making a final decision.
If I'm wrong in guessing that security over an internet connection is not your concern, please correct me.
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This laptop will not be connected to the internet... just want some level of protection... realizing that is someone wants to get in they can with a little bit of research... but i guess i'm just wondering how easy is it to get into an xp home box? if it's too easy maybe i should get the xp pro so it's not quite so easy...
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What hes telling you is that there is not much difference as to which version of windows you are choosing. If you are not connected to the internet. You are safe in that sense. If you are worried about someone physically taking the information or snooping in on you. It is just a matter of not placing the laptop where someone could take it, locking it away as mentioned. Using your account password should be fine. There are also devices now which you can place on your laptop which will trace it to the person who has it if its stolen. There are several accounts allowed in windows xp, Administrator, Limited User, and Guest. Are you the only one accessing this computer? Are you concerned about someone who has access to the computer taking information or stealing the laptop itself. We need the specifics.
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i think your best option is to buy a usb flashdrive and store all information on there
Athlon xp 2500+ @2.17
pc 3200 512mb ram
radeon 9200se
win xp home oem
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yep they are gettin cheaper everyday, plus they make you feel cool ( says as he snorts and lifts up his glasses )
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Encryption is another way to secure your data. And it's cheaper than a thumb drive or zip disk: free! Try <http://www.google.com/search?q=pgpdisk&sourceid=opera&num=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8>PGPDisk.
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Like i said, if they want to get into it they will. Encryption of course is a great step but for even the strongest of encryption there are cracks. ( I think maybe we ought to wait for this guy to tell us what he wants specifically )
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"but for even the strongest of encryption there are cracks"
Um, no. Sorry, but this just isn't true. There are many encryption schemes which are currently unbroken. PGP is one of those.If you want to secure data on a device to which an attacker has physical access, encryption is really the only way to do that.
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IAMC, done be such a pessimist, good things come to those who wait heh. The "other" side is always ahead of the game. Why do you think, such strong encryption is offered? Perhaps because prior encryption simply wasnt good enough? Hmm. "As the world turns"
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"Why do you think, such strong encryption is offered?"
Futureproofing. Given infinite time (expressed in computing cycles) all encryption can and will be broken. Strong encryption is "offered" to extend the time between now and when such encryption is actually broken.As an example, the SHA-1 hashing function was recently broken. By "broken", I mean that the researchers who broke it proved that it can be solved in 2**39 operations. Assuming a 4GHz CPU (for mathematical simplicity), that's 2**39 seconds of CPU time. About 4000 years.
And that is why "such strong encryption is offered." SHA-1 will not be discarded because, as you say, it "simply wasn't good enough." For now, unbroken strong cryptography is most definitely "good enough." Unless you have some 4000-year plan I don't know about.
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Where's that pesky time machine..dangit..hah
A1, it might be a good idea to come and check your post perhaps someday....we miss you soo much
IAMC, Salute, Read you later
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You must be new here. Nobody ever replies in their own threads, especially after their question gets answered.
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Yeah.
Whatever happened to Al, the altar boy?
AL, don't bother buying XP Pro, unless you just want to improve your profile in the geek community, and if you have the time to play around with installing another operating system.
The security issue is really irrelevant, however.
If you're a student or teacher:
http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/market.html?id=244324&cname=Operating+Systems
$84.95
-or-
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?DEPA=0&description=37-116-192&ATT=Software+Academic&CMP=OTC-C173T
$82.00
-or-
http://www.insight.com/site/product/detail/index.cfm?item_number=E85-02670&qty=0&scsourcecode=WM029
$80.44
If you're not a student or teacher, and don't have one in your family, or aren't horsing around with one of the teachers behind the altar, you'll have to go with:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1104427&CatId=306
$98.99
When they say, "It's all about security," believe me, if you're not connecting to the internet, the security in XP Pro will be a total waste of your money. TOTAL!
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<chuckle> thanks guys!!! I meant to check back but didn't get a chance... I will stick with XP home for now... although I might mention that I originally had Win2000 beforehand but I switched to winxp home b/c w2k doesn't have dual monitor support... we also use the laptop to display song lyrics during worship on a projector... never found a way to make it work in win2k so i switched to xp home. The level of security I was looking for is just to make sure someone who isn't authorized to use the laptop doesn't get into it... currently only the pastor, the secretary, myself and two of our audio/visual personnel have access to it.
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I would recomend encryption as it would solve nearly all of your problems and it is the usual way in which confidential/sensative material is kept secure. I would storngly recogmend PGP http://www.pgpi.com (its free fro non-comercial use!) alternatively you could buy windows XP professional which has some form of encyption (not as good as PGP but it also hides your files from other users) however a cracker could still gain access to your system/files just as easily as if you were running windows xp home. So my general advice is this: stick with whatever operating system you have, buy a removalable hard disk/zip drive/USB flash stick memory etc and create a self decrypting archive or encrypted partition with a strong password (upper and lowercase alphanumeric non-word,non-sequence and long!)and use something like the 256-bit Twofish algorithm. Then your informatoion would be kept very very strong and secure. Other than that buy a good Firewall/AV/Anti-spyware and keep that pc offline (or just offline while the external device/sensitive info is connected). Encryption also has the added benifit of protecting against local attacks (i.e someone breaking into your office or stealling your computer). I hope my advice has been of some help.
Regards,
G
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