How to keep your PC and Data safe

[Mastermind]

Keep your PC and your data safe

An indiscreet can easily find much information on your computer. Yet, simple measures are sufficient to block most curious.

Lock your computer

By accessing the data on your PC without your knowledge, anyone can do much damage in minutes.

1. Go to the Bios
The BIOS is a program that activates automatically when the ignition of the PC. In imposing the minting of a password in the BIOS, you agree to the use of your machine and you indiscrets protect against any configuration changes. At startup, a message (often in English ...) said the key to access the Bios. They are usually Delete, F2 or Esc. In the BIOS, the BIOS Setup Utility menu (or something similar) has some differences from one machine to another.

2. Users from booting the PC on a USB drive or CD
A common way to circumvent the protections of Windows is to start the system with a CD-ROM (or USB) boot, leaving the attacker free access to your machine. To counter this practice, set the Boot menu, or Advanced BIOS Features and find the line called Boot Sequence or Boot Device. Change the configuration so that the first (First Boot Device) is defined as your hard drive (HDD, HDD - 0 or Hard drive) and the following (Boot Second, Third boot Boot other ...) are disabled (disabled) or not numbered.

3. Set a password on startup
Return to the main menu and go to the Security menu. Using Set Supervisor Password, set a password that will be required for the next BIOS setup. Same with the option Set User Password and Password System to set the password to be asked each time you start the PC (do not choose the same for both). Save the changes by using the Save & Exit Setup.

Of course, it is possible for a user (very) warned to remove these passwords by removing or bypassing the battery on the motherboard, but this is complex, few discreet and can not be done your knowledge, since the next start, no password is you would be asked.

4. Assign a password to your user account
If you share a PC with several people, it is better that everyone has a personal account and his own password. If the password protection does not experienced an attacker, these boundaries nevertheless avoid many indiscretions. In Control Panel, click in the list on the left, on Switch to Classic View.

Double-click User Accounts, click your account and then click Create a password. Enter your sesame, confirm it and click OK to create a password. Feel free to create an account type for Guests travelers.

5. Passwords for other accounts
The Panel proposes a tool for managing user accounts. However, it does not have these accounts so readable. To fill this gap, pull down the menu Start, Run, type control userpasswords2 and Press Enter. Check if not already done so, the box Users must enter a user name. Click the first item in the list Users of this computer and click Reset Password. Type the password twice and press OK. Repeat this for all of these accounts including accounts guests, except for your own account and ASPNET account if it exists.

6. Lock your computer
Anyone can set a cookie on your PC in seconds. By locking the screen saver with a new password, you avoid the inconvenience. Open the Control Panel. Double-click Display, then select the Screensaver tab. Make sure you have a screen saver is selected and then tick the takeover, the display screen. OK OK. If you press a button while the screen saver is activated, Windows prompts you to enter your password. To lock the PC without waiting for the screen saver, simply press Windows + L.

[Mastermind]

Protect your files

You can restrict access to a file by assigning specific duties. To do this, you must use the NTFS file system. The conversion is easy.

Encryption essential confidential documents
Do not use the encryption technology offered by the office software (passwords Office for example), unsafe. Better to rely on specialized software, such as free software Crypt4Free which lets you store in a ZIP archive, one or more files in ensuring a good level of protection. However, the ideal is to use an external drive and install a software encryption. Thus, all data on this disk will be automatically preserved.

True Crypt is free and use very simple. For data really sensitive, use a hard disk "secure" as those offered by LaCie. Thus, the LaCie d2 SAFE Hard Drive (500 GB, approx. 260 euros) is simple to install and use thanks to its fingerprint sensor and USB2 and FireWire connectors.

1. Convert to NTFS
In adopting the NTFS format for your records, you get more features for sharing and security. This conversion will you lose any data but it is not reversible! To start, open the Control Panel and then double-click Administrative Tools and then click Computer Management. In the list on the left, open the option Storage then Disk Management. If your Disk 0 is configured NTFS , skip to Step 2. If the C: is shown as having the FAT32 file system, you must convert to NTFS.

To do this, close all open programs, pull down the Start menu, Programs, Accessories and select Command Prompt. Enter convert c: / fs: ntfs Entry. Confirm twice O then Enter. Restart your computer to apply the conversion.

2. Install the configuration security tool
With Windows XP Home Edition, security tool is not active by default (if you have XP Pro or Vista, go to the next step). You can get here and download and run the program scespi4i.exe. It decompresses files in a folder, the default desktop. One of these files is called Setup.inf. Right-click the then mouse over the menu that appears, click Install. The appearance of the dialog box confirm the replacement of the file, click the No button.

3. Restrict the rights to a folder
In any folder window of Windows, pull down the Tools menu, Folder Options. On the View tab, uncheck "Use simple file sharing. Validate by clicking the Apply to All Folders, Yes OK. Then right-click the folder you want to protect and select Properties. Click on Advanced Settings: uncheck the Inherit from parent ... and confirm by clicking on the Copy button and then OK.

If you only want to be able to access this folder, select Administrators and click Remove. Do the same for Users. It should no longer remain in the list that CREATOR OWNER (you) and SYSTEM. Note that you can assign rights to another user with the Add button. Otherwise, you'll only have access to the contents of this folder and any subfolders.