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by Daniel Petri When you make frequent writes and deletions from your hard disk, your disks will become fragmented with time. Fragmentation means that files are not consistent and not contiguous, and thus fragmentation of the disks will result in lower I/O performance. While in NTFS performance degradation is a lot lower than it was in FAT or FAT32 partitions, in order to prevent loss of performance over time, it is best to perform routine defragmentations of your partitions and hard disks. The following article will teach you how to defrag windows 7 in a few short steps. There are several methods of performing defragmentations of partitions and hard disks. In this article I will list two of them. Method #1 – Using the Built-In Windows 7 Defrag ToolFirst, let me cover the internal Windows 7 tool that allows you to defrag windows 7 hard disks. This tool is a lot better than the one available in Windows Vista (at least in its design and in the way it works) but the built-in tool lacks many user options and that is why I offer Method #2, below. To run the Windows 7 built-in defragmenting tool follow these steps: Open Windows Explorer. Right-click the desired partition and select Properties. In the Tools tab, click on Defragment Now.
Note: Since Windows Vista, the defrag tool is no longer available as an MMC snap-in.
BTW, you can reach the defrag tool by typing dfrgui in the Start menu search box.
The Disk Defragmenter tool opens. In it you can perform 3 major actions:
To analyze a partition, select the partition to analyze and click on the "Analyze" button. Process will take a few moments, and will display a textual information message.
To defrag a partition, select the partition to analyze and click on the "Defragment disk" button. Process will take a several moments, depending on the size and disk usage of the partition. Unlike Windows Vista, in Windows 7 there will be a progress status update, telling you if not how much time is left, at least which % of the job was already done.
When completed, the % of the partition defragmentation status is displayed.
To schedule a partition defrag, click on the "Configure schedule" button.
In Windows 7 (like in most previous MS-based OSs), there is also a command line defragmentation tool called DEFRAG.exe which can be used to schedule defrag jobs and perform various actions. More on that in a different article. Method #2 – Using Auslogic Disk DefragFor those that feel that the built-in Windows 7 defrag tool lacks both in functionality and in UI, there are 3rd-party tools that may do a better job. One of them is Auslogic Disk Defrag. Auslogic Disk Defrag is free for personal non-commercial use, and as such I will gladly feature it here in this website. Get it here: Auslogic Disk Defrag - Fast and Safe Defragmenter for Your Disks Installation is easy, just agree to the license agreement and continue with the default settings. I usually remove the desktop icon.
After installing it, run Disk Defrag from the Start menu. You might be prompted to acknowledge it, if so, click on the "Yes" button.
Auslogic Disk Defrag has many interesting features. One of them is the ability to analyze a partition, and get visual representation of the fragmentation status. Select the required partition and press Defrag > Analyze.
With Auslogic Disk Defrag you can also configure the program's algorithm, schedule defrag jobs, and even exclude files or folders. You can also check the partition for errors, and even defrag specific files and folders. It even has a "Defrag & Optimize" mode in which it applies several optimization techniques such as free space consolidation, system files smart placement and moving regular files from the MFT Reserved Zone to the rest of the disk space.
A typical defrag operation is pretty fast.
Cool!
During the installation of Windows 7, you must choose a partition on which to install the operating system. Reading Microsoft's recommendations, you must make this partition at least 16GB in size. However, this is a minimal size and should not be used as the recommended size. As you know by now, the system partition (meaning the partition on which the operating system is installed on) is a place that just begs for more space as time goes by. Hotfixes, Patches, Service Packs, installed applications such as Microsoft Office and many others - all consume a lot of space on that partition. The more it is used, the more space will be consumed by these apps. That is why it is strongly recommended to properly configure the partition's size. While it is possible to extend this partition (if un-used space is available on the hard disk - read my "Extending the System Partition in Windows 7" article), it is best to plan in advance. As a rule of thumb, I personally give that partition at least 40 GB of space, and when using more than one hard disk on the computer, I give it as much as 100 GB. Just in case. Anyway, while it is possible to extend that partition later, even after installation of the OS, it is best to plan accordingly and create the right partition size during the installation process. Read my article on how to install Windows 7 for more information. Starting a Windows 7 installation, after passing the first initial screens, you will get to the screen where you are asked which type of installation you want to perform.
At that point you will need to click on "Custom (advanced)", as this is a fresh installation of Windows 7. The next screen will ask you where you want to install the system, meaning on what partition.
At that point, you need to decide on one of the two options:
If you pick option #1, then you simply click "Next" and get done with it. The setup program will create a partition on the entire hard disk and format it with the NTFS file system. It will then install Windows on that partition.
However, if you pick option #2 you can then create the partition exactly as you want it. Click on "Drive options (advanced)". The screen will change and show you several new buttons: New - to create a new partition. Delete - to delete a specific partition - all data on that partition will be deleted! Format - to format a specific partition - all data on that partition will be deleted! Extend - to extend a partition beyond the barrier of the physical disk, and to span the partition on more than one physical disk. This is useful when you run out of space on that physical hard disk, and have brought in a new physical hard disk that you wish to use. However, unlike using that new disk as a totally new partition by itself, this disk (or part of it) becomes a part of a partition located on the first disk. While useful in some cases, this scenario might cause fault tolerance issues, because this extended partition is NOT fault tolerant, and if something happens to one physical disk, all the data on that extended partition becomes unavailable, and data loss can occur.
To create a new partition click "New". In the "Size" box, enter the size for the new partition. When done, click "Apply".
The setup program will let you know that it will create an additional partition on that drive. That partition will be, by default, hidden, and contain the necessary files to boot the computer. This partition will consume 100 MB of disk space. Note: Actually, even if you do not manually create the partition by using this procedure Windows will still create this partition. However, since you did manually create the partition, Windows will tell you that another partition will also be created.
You can now see the partition you've created, and the hidden boot partition. In most cases, the partition on which Windows will be installed is partition number 2. Press "Format" to format the new partition.
You'll be warned that all data will be deleted. That should pose no issue because the partition was just created, and it is blank.
Installation will now commence as usual. Fact is that there's another way to manipulate partitions during the Windows installation. This is done by using the DISKPART command. This command is very useful for creating, extending, expanding, shrinking and performing other tasks on partitions and disks. To get to it you need to press SHIFT + F10 while the setup program is running. A command prompt window will open. In it, type An interactive command will be displayed.
You can use /? to get to the DISKPART help.
Remember that you can always resize the system partition, but there's no substitution to a proper planning in advance!
A hard drive partition can allow you to easily test out new operating systems (like Windows 7beta) or create a simple way to separate your user data from the operating system install. You can divide your hard drive into multiple partitions, some bootable, others not. The main reasons for having separate partitions are:
Step 1: Download and Install Partition CommanderTo partition your hard drive, you’ll need a partitioning utility. We recommend Partition Commander from Avanquest (previously VCOM). You can find Partition Commander here. Step 2: Start Partition CommanderSelect Create Partition and click the Create Partition option in the main screen:
The Create New Partition Wizard will appear.
Choose the Next button. Step 3: Select the hard drive where you would like to create the partitionPartition Commander will let you select a hard drive where you would like to create your partition. In this example, there is only a single drive. Click the Next button once you’d selected your drive. Step 4: Set the size for the new partition.Drag the slider button to set the size for your new partition. Once you’ve set the size, click the Next button to continue. Step 5: Choose the OS for the partition you are creatingPartition Commander supports all common operating systems including Windows, Novell Netware, Linux, and different varieties of Unix as well as some less common operating systems such as BeOS, CP/M, and Pick.
Select the desired OS and choose the Next button. Step 6: Select the format optionsSelect the format options and choose Next.
Step 7: Choose Apply to create the PartitionPartition Commander lets you select all the options and when you are ready, you choose the Apply button to create the partition.
Other Features… In addition to creating partitions, Partition Manager allows you to:
Supported Partitions Types
Introduction If you have ever taken a look at the Service Control Manager, shown in Figure A, then you know that at any given time, Windows has dozens of services running in the background. Each of these services consumes some amount of system resources, and you can reclaim some of those resources by turning off unnecessary services. In this article, I’ll show you how. Figure A Before I Begin The subject of which services are unnecessary is certainly open to debate. I have seen several different Websites that list the services that can be safely disabled in various versions of Windows. The thing that you have to remember though, is that each service provides some kind of functionality. Whenever you disable a service, you lose the functionality that it provides. I am going to try to avoid telling you to disable services that provide commonly used functionality, even if such services can be “safely” disabled. For example, many of the lists that I have seen tell you to disable the Print Spooler service, but without it you can’t print. I am also going to avoid talking about any services that are configured for a manual startup by default. The other thing that I want to say is that you should set services to Manual, rather than disabling them completely. That way, if Windows has to use a service for some reason, it can at least start the service. Desktop Windows Manager Session Manager You can turn off the Desktop Windows Manager Session Manager service if you are not using the Aero desktop. This service provides services such as thumbnail view from the taskbar, and the Windows Flip3D interface. Diagnostic Policy Service The Diagnostic Policy Service enables the detection, of problems and provides help with troubleshooting and resolving those problems. If you aren’t afraid to troubleshoot problems yourself (which is what most IT professionals do anyway), then this is one service that you can go ahead and stop. IP Helper The IP Helper service provides IPv6 connectivity over IPv4 networks. If you are not using IPv6 on your network, then it should be safe to stop this service.
Windows 7 is at least as speedy as Windows Vista. But that’s not exactly anything to boast about. You can throw the fastest hardware at Microsoft’s latest operating system, and it will be speedy enough. But there’s always room for improvement. The good news: with a few tweaks and some know-how, you can wring the most performance out of Windows 7, regardless of the computer you’re running it on. Here’s how.
Disable visual effectsWindows 7’s interface is laden with little visual effects and animations that, while impressive when you first see them, do little more than slow down the rate at which you can get things done.Luckily, you can turn off most or all of the visual effects while retaining the snazzy look of Windows 7. In fact, you can turn off just the visual effects you want to and leave the rest. To do so, open the Start menu, and type “adjust.” One of the entries that results is “Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows.” Click that, and Windows 7 opens the Performance Options dialog box. Make sure the Visual Effects tab is selected, and remove the check mark next to the options that say “animate,” “fade,” or “slide.” Click OK. Now windows, dialog boxes, and menus will snap into view immediately rather than gradually. Kill UACUser Account Control (UAC) is the feature that almost single-handedly made Windows Vista the most reviled Windows release in recent memory. UAC was originally designed as a security feature.It keeps an eye out for potentially harmful changes to your system and prompts you to confirm something that might be a threat. Unfortunately, under the rubric of “potential threat” fall such harmless activities as installation a new application or downloading a file from the internet that you know is safe. Microsoft wisely made UAC a bit less obtrusive in Windows 7. But best of all, it makes UAC easy to disable. That’s why one of the first things that savvy Windows users do with Windows 7 is visit the UAC slider dialog box. Do it by opening the Start menu, typing UAC, and selecting “Change User Account Control settings.” In the resulting User Account Control Settings dialog box, move the “notify” slider all the way to the bottom, for “Never notify.” And that will be the end of the annoying UAC slowdowns. Speed up your keyboardPart of what can make Windows 7 — or any previous version of Windows — seem slow is the rate at which the cursor moves when you hold down a key. That’s why one of the first things you should do after a new installation of Windows 7 is to adjust the keyboard speed. Do that by opening the Start menu and typing “keyboard.” Click the Keyboard entry under the Control Panel section, and Windows 7 open the Keyboard Properties dialog box. From there, make sure the Speed tab is selected, and move the Repeat Delay slider to “Short.” Click OK, and from that point forward, Windows will react much faster when you hold down a letter within any text application.Remove unused featuresWindows 7 comes loaded with a bunch of features you probably never use. Whether you use them or not, however, they’ll slow your system down. So turn off the ones you don’t need.Open the Start menu, and type Windows Features. Then click the “Turn Windows features on or off” entry that appears. The Windows Features dialog box opens, and from there, you can de-select any feature that you never use. Prime candidates are the “Windows Gadget Platform,” “Games,” and “Indexing Service.” Set your PC for maximum performanceWindows 7 actually throttles down performance of certain components at certain times in order to save energy. Those components include the hard drive and processor (CPU). So if you’re more concerned with ensuring that your PC always operates at its fastest while you’re using it, you can turn off power saving features. Just open the Start menu, and type “power options.” Click the Power Options entry that appears. In the resulting dialog box, select the “Change advanced power settings” link, and use the control in the dialog box that follows to adjust your PC for maximum performance at all times.Ref: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/article2139062.ece
By Greg Shultz Takeaway: In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz shows you how to delve in and begin tuning the Windows 7 Search Index. In the article, Take advantage of Search filters in Windows Explorer, I showed you how to use and take advantage of the Search filters built into the Windows 7 Explorer Search Box and in the article Tag your files for easier searches in Windows 7, I showed you how to Tag your files in Microsoft Windows 7 using tools built into Windows Explorer. After both of those articles were published, I received email from readers wondering about how the Search Index in Windows 7 works and if it were possible to customize it. Some readers wanted to add different locations to the Search Index and some wanted to remove certain locations. Others wondered about adding or removing certain file types from the Search Index. I also heard from readers who were encountering problems with the Windows 7’s Search and wondered how to fix it. In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, I’ll show you how to delve in and begin tuning the Windows 7 Search Index.
Accessing the Search IndexAccessing the Search Index is easier than you might imagine. Just click the Start button and type Index in the Search text box. When the results appear, just select the Indexing Options item. You’ll then see the Indexing Options dialog box, shown in Figure A, from which you can fine tune and troubleshoot the Windows 7’s Search Index. Figure A |
| :: Windows 8 and Future of Cloud Computing :: |
Windows 8 is the next operating system coming from Microsoft after Windows 7. The codename of Windows 8 is Windows Midori. By far, not many rumours about Windows 8 platform features have come. There are a handful definitely, but still, there is no news about Windows 8 cloud computing. No one knows whether Windows 8 will be a cloud operating system or a normal system.
Seeing the trend of today's computing, the big heads in the industry are trying to focus more on cloud computing. First let me tell you with an example, what cloud computing actually is.
In a complex manner, we may define cloud computing as an Internet – based computing in which we share resources on large scale. However, let me just simplify this and make your understand.
Just take the example of Amazon and eBay. These two websites are the world's leading online shopping websites where people order things and get them instantly. Now, just think. On a regular day, eBay and Amazon get an amount of traffic which their servers can easily take care of. They will be able to manage all this traffic because they have a number of servers which are enough to take care of the traffic. But consider a day when there will be a huge bump by people placing orders for gift items and all.
Think about Christmas day. Sites like eBay and Amazon get much more traffic on such celebration days than that in normal days. Suppose they get as much as twenty times higher traffic on the two days. What will happen? Just for the sake of continuing their business for a day, will it be just fine to invest in buying far more number of servers to facilitate their business, their traffic? No. This will not be a wise step, even though they have enough amount of capital to buy more servers.
However, a wiser step would be that eBay and Amazon get the benefit of cloud computing. Throughout the world, they might ask various companies to share their servers for just one day for a specific rate and after that they will come back on their own servers only. This will save a large amount of money as well as get the things done.
This is the benefit of cloud computing. With cloud computing, we get the help of various resources all throughout the world. We need to carry less space for ourselves and all we need is to co-operate and share. This reduces a lot of problems, amount of investment needed, time to be spent on, etc.
Google CR-48 Netbook was a step in the field of cloud computing by Google. Chrome CR-48 netbook has just 16GB of memory and all it depends is oncloud computing.
The question which appears next is that since more companies are trying their hands on cloud computing will Microsoft be behind. Will Microsoft be just making mobile operating systems and computer operating systems? Will it not do something in the field of cloud computing to put up a landmark in the industry of cloud computing? After all, it is the giant which governs a big deal of the software industry.
At such a crucial moment, experts say that it is very much possible that Windows 8 cloud operating system might emerge. Windows 8 might be the project from Microsoft which will be the first step in the field of cloud computing.
If yes, then it is a real challenge for other companies as we all know it is Microsoft today which makes big deals and not Google and Apple. Whatever be their fates but yes, when it comes to marketing things, Microsoft is a raging bull. If Windows 8 cloud operating system emerges (if Windows 8 is a cloud operating system), then definitely other Open Source operating systems like Linux etc. will be taking steps to enter the world of cloud computing.
Be it whatever, but I have enough faith in Microsoft that if they enter the cloud computing business, definitely they will give their rivals, the current and the upcoming a stiff throat cut competition. As we all know that by far Windows has been the most successful operating systems, definitely Windows 8 cloud operating system, if emerges, would be the next big thing. We will all be eagerly waiting to know what features Windows 8 will have if it is a cloud computing operating system.
It is possible that seeing the fate of Windows 8, Microsoft might begin creating desktops of their own, marketing the hardwares from different companies. I am saying this because no one knows business better than Microsoft. They can do things which are not really expected. If they begin making such desktops, then they might have the same feature of low onboard memory but might provide the benefit of memory on the go, that is cloud computing. They might provide us with features like online private web space for free for a specific rate over a period of time. They might bring into practice what Google is doing. They might start manufacturing laptops in a way no one else might.
All these are just the possibilities of Windows 8 and Microsoft's plans. But nothing can be clearly said with certainty. All I would say that if Windows 8 orWindows Midori shake hands with the cloud computing world, then definitely, computing will experience a new phase, a new era, which might be a gift from Microsoft Corporation, the company of uncle Bill.
Ref: Ref:http://www.mywindowsclub.com/resources/4381-Windows-Future-Cloud-Computing.aspx
| :: 10 Key Features in Windows 8 :: |
1. Support for both x86 PCs and ARM tablets
Windows 8 is the first edition of Windows to operate on both ARM-based tabletsand traditional x86 PCs based on ARM processors from Intel and AMD.
“Support for ARM-based chipsets, touch, and sensors makes Windows 8 work beautifully on your choice of a full spectrum of devices, such as 10-inch slates with all-day battery life, ultra-lightweight laptops, and powerful all-in-ones with 27-inch high-definition screens,”Microsoft contends, in a Windows 8 Guide distributed with Windows Developer Preview
In addition, the ARM edition of Windows 8 includes a new mode dubbed “always on, always connected,” designed to let tablets act like smartphones. Tablets can remain in standby mode without disconnecting from the Internet, and then wake up instantly.
Windows 8 is designed to work seamlessly across both PCs and ARM tablets. Yet until developers get a real start on apps for Microsoft’s still empty Windows Store, it’s tough to tell whether that will be universally true.
2. Touch-centric, Tiles-based User Interface (UI)
Although Windows 8 might look and feel like an entirely new “user experiemce,”, Microsoft is actually layering a new animation-enabled user interface (UI) on top of an only somewhat upgraded Windows 7.
The Windows 8 Start Menu is customizable through a mosaic of tiles, which differ from traditional desktop icons by letting you view live information from Windows 8 Metro style apps without actually accessing the apps.
In demoing the tile-based UI at last week’s Build conference , Microsoft showed how the tile for a Windows 8 weather app is able to display the current temperature in a city – along with projected temperatures for the next two days – without requiring you to open up the app. A tile for Windows Live Mail will show you your latest message, while a tile for a social networking app will show you notifications.
“The [Metro] apps are full-screen. They’re beautiful.They’re designed for touch, but of course, they work great with a mouse and keyboard as well if that’s what you have. We wanted to make it really fast and fluid for you to switch between them,” according to Jensen Harris, lead program manager on the Microsoft Office User Experience..
Windows 8 users are also able to access Windows 7 apps. “Everything that runs on Windows 7 will run on Windows 8,” maintained Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft’s Windows and indows Live division, during a keynote at the Build conference. However, in order to access Windows 7 apps, you need to switch to a different built-in UI.
3. Charms
In large part, ‘charms’ is a new implementation of the traditional Windows start bar. Charms can also be used to quickly configure settings for individual apps. On an ordinary non-touch PC, charms are accessed by dragging the mouse to the bottom-left corner of the screen, to the same spot as the old Windows start button. On a tablet, you swipe from the right side of the screen to bring
up charms.
Microsoft recently applied for a trademark on charms. The charms sidebar offers five sets of options, supporting both app-specific settings and system settings such as volume and brightness. The options include Start, Search, Share, Devices, and Settings. The Start option returns the user to the home screen. The Devices option presents a list of connected devices. Under the Share option, users can see social network sharing apps.
4. Snap Multi-tasking
‘Snap multitasking” is designed to make it easy to run two apps in Windows 8 side-by-side, to resize them, and to switch between them. On the right-hand side of the screen, you can snap an app into place.
You can make an app smaller or larger by dragging the bar for the app. To switch between apps in Windows 8, you swipe from the left-hand part of the screen.
However, Windows 8 does not allow you to view all of your running apps on a single screen.
5. Windows 8 Control Panel
Beyond revamping the Windows task manager, Microsoft has also redesigned the control panel for Windows 8. New options include Personalize, Users, Wireless, Notifications, General, Privacy, Search, and Share.
As Metro style apps become available, you'll be able to use the Personalize menu to customize the Start menu with tiles for calendar, music, e-mail, Netflix, and much more.
In a demo at Build, Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft's corporate VP of program management for Windows, showed how you’ll be able to position these Metro apps on the screen, and also to combine them into groups such as friends and games.
6. Web Navigation by Touch
The Internet Explorer (IE) 10 browser built into Windows 8 is designed to offer faster browsing through greater hardware acceleration, along with rapid gesture-based zoom, pan, and Web site navigation.
As in other areas of Windows 8, you can quickly access Windows 8 charms, as well as the two keyboards described below.
7. Two Touch Keyboards
Windows 8 also contains two soft keyboards: an “enhanced” traditional keyboard, plus a new thumbs keyboard for non-touch typists.
In efforts by Microsoft to make typing on a virtual keyboard faster and more accurate, the revised edition of the conventional keyboard suggests words on the screen as you type. You can then tap to selected a suggested word. Microsoft also provides a spellcheck-like feature designed to automatically correct mistyped words – although
like any other spellchecker, this feature carries the potential to cause its own errors.
The keyboards are also aimed at automatically adjusting to whaever human language you choose for Windows. These language settings will automatically apply to the entire computer, instead of only to specific apps
8. ‘Enhanced Copy Experience’
Windows 8 also introduces the ability to perform all current copy operations into a single dialog box, instead of requiring you to perform file copying in separate dialog boxes for each app.
The new dialog box for file copying lets you pause, resume, and stop each sopy operation currently under way. It will also warn you if you’re beginning to copy one version of a file on top of another.
Microsoft has also added a realtime throughput graph. “Now each copy job shows the speed of data transfer, the transfer rate trend, and how much data is left to transfer. While this is not designed for benchmarking, in many cases it can provide a quick and easy way to assess what is going on for a particular [copy] job,” noted Alex Simons, director of program management with the Windows 8 management team.
9. Native USB 3.0 Support
New USB 3.0 ports operate at speeds up to ten times faster than )SB 2.0. To better support these speeds, Microsoft is outfitting Windows 8 with native USB 3.0 drivers.
Meanwhile, though, USB 3.0 will purportedly continue to work under Windows 7, through the use of third-party drivers.
“By 2015, all new PCs are expected to offer USB 3.0 ports, and over 2 billion new ‘SuperSpeed’ USB devices will be sold in that year alone,” said Dennis Flanagan, director of program management for the Windows 8 Devices and Networking Group, in a blog post. “There are also billions of older USB devices that Windows must remain compatible with.”
10. Better Support for Multiple Monitors
Windows 8 also brings increased support for multiple monitors, The Developers Preview of the new OS includes first-time capabilities for extending the taskbar across two PCs, without any need for third-party apps. You can also stretch wallpaper across two monitors, or display the Start screen on one PC and the desktop on the other, for instance.
It's also easy to switch between multiple monitors. The primary monitor has a start button, and the secondary monitor has a switcher button. Clicking or tapping on the switcher button will swap it out for the start button, allowing you to turn the secondary monitor into the primary one.
| :: Windows Security :: |
| S.NO | WINDOWS SECURITY |
|---|---|
1. |
 Windows 8 security: Stronger but gentler |
2. |
Windows 7: Explore new and improved security features |
3. |
The Lack of WiFi Security (Part 1) |
4. |
The Lack of WiFi Security (Part 2) |
| :: Windows 7: Explore new and improved security features :: |
Windows 7 the newest operating system from Microsoft, simplifies computer security, making it easier for you to reduce the risk of damage caused by viruses, spyware and other malware. Windows 7 also features an improved backup solution to help keep your information safe, and its improved parental controls help you protect your family.
Read about the new and improved safety, security, and privacy features in Windows 7.
The new Windows 7 Action Center in the Control Panel helps you make sure that your firewall is on, your antivirus software is up to date, and your computer is set to install updates automatically. For more information, see How does Action Center check for problems?
BitLocker Drive Encryption encrypts your Windows hard disk to help keep documents, passwords, and other important data safe. Once you turn on BitLocker, any file that you save on that drive is encrypted automatically.
For more information about BitLocker Drive Encryption, see Explore the features: BitLocker or Set up your hard disk for BitLocker Drive Encryption.
Windows Firewall can also help protect your computer from hackers and malicious software. With Windows 7, the built-in firewall is more flexible and easier to use than before.
The Microsoft backup system is also improved for Windows 7. Backup and Restore creates copies of your most important files, so you're always prepared for the worst. For more information, see Backup and restore: frequently asked questions.
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download for Windows 7 that helps protect your computer from viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, and other malware. For more information, see Help Protect your PC with Microsoft Security Essentials.
Windows 7 also includes Windows Defender, software that helps protect your computer from pop-up ads, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software. For more information, see Using Windows Defender.
Windows 7 makes it easier and less intrusive to run your computer as a standard user instead of as an administrator. Windows Vista introduced User Account Control, a feature that warned you when a program wanted to make a change on your computer. Windows 7 improves on this feature, which means you’ll get the same level of protection, but with fewer messages than before.
To learn more, see Windows 7 features: Windows User Account Control.
Windows Vista included parental controls, but they are new and improved forWindows 7. Now they're more flexible and easier to use. With Windows 7 Parental Controls you can:
Prevent your children from playing games you don't want them to play.
Keep your children from running specific programs.
Set specific time limits on your children's computer use.
With the Parental Controls in Windows Media Center (available in Windows 7 Home Premium and above), you can also block access to objectionable TV shows and movies.
Ref: http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/windows7.aspx
| :: The Lack of WiFi Security (Part 1) :: |
This article discusses how effective various encryption schemes are and some of the tools used to discover WAP's.
If you would like to read the next part in this artice series please go to The Lack of WiFi Security (Part 2).
Hopefully by now everyone has heard that WiFi (wireless) is subject to a series of attacks that will lead to its compromise. How effective are the various encryption schemes though? What are some of the tools used? Read on to find out.
I think we all agree that having the option of wireless connectivity is great. It certainly helps to have it in a corporate setting as well. The freedom to roam about the office with your laptop helps worker efficiency, and is simply nice to have at home as well. No longer are we constrained by cables and such. Heck, I remember having a 100 foot length of CAT-5 in my home that I used to connect my laptop to my router. That was a pain in the butt believe me.
Well with this new found freedom have come certain risks. For everytime you introduce new technologies you can rest assured that exploits for it are soon to follow. So with this in mind it was no great surprise that 64 bit WEP was quickly found to be lacking in terms of its implementation. So the vendors upped the ante and came out with 128 bit WEP, and this in turn was also found to be lacking. It kind of makes you think of the old arms race doesn’t it? For every new weapon that comes out, there is quickly a counter-measure for it.
WiFi hacking has been around for some time now, and oddly enough has really received little press. Since 2001, 64 bit WEP has been breakable. That was also around the time that well known tools such as Airsnort gave the ability to break into wireless networks to the masses. This tool is only half of the equation though for you still require something to let you know if there are any wireless access points around you. We shall now go on to look at various tools which will allow you to do some WEP cracking. Some of the tools shown are Linux based, but some have since been ported to Win32. On that note let’s get to the business of profiling some of the tools used to pull off a WiFi hack.
There is a fairly decent variety of tools out there to help you crack WEP keys. One of them, I mentioned already, is Airsnort as coded by Snax of Shmoo group fame. Well much like any hack, there is typically a logical series of events that need to take place first. What do you think the first step would be? Well, seeing as we want to crack WEP keys, then our first step should be to find ourselves a wireless access point (WAP). To that end some tools which will help you detect WAP’s are as follows. Please bear in mind that not all of them are available in Win32. I will indicate as such where one of them is not.
This tool does a combination of things for you and is native to *nix. Kismet will not only detect WiFi networks, it is also capable of sniffing packets from them, and can act as an intrusion detection system as well. All in all, it is a very functional tool and is also one that is still actively maintained. Please note that you can run Kismet on your favorite Win32 operating system, but you will need to do so with cygwin. Though this tool is indeed very functional, some people find it a little confusing to work with. That said, should you wish to install it on your Win32 laptop then pleaseclick here for a good explanation of how to do it.
Now is a good time to point out that you will need an external wireless card to do WEP cracking as the onboard wireless card you have is simply not up to the task of detecting all WiFi networks that may be around you. Some of the cards that I suggest you get are the Cisco Aironet a/b/g (this is the one I have) 3Com 3CRPAG175 wireless card, and lastly the Linksys Dual Band wireless card. Please bear in mind that this is not an exhaustive list. All said and done I would go for the Cisco Aironet card as it will support both a/b/g modes.
Netstumbler is a tool which will allow you to detect WAP’s around you. It is fully functional on Win32, specifically W2K Pro and Win XP. You are once again limited by having to have a wifi card that is supported by Netstumbler. However, this software tool will not detect WAP’s that are configured to not broadcast their SSID. A rather limiting factor, and is the main reason why you would be better off using another tool during your discovery phase.
The tools shown above are both free tools available to you at no cost other then your time to configure them. This tool is commercial in nature, but does a far better job at finding WAP points, and a whole lot more. AirMagnet is also native to Win32 and can be used with ease, vice some of the problems you may have trying to get the above two noted working. Though some tools can do a good job of both detecting and then collecting WAP point traffic, you are likely best off splitting your tool kit into two. With that in mind I would use either Netstumbler or Airmagnet for WAP detection if you are trying to do so with only free tools.
Figure 1
We can see from the above screenshot that there are four wireless networks detected. These are all within range of my wifi card to detect, and in likelihood these networks belong to those of my neighbors. The topmost network with no SSID is mine as I have it set to not broadcast my SSID. Also of note is the fact that only three out of four networks have some form of WEP (64 or 128 bit) enabled.
Figure 2
With the above noted screenshot in mind we see how easy it would be to use this tool to associate yourself to a wireless network whose WEP you have broken. Once you have the key, it would be trivial then to insert yourself into the network. Anyhow I don’t wish to dwell on this tool as it is indeed a commercial one, and I prefer to show you tools that are free in nature. That said, this tool is extremely powerful and easy to use. If your company can afford to buy it then I for one would certainly counsel you to do so.
Well over the course of this article we have seen that there are a fair amount of tools out there for the discovery phase of wireless networks. All you really need is a decent wifi card and you are good to go. Netstumbler is really a rather nice tool for Win32, while Kismet can be made to work as well on your Windows O/S. These tools are just for the discovery of WAP’s, and not really for the collection and subsequent breaking of WEP. What we shall look at in part two of this article series are tools to collect, and in turn, break WEP. Remember, while discovering WAP’s around you may be fun to do, it is still illegal for you to connect to them. Please bear that in mind. On that note I shall see you in part two!
If you would like to read the next part in this artice series please go to
| :: The Lack of WiFi security (Part 2) :: |
Tools that collect packets and then break the WEP keys.
If you missed the first part in this series please read The Lack of WiFi security (Part 1).
In part one of this article series on wifi security we took a look at some tools that will help you discover WAP points in your immediate vicinity. What we shall do in this part is look at tools that will actually collect packets and then break the WEP keys.
In the first part of this article series we looked at some of the tools that exist today which will allow you to discover wireless access points (WAP). Wireless networks have become very popular over the past few years for not only business, but also the home market. In all likelihood your neighbors are probably running a wireless router for their home computer network even though it is not using a wireless card. People are often talked into getting wireless routers, even though they don’t need them, by salespeople at electronics stores. These very same people are sadly the ones who are also running an unprotected WAP.
Having a WAP is not in and of itself inherently insecure, but you do need to take measures to properly harden it. That includes having encryption enabled, and making sure that you have the latest firmware available as well. Some other common sense measures should also be implemented as well. For one there is no need to broadcast your SSID. You already know what it is so why make a potential hackers job that much easier.
Figure 1
Another simple measure to take is to enable MAC filtering on your WiFi network. What this does is restrict access to your WAP by virtue of specifying a list of MAC addresses that have permission. All other computers or laptops whose MAC addresses are not on that list will be refused permission. This security measure can be bypassed by an attacker changing their MAC address, however every layer of security helps. Remember “defense in depth”.
Figure 2
Well as noted above, I hope your WAP is properly secured. On that note we will now look at some tools which will allow an attacker to compromise that very same WAP. First up on the list is Airsnort. You may recall that I touched on it very briefly in part one of this series. Well we shall now take a look at it. Airsnort will run on either win32 or *nix as mentioned on its homepage. It will take you a bit of extra effort to run it on Windows but rest assured it is entirely possible to do so.
Figure 3
Using Airsnort is fairly simple as seen from the above screenshot. You will need to ensure that you are using a supported wifi card for one. Once done you simply ensure that Airsnort is working off of the proper network device and is using the right driver type as well. Once that is done, and any other minor tweaks you may want to make, you are ready to start it. You will note the values for “crack breadth” on the upper right hand side of Airsnort. I would advise you to leave this to their defaults unless you read up on what they mean and how it will impact cracking WEP.
Airsnort does have one limitation, and that is it requires a large amount of packets to be collected from the WAP in question. I don’t mean either a couple of hundred but rather a couple of hundred thousand or several million. Well as you may have guessed there are not too many WAP’s out there that will generate that type of traffic quickly. So you can imagine that cracking WEP could be a time consuming affair. Well there are tools that have come out since Airsnort was first written which will dramatically reduce the time it takes to crack 64 bit WEP.
There are several tools that will take wifi packet captures as their input and then work on cracking the key for you. One of the first ones to be aware of is WepAttack and please bear in mind that this is a linux based tool. Though the operating system of choice for many is Windows, it also should be remembered that not all tools written to attack Windows or other devices that are native to win32. You should try to gain at least a rudimentary knowledge of other operating systems and the tools available to them. WepAttack, as seen on its homepage, is a command line utility which accepts .pcap data. You would use a tool such as the earlier discussed Kismet to capture wireless frames and then use WepAttack afterwards to crack the WEP key. It is a pretty simple tool to use.
WEPCrack is another tool to use for cracking WEP keys via a .pcap file for input. The tool is also written in PERL so that means you can use it on your win32 box so long as you have a PERL interpreter installed. Should you not have an interpreter installed then simply go here and get one. WepLab is the last tool that we shall look at in this article. This tool is available for either win32, linux, BSD and Mac. So pick your poison as it were. Once again this tool will work like WEPCrack in that it will accept .pcap data as its input and then try to crack the WEP key.
Well so far we have seen that there is a fairly wide variety of tools out there which will help you crack WEP keys, be they 64 or 128 bit in length. While some of the older tools such as Airsnort do work quite well, they do require a fair amount of data before becoming effective. Since Airsnort was released new attacks have been formulated. No longer do you really need to sit outside an office space, as it were, to collect a myriad of encrypted data.
Such simple things as stimulating the WAP by sending data to it in order to increase packet transmission will help to cut down the time it takes to crack the WEP key. For that type of scenario you would need two separate laptops. One would be used to actively attack the WAP itself while the other one served as a collection point in order to harvest the packets at a much higher rate than the WAP would normally transmit at.
We also saw that once the WEP key has been recovered, it is rather simple to use it to then associate yourself to that WAP. If the WAP has MAC filtering enabled then your task will be a tad more difficult, but far from impossible. Using a tool such as SMAC will allow you to change your MAC address quite easily. Just as I mentioned above in this article, enabling MAC filtering is by no means a definitive block. It will simply slow someone down if they are a determined attacker.
What you will hopefully try to now do is use some of these tools in your home lab to actually break 64 and 128 bit WEP. It is only by doing something that you will truly understand it. Much like “doubting Thomas”, seeing is believing. On that note I will end the article series, and hopefully this series has shown you just how weak 64 and 128 bit WEP is. As always I welcome your feedback. Till next time!
Ref: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/WiFi-security-lack
| :: Windows 8 security: Stronger but gentler :: |
The Metro GUI is the most visible representation of Microsoft's coming operating system. While the release of the tentatively named Windows 8 is still a year away, the company has not been shy about putting the multicolor tiled interface front and center.
Windows 8's security improvements will be much less visible, and that's just the way Microsoft wants it. The company has added a number of protection features to Windows 8 to better protect the system, all the while making the security less intrusive by limiting the number of notifications a user may receive.
For example, the company's SmartScreen technology for detecting potentially malicious sites -- introduced with Internet Explorer 8 -- will be built right into the OS to allow any file downloaded to a Windows 8 computer to be checked out by the system, yet the protection should not alert the average user more than twice a year, Microsoft says.
The higher signal-to-noise ratio will likely make users pay more attention to the truly dangerous incidents, Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division, writes in a blog post on Microsoft's Developer Network.
"When they do see (a notice), it will signify a higher risk scenario," he says in a description of the feature.
Using its telemetry data, Microsoft has found that 95 percent of Internet Explorer 9 users do not run malicious software when they receive a SmartScreen warning. Once a user receives a SmartScreen warning, their chance of getting malware if they run the suspect program varies from 25 to 70 percent, according to Microsoft. Some 92 percent of applications downloaded by users already have an established reputation, so SmartScreen does not issue a notification.
Allowing SmartScreen to check applications downloaded by other browsers and applications is not the only feature Microsoft has added. Here are the ones currently announced.
Improving Windows Defender
Microsoft noticed a disturbing trend among Windows 7 users: While almost all users had antivirus protection following the purchase of Windows 7 -- due, most likely, to trial subscriptions shipped with new PCs -- almost a quarter of them let those subscriptions lapse in the ensuing months.
The company plans to make Windows Defender a baseline security solution, which will block all commonly used malware, worms, Trojan horses, and other attacks. Microsoft plans to use a file system filter to better protect critical files.
Making Windows 8 harder to exploit
Like Apple did with its security improvements to Mac OS X Lion, Microsoft plans to harden the operating system to attack. With each release, both Apple and Microsoft have bolstered a key anti-exploit technology known as ASLR (address space layout randomization). Windows 8 is no different: More components of Windows will use ASLR, and the memory randomization will be better.
Microsoft will bring a lot of secuity improvements to the kernel and a dynamically assigned area of memory known as the heap. Finally, the company plans to add defenses to Internet Explorer to eliminate "use-after-free" vulnerabilities, which make up three-quarters of the flaws reported in IE in the past two years. Basically, we can expect Internet Explorer to do a better job of cleaning up after itself and flushing away sensitive data after it has been used.
Supporting UEFI Secure Boot
Finally, Microsoft will use the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) to implement a secured boot process. UEFI Secure Boot allows the firmware to cryptographically verify the integrity of the computer's envrionment, preventing malicious software from executing before the computer boots into the operating system.
Secure Boot uses the Trusted Platform Module, a piece of hardware that has shipped in millions of systems, but largely remains unused. Microsoft had planned a similar feature, dubbed Secure Startup, in Windows Vista in 2005, but faced industry concerns that the company could block the installation of other operating systems on PC hardware.
Hardware OEMs will be required to support the architecture, but otherwise, Microsoft claims it will be vendor neutral. While the company aim is quiet security, expect this feature to create a fairly loud debate.
Ref:http://www.infoworld.com/t/windows-security/windows-8-security-stronger-gentler-174404
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