A Guide to securing Windows XP
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How to use Windows XP Security Logs
If you would like to create some logs to show you what has occurred on your system. For example if you want to view if anyone has been logging into your system or attempting to log in without success, then you would need to configure logging. Although hardly anyone uses this feature, it can be very useful.
Click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Local Security Settings, Local Policies, Audit Policy. You should now see the Local Security Settings like the figure below. Now you can right click a setting and hit Properties and enable auditing.
If your system is set up for use at work, these settings may not work, as your Network’s Security settings will take precedence.
To view the logs you have configured you would need to locate the Event Viewer. Click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer. You would check the security log file for auditing.
I do not have any security auditing set up so I decided to show you my Application log file as below. You get the idea? If you double click an entry it will explain in more detail about the event.
Conclusion
Given how limited the Windows firewall is, I would highly recommend a hardware firewall, and a third party software firewall as an extra layer of protection. An all in one Security Suite (scanning for spyware, viruses and other malware, with built in firewall, spam protection and other features) known as Internet Security Suite is usually the best option for a complete secure solution. Read my other guides to help you choose the required Firewall and Anti Virus products.
This Windows XP guide is of course from a security perspective. If your looking for a general Windows XP guide, for performance, tips and tricks, then I would recommend you take a look at this site to optimise your Windows XP. Also I have used the following web site as well which offers a massive and handful of Windows XP tweaks.
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