Xp tips tricks

XP Tips & Tricks

Contributions by:
The How-To-Geek
The Source
MS Technet
Simple Help
Mysticgeek
Mark H. Priest

TEMPORARILY DISABLE "RESTART NOW" DIALOG FROM XP'S
AUTOMATIC UPDATES .................................................................................... 1
WINDOWS KEY USES ........................................................................................2
QUICK TIP: EASILY COMPACT OUTLOOK DATA FILES ..........................3
PREVENT WINDOWS XP FROM CREATING THE THUMBS.DB
THUMBNAIL CACHE FILES ...........................................................................5
Disabling Thumbnails ........................................................................................................ 6
Disabling Thumbnails with a Registry Hack................................................................... 7
HOW TO MAKE ALL OF YOUR FOLDERS HAVE THE SAME “VIEW”
IN WINDOWS XP ................................................................................................8
WINDOWS XP RECOVERY SYSTEM FEATURES....................................... 10
1) Automated System Recovery (ASR) .......................................................................... 10
2) Track Back With a Driver Rollback .......................................................................... 10

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XP Tips & Tricks

3) Last of the Known Good Configuration .................................................................. 12
HOW TO USE REMOTE ASSISTANCE IN WINDOWS XP ........................ 12
HOW TO DISABLE REMOTE ASSISTANCE AND REMOTE DESKTOP
IN WINDOWS XP .............................................................................................. 15
WINDOWS RUN COMMANDS ....................................................................... 16
HOW TO USE THE GROUP POLICY EDITOR TO MANAGE LOCAL
COMPUTER POLICY IN WINDOWS XP ...................................................... 21
Uses of Group Policy....................................................................................................... 21
 Registry-based policies. ...................................................................................... 21
 Security options. .................................................................................................. 21
 Software installation and maintenance options. .............................................. 21
 Scripts options. .................................................................................................... 21
 Folder redirection options. ................................................................................ 22
How to Start the Group Policy Editor .......................................................................... 22
How to Use the Group Policy Editor ........................................................................... 22
 Computer Configuration.................................................................................... 22
 User Configuration ............................................................................................. 23
To use the group policy editor, follow these steps: ..................................................... 23
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 24
SHUT DOWN WINDOWS AT A SPECIFIC TIME FROM THE
COMMAND LINE ............................................................................................. 25
HOW TO SECURE YOUR WIRELESS NETWORK...................................... 25
1. Download the latest firmware for your wireless router. ................................ 25
2. Change the administrator password. ................................................................ 26
3. Change your SSID and turn of SSID Broadcasting ....................................... 26
4. Enable WPA ........................................................................................................ 26
5. Limit access by MAC addresses ........................................................................ 26

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XP Tips & Tricks

TEMPORARILY DISABLE "RESTART NOW"
DIALOG FROM XP'S AUTOMATIC UPDATES
Automatic Updates is a great feature. Your computer stays protected from threats
without worrying about it… but if it's 3am and I'm trying to play a video game, the
last thing I want is for the automatic updates to pop up and remind me every 5
minutes that I need to reboot, interrupting my game… Drives me crazy!

If you want to temporarily disable this popup message and delay rebooting, you can
go about it one of two ways. I'm a command line junkie, so I just type this into a
command prompt (make sure you use the quotes)

net stop "automatic updates"

Or you can open Control Panel Administrative Tools Services and click Stop on
automatic updates.

Do not disable the automatic updates service, just stop it. The next time you start up
your computer, it will restart.

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XP Tips & Tricks

Note: If you open the Automatic Updates icon in Control Panel, it will automatically
restart the service, which will make the dialog start popping up again.

WINDOWS KEY USES
In all honesty, I always thought the “Windows Key” on my keyboard was just a
nuisance. It was just the thing I accidentally hit once in a while and the darn Start
menu would pop up. Turns out. I was wrong; it has a lot of uses.

When used in combination with other keys, here’s what you can do:

Windows Key + Tab: Cycle through the buttons in the Task Bar.

Windows Key + D: Minimize or restore all windows

Windows Key + E: Launch Windows Explorer

Windows Key + F: Launch Search for Files

Windows Key + Ctrl + F: Launch Search for Computers

Windows Key + F1: Launch the Help and Support Center

Windows Key + R: Launch the Run dialog box

Windows Key + Pause/Break: Launch System Properties dialog box

Windows Key + M: Minimizes all open windows.

Windows Key + Shift + M: Undo minimize all windows


XP Tips & Tricks

Windows Key + L: Locks the workstation

Windows Key + U: Launch the Utility Manager

Windows Key + Ctrl + Tab: According to Microsoft: Moves focus from Start, to
the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray.

QUICK TIP: EASILY COMPACT OUTLOOK
DATA FILES
If you are using Microsoft Outlook, all of your email is stored in a Personal Folders
file (.pst), which tends to build up in size over time. If you want to save a little bit of
hard drive space and maybe speed up Outlook, you can compact that file easily.

Of course, this tip isn't very useful for experienced Outlook users, but we like to
cover everything helpful even if it's fairly basic.

Compacting Outlook Data Files
From the Outlook main window, choose Data File Management from the File menu.

The Account Settings dialog will open up on the Data Files tab. Highlight Personal
Folders, which should be located on the local drive, then click on the Settings button.


XP Tips & Tricks

Now with the Personal Folders dialog box open, click on Compact Now.

A message indicating compacting is taking place will pop up then disappear when
done. Now we can close out of the remaining windows.


XP Tips & Tricks

This will work in both Outlook 2007 and 2003. If you notice Outlook becoming slow
try out this quick fix.

PREVENT WINDOWS XP FROM CREATING
THE THUMBS.DB THUMBNAIL CACHE FILES
This is a guest post by Aseem Kishore from HelpDeskGeek.com, which focuses on
providing Help Desk tips to IT Professionals.

Windows has an annoying habit of displaying thumbnails for folders that you may not
want thumbnails for, like the My Pictures folder. For me, it's better to have the My
Pictures folder viewed in List or Details view and all of the folders underneath My
Pictures to be shown as thumbnails.

The really annoying thing is that even if you go to Tools, Options, View, and click on
"Apply to All Folders", Windows may still revert back to thumbnail view! This
happens because Windows will show a folder in thumbnail view if it finds a
THUMBS.DB file in the folder.


XP Tips & Tricks

THUMBS.DB is a cache file that basically is used by Windows in any folder it finds a
picture or video so that the next time you view the folder, the thumbnails will be
loaded faster so you don't have to wait. However, with the current speed of
computers, it's pretty useless and only takes up more space on your computer.

Disabling Thumbnails
You can delete the file and the thumbnail view will go away, but only for some time
before Windows re-creates it. You can prevent this from happening by disabling the
thumbnail cache in Folder Options or via a registry hack.

In Explorer, go to Tools, then Folder Options and click on the View tab.

Check the box "Do not cache thumbnails" and click OK. Now Windows will not
automatically create a THUMBS.DB file for a folder it deems needs thumbnails,
which means you can set a folder view to list or detail and it will remain that way.
Make sure to first delete the THUMBS.DB file if one existed already.

You can still set the display of a folder manually by right-clicking on the folder and
choosing Properties. Click on the Customize tab and choose from the list
(Documents, Pictures, Photo Album, Music, etc)


XP Tips & Tricks

Disabling Thumbnails with a Registry Hack
Open the registry (regedit.exe) from the Run command and navigate to the following
key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
ExplorerAdvanced

Double click on the DisableThumbnailCache key in the right-hand pane and change
the value to 1. If the key is not there, go to Edit, then New and choose DWORD
Value to create one with the same name.

Close the Registry and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

If you have a lot of folders with lots of pictures, it would be best to disable the
thumbnail cache because each picture in the cache is about 2KB, meaning a 1000
pictures in one folder would result in a cache of 2MBs!


XP Tips & Tricks

HOW TO MAKE ALL OF YOUR FOLDERS
HAVE THE SAME “VIEW” IN WINDOWS XP
To set Windows to display all of your folders with the same View, follow the steps
outlined below…

First, select the View that you want to use. The following screenshots illustrate
each choice –

Thumbnails

Tiles

Icons

List


XP Tips & Tricks

Details

1. When you’ve set the one you want to use, select Tools and then Folder
Options… from the drop-down list.

2. Select the View tab at the top, and before you click any buttons, review the
options in the Advanced settings: pane. Be careful when changing the
defaults, for example you may want to keep system files hidden, so they don’t
accidentally get deleted. When you’re finished, click the Apply to All Folders
button, and then the OK button.

3. From now on when you open folders like My Computer or My Documents,
they should all share the same View.


XP Tips & Tricks

WINDOWS XP RECOVERY SYSTEM
FEATURES
The era of the dominant windows XP OS is coming to a slow but grinding halt as
Windows Vista and Windows 7 (to be released in 2009) are taking the lead. But, there
are those who still prefer Windows XP Home and Office Editions, and for their sake
I have created this article on its very useful and lifesaving features.

PCs over time tend to find the “need” to start exhibiting problems, whether it be
minor or not. The operating system could simply have booting issues, programs not
feeling up to their “usual” tasks, and/or the random error messages along with the
occasional crash here and there. To try and help lessen these issues Windows XP
comes with 7 different PC-life saving methods that enable us to recover from these
situations that sometimes barricade us from the outside world.

The following methods do not always work, but there will be times that a lot of
headaches can be avoided by learning how these methods work. In this tutorial/article
I will give you a wide-ranging indication of each of these methods so that you can
govern your computer a bit more efficiently.

1) Automated System Recovery (ASR)
Automated System Recovery (ASR) is an highly developed feature incorporated into
the Microsoft Backup utility that will allow you to properly recover the Windows XP
operating state in case of a disastrous system failure. By putting this feature to use you
can effectively restore windows to a previous state from when you ran the ASR
backup routine. This type of backup will first save your system settings on a floppy
disk or a Compact Disc (CD) and then make a simple backup of the files you’ve
specified on your PC. You can then use this ASR disk/CD to fully restore your
systems settings when you choose to reinstall Windows XP.

2) Track Back With a Driver Rollback
Driver rollback is a neat feature that allows you to “rollback” a driver to its formerly
installed version. This is exceptionally useful when you’ve installed a new driver for a
piece of hardware install on your PC and you start having issues either with that
specific piece of hardware or other devices/applications on your machine. If such a


XP Tips & Tricks

situation occurs you can remember to use Driver Rollback to rollback to the
preceding driver that was installed before you upgraded it.

To attain access to the Driver Rollback feature you’ll have to double click on the
System icon located in your Control Panel. Then click on the Hardware tab and
then click on the Device Manager Button. This will pull up the Device Manager
window where you can double-click on the piece of hardware that you had already
installed and updated to enter it’s properties. As soon as you’re in the particular
device’s properties section, you should click on the Driver tab. Within this tab you
will see a button labeled Driver Rollback. Once you click on this button, it will ask
for verification that you want to rollback the driver. Agree to this and follow the rest
of the default instructions.

If you try to rollback a device whose drivers have never been updated, Windows will
tell you so.


XP Tips & Tricks

3) Last of the Known Good Configuration
Every single time you manage to load Windows XP successfully, Windows saves
certain registry keys and applications settings on your PC. This way if you ever boot
your computer and for some reason Windows fails to properly load, you can use the
Last Known Good Configuration to boot Windows to the last known good settings

To put this configuration to use as your booting Windows, press the F8 key as
Windows starts, and then select the Last Known Good configuration option. Your
PC will then take the action of loading Windows using these previously saved settings.

HOW TO USE REMOTE ASSISTANCE IN
WINDOWS XP
Remote Assistance is a tool that has been designed to allow users to get remote
support from a technician, IT Manager, friend, helpdesk, or vendor. Remote
Assistance is very similar to remote packages like VNC Ultra or pcAnywhere,
though perhaps not as fully featured. However, for the occasional support issue it
should work just fine.

If you know a “techie” in your life that can help you, you can have them use Remote
Assistance to help fix your issues. Now, all you have to do is follow these simple
instructions to navigate the process and make Remote Assistance entirely work for
you!

Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties. Click on the Remote tab.
Make sure Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer is
enabled.


XP Tips & Tricks

To ask a friend for help, click Start and then choose Help and Support. Click on
Invite a friend to connect to your computer with Remote Assistance

Click on Invite someone to help you to request assistance.


XP Tips & Tricks

There are numerous methods by which you can commence a request. You can send
an invitation via Windows Messenger, email (outlook, yahoo, etc.), or save a file and
send through a different method or email program. In this case, I initiated my request
by saving it as a file. These are the simple yet effective steps in order to invite
someone you know or can trust to repair your PC remotely.


XP Tips & Tricks

HOW TO DISABLE REMOTE ASSISTANCE
AND REMOTE DESKTOP IN WINDOWS XP

Why should you disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop? Because either service could
be used or exploited by an attacker to gain remote access to your system. The steps to disable
these services are outlined below..

Click Start and then Control Panel

Select Performance and Maintenance

Select System

Click the Remote tab and remove the check marks from the boxes labeled Allow
Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer and Allow
users to connect remotely to this computer


XP Tips & Tricks

Click Apply and then OK. Should you ever need to re-enable remote assistance, you’ll
know how

WINDOWS RUN COMMANDS
Sometimes it’s easier to get to a program or Windows XP utility by just entering a
command name. Sometimes it’s necessary. Below you’ll find a list of over 100 “run”
commands.

To execute one of these commands, click Start and select Run

Enter the command you want to run and click OK


XP Tips & Tricks

Program/Utility command

Accessibility Controls access.cpl
Add Hardware Wizard hdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools control admintools
Automatic Updates wuaucpl.cpl
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard fsquirt
Calculator calc
Certificate Manager certmgr.msc
Character Map charmap
Check Disk Utility chkdsk
Clipboard Viewer clipbrd
Command Prompt cmd
Component Services dcomcnfg
Computer Management compmgmt.msc
Device Manager devmgmt.msc
Direct X Control Panel (If Installed) directx.cpl
Direct X Troubleshooter dxdiag
Disk Cleanup Utility cleanmgr
Disk Defragment dfrg.msc
Disk Management diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager diskpart
Display Properties control desktop
Display Properties desk.cpl


XP Tips & Tricks

Display Properties (w/Appearance
control color
Tab Preselected)
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting
drwtsn32
Utility
Driver Verifier Utility verifier
Event Viewer eventvwr.msc
File Signature Verification Tool sigverif
Findfast findfast.cpl
Folders Properties control folders
Fonts control fonts
Fonts Folder fonts
Game Controllers joy.cpl
Group Policy Editor (XP Pro only) gpedit.msc
Iexpress Wizard iexpress
Indexing Service ciadv.msc
Internet Properties inetcpl.cpl
IP Configuration (Display Connection
ipconfig /all
Configuration)
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache ipconfig
Contents) /displaydns
IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache
ipconfig /flushdns
Contents)
IP Configuration (Release All
ipconfig /release
Connections)
IP Configuration (Renew All
ipconfig /renew
Connections)
IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & ipconfig
Re-Registers DNS) /registerdns
IP Configuration (Display DHCP ipconfig
Class ID) /showclassid
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP ipconfig
Class ID) /setclassid
Java Control Panel (If Installed) jpicpl32.cpl
Java Control Panel (If Installed) javaws


XP Tips & Tricks

Keyboard Properties control keyboard
Local Security Settings secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups lusrmgr.msc
Log Out Of Windows logoff
Microsoft Chat winchat
Mouse Properties control mouse
Mouse Properties main.cpl
control
Network Connections
netconnections
Network Connections ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard netsetup.cpl
Notepad notepad
Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed) nvtuicpl.cpl
Object Packager packager
ODBC Data Source Administrator odbccp32.cpl
On Screen Keyboard osk
Password Properties password.cpl
Performance Monitor perfmon.msc
Performance Monitor perfmon
Phone and Modem Options telephon.cpl
Power Configuration powercfg.cpl
Printers and Faxes control printers
Printers Folder printers
Private Character Editor eudcedit
Quicktime (If Installed) QuickTime.cpl
Regional Settings intl.cpl
Registry Editor regedit
Registry Editor regedit32
Remote Desktop mstsc
Removable Storage ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator
ntmsoprq.msc
Requests


XP Tips & Tricks

Resultant Set of Policy (XP Pro) rsop.msc
Scanners and Cameras sticpl.cpl
Scheduled Tasks control schedtasks
Security Center wscui.cpl
Services services.msc
Shared Folders fsmgmt.msc
Shuts Down Windows shutdown
Sounds and Audio mmsys.cpl
SQL Client Configuration cliconfg
System Configuration Editor sysedit
System Configuration Utility msconfig
System File Checker Utility (Scan
sfc /scannow
Immediately)
System File Checker Utility (Scan
sfc /scanonce
Once At Next Boot)
System File Checker Utility (Scan On
sfc /scanboot
Every Boot)
System File Checker Utility (Return to
sfc /revert
Default Setting)
System File Checker Utility (Purge
sfc /purgecache
File Cache)
System File Checker Utility (Set Cache
sfc /cachesize=x
Size to size x)
System Properties sysdm.cpl
Task Manager taskmgr
Telnet Client telnet
User Account Management nusrmgr.cpl
Utility Manager utilman
Windows Firewall firewall.cpl
Windows Magnifier magnify
Windows Management Infrastructure wmimgmt.msc
Windows System Security Tool syskey
Windows Update Launches wupdmgr


XP Tips & Tricks

Windows XP Tour Wizard tourstart
Wordpad write

HOW TO USE THE GROUP POLICY EDITOR
TO MANAGE LOCAL COMPUTER POLICY IN
WINDOWS XP
Summary: This article describes how to use the Group Policy Editor to change local
policy settings for the computer or for users of the computer.

Uses of Group Policy
In Microsoft Windows XP, you use Group Policy to define user and computer
configurations for groups of users and computers. You create a specific desktop
configuration for a particular group of users and computers by using the Group
Policy Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in. The Group Policy settings
that you create are contained in a Group Policy Object (GPO), which is in turn
associated with selected Active Directory containers, such as sites, domains, or
organizational units (OUs). With the Group Policy snap-in you can specify policy
settings for the following:

 Registry-based policies.
These include Group Policy for the Windows XP operating system and its
components and for programs. To manage these settings, use the
Administrative Templates node of the Group Policy snap-in.
 Security options.
These include options for local computer, domain, and network security
settings.
 Software installation and maintenance options.
These are used to centrally manage program installation, updates, and removal.
 Scripts options.
These include scripts for computer startup and shutdown, and user logon and
logoff.


XP Tips & Tricks

 Folder redirection options.
These allow administrators to redirect users' special folders to the network.
With Group Policy, you can define the state of users' work environment once and rely
on the system to enforce the policies that you define.

How to Start the Group Policy Editor
To start the group policy editor, follow these steps.

NOTE: You must be logged on to the computer using an account that has
administrator privileges in order to use Group Policy Editor.
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type mmc, and then click OK.
3. On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in.
4. Click Add.
5. Under Available Stand-alone Snap-ins, click Group Policy, and then click
Add.
6. If you do not want to edit the Local Computer policy, click Browse to locate
the group policy object that you want. Supply your user name and password if
prompted, and then when you return to the Select Group Policy Object
dialog box, click Finish.

NOTE: You can use the Browse button to locate group policy objects linked to
sites, domains, organizational units (OU), or computers. Use the default Group
Policy Object (GPO) (Local Computer) to edit the settings on the local computer.

7. Click Close, and then in the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, click OK.

The selected GPO is displayed in the Console Root.

How to Use the Group Policy Editor
The Group Policy snap-in contains the following major branches:
 Computer Configuration
Administrators can use Computer Configuration to set policies that are applied
to computer, regardless of who logs on to the computers. Computer
Configuration typically contains sub-items for software settings, Windows
settings, and administrative templates.


XP Tips & Tricks

 User Configuration
Administrators can use User Configuration to set policies that apply to users,
regardless of which computer they log on to. User Configuration typically
contains sub-items for software settings, Windows settings, and administrative
templates.

To use the group policy editor, follow these steps:
1. Expand the GPO that you want. For example, Local Computer Policy.
2. Expand the configuration item that you want. For example, Computer
Configuration.
3. Expand the sub-item that you want. For example, Windows Settings.
4. Navigate to the folder that contains the policy setting that you want. The policy
items are displayed in the right pane on the Group Policy Editor snap-in.

NOTE: If no policy is defined for the selected item, right-click the folder that
you want and then on the shortcut menu that appears, point to All Tasks, and
then click the command that you want. The commands that are displayed on
the All Tasks submenu are context sensitive. Only those commands that are
applicable to the selected policy folder appear on the menu.
5. In the Setting list, double-click the policy item that you want.

NOTE: When you work with policy items in the Administrative Templates
folder, click the Extended tab in the right pane of the MMC if you want to
view more information about the selected policy item.
6. Edit the settings of the policy in the dialog box that appears, and then click
OK.
7. When you are finished, quit the MMC.

Example
The following example illustrates the use of the Group Policy Editor to customize the
Windows XP user interface. In this example, we will use the Group Policy Editor to
temporarily remove the Turn Off Computer button from the Start menu. To do
this, follow these steps:
1. Start the Group Policy Editor and open the Local Computer policy by using
the steps provided in the How to Start the Group Policy Editor section of this
article.

NOTE: You can start the Group Policy Editor snap-in from the command


XP Tips & Tricks

line. This automatically loads the Local Computer GPO. To do this, follow
these steps:
a. Click Start, and then click Run.
b. In the Open box, type Gpedit.msc, and then click OK.
2. Expand User Configuration (if it is not already expanded).
3. Under User Configuration, expand Administrative Templates.
4. Click Start Menu and Taskbar.
5. In the right pane, double-click Remove and disable the Turn Off Computer
button.
6. Click Enabled, and then click Apply.
7. Click Start.

Notice that the Turn Off Computer button is no longer displayed.
8. Select the Remove and disable the Turn Off Computer button Properties
dialog box.
9. Click Not Configured, then click Apply, and then click OK.
10. Click Start.

Notice that the Turn Off Computer button is again displayed on the Start
menu.
11. Quit the Group Policy Editor snap-in.

REFERENCES
For additional information about using computer management in Microsoft Windows
XP, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:

For more information about the use of Group Policies, visit the following Microsoft
Web sites:
http://technet.microsoft.com/library/Bb742376.aspx

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/technologies/featured/gp/default
.mspx

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/Library/7b33dcd6-0ad2-44e8-
82f8-962425b6cf8e1033.mspx


XP Tips & Tricks

SHUT DOWN WINDOWS AT A SPECIFIC
TIME FROM THE COMMAND LINE
If you've ever wanted to shut down Windows at a particular time, you can do it easily
with the "at" command combined with the shutdown command. Just use the
following syntax, and the computer will shut down at 2pm. (it uses military time).

at 14:00 shutdown -s

HOW TO SECURE YOUR WIRELESS
NETWORK
Here are 5 quick steps to help you secure your wireless network from unauthorized
access. These steps are provided as general guidelines - for detailed help, please
contact your hardware vendor. See the bottom of this page for links to some common
wireless networking vendors.

1. Download the latest firmware for your device.
2. Change the administrator password.
3. Change your SSID and turn off SSID Broadcasting
4. Enable WPA
5. Limit access by MAC addresses

1. Download the latest firmware for your wireless router.

Firmware is software that’s embedded in a hardware device - in this case, your
wireless router. The firmware that comes with your wireless router or wireless access
point may be out of date. Download the latest firmware to ensure the best security
and performance.

As security vulnerabilities are discovered, patches to stop them are developed. These
patches are often included in firmware updates. If you’re using the default firmware
that came with your wireless router, there could be several known security holes that
could allow someone to hijack your Internet connection, view the files on each of
your networked computers and even steal passwords or credit card numbers.


XP Tips & Tricks

Most of today’s wireless routers allow for firmware updates, and the process is quite
simple. Check the web site for your wireless device manufacturer for instructions on
obtaining the latest firmware and how to install it.

2. Change the administrator password.
Your wireless router’s default password should be changed immediately. All wireless
routers are shipped with the same administrator user name and password. Changing
the user name and password is not only the most important change, it is the easiest. In
your wireless router’s configuration page, look for a link or setting titled “Admin.” If
you have any trouble changing this setting, check your wireless router’s user guide.

3. Change your SSID and turn of SSID Broadcasting
Your wireless router comes with a default SSID (Wireless network name), and one of
the first things you should do is change that SSID. By having a non-default SSID,
you’re making it harder for unauthorized connections to your network.
By allowing your SSID to broadcast, you make it easy to add additional devices to
your wireless network. However, you also make it easy for anyone with a wireless
device to gain access to your network. Leaving broadcasting on is a bit like leaving
your car keys in the ignition while you run into the store - you’re asking for trouble.
When you turn SSID broadcasting off, your wireless devices will have to be
configured with the exact SSID that you have specified in your wireless router.

4. Enable WPA
Most new wireless cards and routers support WPA or WPA2 wireless security. Go
with the one that you’re sure all of your hardware supports . WEP is no longer
considered a safe way to secure your data.

5. Limit access by MAC addresses
Every network card, both wired and wireless, has a unique address assigned to it from
the manufacturer. This identifier is called a MAC address. By setting your wireless
router to only allow connections from specific MAC addresses, you’re greatly
improving the security of your wireless network. For help figuring out what your
network card’s MAC address is, please see this FAQ. Once you know each of the
MAC addresses for your network cards, check the support Web site of your wireless
router manufacturer for instructions on using MAC address security.


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