Securing My Computer For Houseguests

[tracydani]

I will be having people in my house for a few hours at a time when I am not home. I would like for them to have access to my computer, but do not know them well enough to explain all the p2p software and files I have borrowed from others on the net.

I would like to set up a user account so they can surf the web but cannot see what programs I have or what files are on my other drives. I know I can encrypt and make them need to log on in order to see those files, but is there a better way? I lost 90+ gigs due to encrypting and don't wanna go through that right now.

I am using XP Pro and have 2 hard drives. The main drive is partitioned so my OS is on it as well as my main programs. I then transfer everything to the other drives or have them dl to them automatically.

Can I set up a user that will only allow then to see certain programs/folders etc. Or do I actually need to create a partition and have an OS set up for them to use that is separate from everything else?

Thanks for any ideas.

TD

[Storm]

make a user account...... make this user a member of the "guests" group (rightclick on my computer, en chose "manage")

click "local users and groups"
click "users"
now rightclick on the user and hit properties
goto the "member off tab"
add->advanced->find now-> guest->ok->ok-ok

now goto the hard drive you dont want them to see

click properites, and goto the security tab
now add the line with guest, and DENY them the ability to view the disks.......

[tracydani]

Thanks. I just tried it and at the step "goto the "member off tab"" I got the message "The server service is not started"

Need to figure that out, but this will be a great help :D

TD

[Storm]

have you been "messing around" with the services?? :lol:

if so, goto blackvipers site (http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm) for info on them.....

[chinook_apache]

you could go as far as using manual registry tweaks for the users account. i have plenty of registry tweaks which can be used to edit the accounts ntuser.dat. this will restrict loads of stuff including access to the HDD, control panel and how the start menu looks.

email me if you want the spreadsheet with the hundreds of tweaks.

you should have knowledge on how to edit the user accounts registry. if not this site will explain how to input the registery tweaks:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_adv_reg_editing.htm

edit i think this program will go with what you what doing, its simple!

Security Console (http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm)

[shn]

It's not good idea to have the guest account enabled in Windows. I would disable it if I were you.

[sparsely]

I lost 90+ gigs due to encrypting and don't wanna go through that right now.

How so?

Just create a new generic, password-protected, limited-user account and set the permissions as Storm said above.

and shn I love the sig :lol:

[tesco]

Originally posted by Sparsely@19 July 2004 - 18:56
and shn I love the sig :lol:
ya? what does it mean. :blink:

[shn]

You could also use something like Cryptainer LE. It sets up a whole seperate drive and you can drag and drop your files in it. You need a password to access whatever files you place in the encypted drive. It's completely free but the free version only allows 20 meg encrypted drives. Much easier to manage than xp's file and folder encryption.

The full version can hold a lot more data.

http://www.cypherix.com/

[Storm]

Originally posted by shn@20 July 2004 - 00:09
It's not good idea to have the guest account enabled in Windows. I would disable it if I were you.
i never said to enable the guest account.......

read again, i told to create a user that is a member of the guests GROUP........

besides, the only reason it isnt a good idea to have a guest account is because it isnt password protected....... if you dont password protect you normal users accounts, you're just as insecure........

[shn]

Originally posted by Storm+19 July 2004 - 20:44--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Storm @ 19 July 2004 - 20:44)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-shn@20 July 2004 - 00:09
It&#39;s not good idea to have the guest account enabled in Windows.&nbsp; I would disable it if I were you.
i never said to enable the guest account.......

read again, i told to create a user that is a member of the guests GROUP........

besides, the only reason it isnt a good idea to have a guest account is because it isnt password protected....... if you dont password protect you normal users accounts, you&#39;re just as insecure........ [/b][/quote]
I don&#39;t think I ever said you did.

[Storm]

Originally posted by shn+20 July 2004 - 03:59--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (shn &#064; 20 July 2004 - 03:59)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Originally posted by Storm@19 July 2004 - 20:44
<!--QuoteBegin-shn@20 July 2004 - 00:09
It&#39;s not good idea to have the guest account enabled in Windows.&nbsp; I would disable it if I were you.
i never said to enable the guest account.......

read again, i told to create a user that is a member of the guests GROUP........

besides, the only reason it isnt a good idea to have a guest account is because it isnt password protected....... if you dont password protect you normal users accounts, you&#39;re just as insecure........
I don&#39;t think I ever said you did.[/b][/quote]
I dont think i ever said you did

[lynx]

I don&#39;t think

[shn]

Originally posted by lynx@21 July 2004 - 08:28
I don&#39;t think
Gosh darnit I hate it when I do that on public discussion boards at 5:00 oclock in the morning half sleep with raunchy morning breathe.

Gee and you would think with over 54 college credit hours and still going strong that I could avoid mishaps like that.

I dont think I&#39;ll ever do that again. :rolleyes:

Btw lynx I&#39;m not coming down on ya. I just hate when people correct other people, even it&#39;s not me. :)