How to Make Your Windows 7 Security Attain a Yet Higher Level

Compared with old operating systems, we can well say Windows 7 security is much higher. It, however, doesn’t mean you have nothing to worry about, for quite a few security functions of Windows 7 are disabled or not properly set by default. We should enable these functions and configure properly to make them do as they can. In that way, the Windows 7 security can attain a yet higher level.

• Make good use of BitLocker to protect your privacy on disks

As removable media become more and more popular, it has been a most concerned issue of protecting data on them. To meet security demand mobile storage device encryption is added to Windows 7----new BitLocker, actually. The old BitLocker only functions on systemic disk, and it’s hard to go through the settings process. Windows 7, on the other hand, has overcome the shortcoming. We can easily set BitLocker on Windows 7 to encrypt USB and flash memory devices. Even if we lost our mobile storage devices some day, we don’t need to worry about privacy data disclosure.

To turn on BitLocker on Windows 7, we can click Start, click Control Panel, click System and Security, and then click BitLocker Drive Encryption to enter drive list.

Select drives you want to protect and click Turn On BitLocker and set decryption key. From then on the drive is encrypted and decryption key is needed to access the drive. If without the key, then no one can peek the data and privacy within.

• Make good use of antivirus software to guarantee Windows 7 security

Microsoft provides free antivirus software MSE, but it’s not come with Windows 7 when the system is installed. You have to download it from Microsoft’s website. Though MSE as comprehensive antivirus software has just come to the forefront not for long and it’s challenged by many other sophisticated products, one fact lies here that no one else can know more about Windows 7 and Windows 7 security as well. This one plus its free policy make it more competitive. Equipping with antivirus is a most important step in computer security protection.

As the computer technology develops rapidly, various threats come along as well. Stubborn trojan, spyware and other malware make traditional antivirus software no longer enough. And then relevant solutions come into being. Like we have free and charged antivirus to choose, there are also charged special security utilities as well as free spyware removal, trojan removal and a series malware removal software. Choose the right one, the free can do as well as the charged, too, if not better than.

• Make good use of software restriction policies to avoid vulnerabilities being abused

I believe many users download patches to fix vulnerabilities regularly via Automatic Updates to avoid system vulnerabilities being used by hackers, and this is good habit. However, only Windows vulnerabilities can be fixed in this way but other software’s is left unfixed. To prevent software vulnerabilities from being abused we can make clever configuration on Windows 7 software restriction policies to restrict software containing bugs to network connection so that they won’t be used by hackers via network. Follow the steps to make restrictions.

Click Start, Run, and type gpedit.msc to enter Group Policy window.

Then unfold Computer Configuration/Windows Settings/Security Settings/Software Restriction Policies. Right click Software Restriction Policies and click Create New Policies. Next double click Enforcement in the right windows and check All users except local administrators under Apply software restriction policies to the following users, apply and confirm.

After that right click Additional Rules at the same window as Enforcement, and choose New Path Rule. Browse and add applications that contain bugs, and shift Security to Disallowed. Finally, software vulnerabilities can’t be used to attack our Windows 7 by hackers any more.

• Make good use of UAC to raise Windows 7 security level

UAC is not newborn thing on Windows 7, but compared with what are on Vista and Windows 2008, it has been improved much on the new system. It’s far smarter in distinguishing illegal and legal operations now, and we can set its security level freely according to our actual need, ensuring working efficiency and security both to the largest extent.

We recommend UAC is set at Always notify to ensure a steady system. And as is said above UAC on Windows 7 is smarter; even if it’s at Always notify it alerts much less than Vista.

• Make good use of SmartScreen Filter to defend malicious web attack

Nowadays quite a few websites have malicious controls and virus code hidden behind. Once you visit these sites and you will be attacked by the controls and codes, leading to virus infection, or local drives formatted. To prevent this, the new IE browser on Windows 7 has SmartScreen Filter added. When it is enabled, the local IE browser will be connected to Microsoft’s website data base in order to verify whether the target site you want to visit is safe or not, and thus the possibility of being attacked is reduced to the least. To enable SmartScreen Filter, you can click tools on IE, choose SmartScreen Filter from the pull-down menu and open it in the sub menu.

Later when you visit websites that contain malicious factors or disguise as normal sites SmartScreen is going to give alerts to us.

7 Things to Know About Windows 7

Originally by Lamont Wood, Special to TopTenREVIEWS
Posted: 01 November 2009 10:58 am ET

The latest version of Microsoft Windows — Windows 7 — is now on the market. So if you're like the average PC user, it's fated to become a factor in your life. Here are seven things to keep in mind about it.

1. It's really a "maintenance release."

Basically, it's Microsoft Vista with accumulated fixes and performance enhancements. That's a good thing, since there's no dramatic break with the past to cause festering compatibility issues, and no steep learning curve for the users. Compared to Vista, Windows 7 does better running on low-performance machines like netbooks. It boots and shuts down faster — but that's less of an issue since its sleep mode is reliable, letting you shut down in two seconds and restart in two seconds. With Vista, desktops often refused to go into sleep mode, or would restart randomly from sleep mode, noted PC industry watcher Rob Enderle, principal analyst the Enderle Group in San Jose, CA.

2. It's more secure.

A new release always is, since the malware writers haven't had time to pick at it for weaknesses, and there are too few installations to amount to a worthwhile target. They'll get around to Windows 7, although its built-in antivirus facility has been well-reviewed. In the meantime, malware's favorite target is the older Windows XP. Anyway, the bad guys are turning more and more to phishing, where they dupe users into spilling their personal information on the pretext of "restoring" their "suspended" online bank accounts. Technology is not much help there.

As it is mentioned, although the built-in antivirus facility on Windows 7 is kind of good, it’s far away from enough. No single antivirus utility is able to be invincible. There is always this or that kind of virus and spyware breaking through the defense, so it’s necessary to have some principal antivirus and some specialized security utilities to maximize system security level. There are many utilities of this kind and if one happens to be a free one, and then that would be nice. Here a free spyware removal utility is recommended.

3. There is new stuff.

While most of the news concerns performance, the desktop and taskbar have been given enhancements that should make it easier to invoke specific applications and documents. The reviled User Account Control, which warned Vista users any time any application did anything to the system, has been given settings to make it less annoying. And, yes, Internet Spades, Backgammon, and Checkers, which had been dropped in Vista, are back. The enhanced Search facility, meanwhile, is now actually useful. For future expansion, Windows 7 makes better use of multiple cores, and includes handwriting recognition.

4. Pick the right version.

There are two retail versions: Home and Professional. The Pro version has a feature called Active Directory, which lets it be assigned an address and privileges in a corporate network. It is of no interest to a home or small business user. The Home version can also be found in a family pack that can upgrade three PCs. (Strictly speaking, there is also a third version called Ultimate, of interest only to software developers.)

5. If it ain't broke, don’t fix it.

If you are happy with Vista, there is little reason to upgrade to Windows 7, cautioned Enderle. If you are annoyed with Vista, Windows 7 should help. If you are running Windows XP, upgrading may make sense if your hardware is less than two years old. Otherwise, you are better off getting a new machine, with Windows 7 pre-installed, he advised.

6. If it's broke, do fix it — correctly.

If you're upgrading with the retail package, you can use either the clean (also called custom) or the in-place installation method. The first will wipe the disk clean and you'll need to re-install your applications. (It keeps your data intact. You did back up, of course.) The second performs the installation with your applications in place. The second is easier, but the first will remove any malware, broken drivers, and other evidence of the hard life your computer's been living, Enderle said. It's also the only method available when upgrading from Windows XP. Even easier is to buy a new machine with Windows 7 pre-installed.

7. Resistance is irrelevant.

Among Internet users, 93 percent use some version of Microsoft Windows, and that is not going to change dramatically in the near future. You can assume that all future PC software worth mentioning will be written for Windows 7, and new PCs will be shipped with it. The alternative is to go with the Apple Mac, Linux, or something esoteric.