Windows 9x --- Creating security policies & forcing users for login time passwords

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<u>Windows 9x</u>

Creating security policies

You can get a higher level of security with your Windows machine if you create user profiles on your PC. Go to Control Panel, double-click the Users option and follow the wizard to create a new user for your computer.

If you are using Windows 95, you have to select the Passwords option to go to the User Profiles tab. Enable 'Users can customise their preferences', and restart your computer. In the login window, type in your name and password, and Windows will prompt you to create a new profile.

Now, with user profiles created, you can use the System Policy Editor to restrict access to new users-or those who just hit the Cancel button at the login menu. Before using Policy Editor, backup your registry and other password files. Restart your computer, and at the login prompt, press Cancel-this represents a setting for an unauthorised user. Start the Policy Editor by typing 'poledit' in the Run menu. Go to File > Open Registry and double-click on Local Users. Check or uncheck the various options to restrict access by an unauthorised user. Click OK when you are finished.

Forcing users to enter password during login

Unlike Windows NT/2000/XP, the login window in Windows 9x/Me can be easily bypassed by pressing the [Esc] key or by clicking Cancel. So, it's possible that a third person who turns on your PC can gain access to your personal information. To prevent this from happening, first make sure that the user profiles are created and enabled for each user, and that the 'Include Start Menu and Program Groups in User Settings' option in the Control Panel is enabled for each user.

Reboot the PC in Safe Mode by hitting the [F8] key during Startup and choosing Safe Mode from the Boot Options. This is very important because if something goes wrong, you can always reboot your computer in the safe mode and rectify the problem.

Type regedit.exe in Start > Run. Find the following key in the Registry:

HKEY_USERS/Default/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run. In the right-hand pane, right-click and choose New String Values, and rename it as FixLogon. Finally, open the FixLogon entry you've just created (by double-clicking on the right-pane of the Registry Editor window) and specify the following command as its Value data: rundll.exe user.exe, EXITWINDOWS. Reboot your PC to save the changes. If you want to restore the old setting, delete this key.

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