Windows XP: Reloaded

Posted on By Mark Wilson
This content is 20 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

Contrary to much media confusion in recent months, Windows XP Reloaded is the codename for a marketing campaign that is running throughout the autumn of 2004, aimed at renewing consumer interest in Windows XP, now three years old and not due to be replaced until at least 2006. More information about the XP reloaded program is available on the SuperSite for Windows website.

According to the Windows IT Pro magazine network WinInfo Daily Update, there will be no “Windows XP SE” and the next Windows releases will be:

  • Windows 2000 SP5 (although this will be minor and certainly won’t have the same attention to security detail as XP SP2 did).
  • Windows Server 2003 SP1.
  • Windows Server 2003 release 2 (R2) – the next interim Windows server release.
  • Windows 2006 (codenamed Longhorn) – the next client release.

A more extensive list of upcoming Windows product releases is available on the SuperSite for Windows.

Application issues with Windows XP SP2

Posted on By Mark Wilson
This content is 20 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

In an earlier post, I defended Windows XP service pack 2 against the negative publicity it has gained and that opinion still stands – SP2 is a critical update with benefits far outweighing risks in today’s ever more security-conscious environment.

I also stand by my comments that SP2 should be thought of as an operating system upgrade and tested accordingly but one of the key tools that would assist the testing process is still missing. I can see no defence for the time that it is taking to ship an updated application compatibility toolkit (including the Windows application verifier) and whilst the current version (3.0) is available for download, it does not take into account the major operating system changes made in XP SP2.

In the meantime, Microsoft knowledge base article 884130 gives details of programs that are known to experience a loss of functionality when they run on a Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer.

OWA and Windows XP SP2

Posted on By Mark Wilson
This content is 20 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

If, like me, you use Outlook Web Access (OWA) to access e-mail from a client site, you may experience some issues with the Internet Explorer popup blocker in Windows XP SP2. To be honest, I’ve not found it a major concern as I added all the key servers at my company’s domain name to the trusted sites zone, but if that is not an option (e.g. due to policy restrictions in place), you may have to find a workaround. A few weeks back, the Windows IT Pro magazine network Exchange and Outlook Update ran an article on OWA and XP SP2 and Microsoft knowledge base article 883575 gives further information.

Windows XP SP2 support tools

Posted on By Mark Wilson
This content is 20 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

The support tools for Microsoft Windows XP are intended for use by support personnel and experienced users to assist in diagnosing and resolving computer problems. They are found in the \support\tools folder on the Windows XP installation CD. With the release of Windows XP service pack 2, some of these tools have been updated. Full details may be found on the Microsoft website.

Microsoft advice on antivirus technologies

Posted on By Mark Wilson
This content is 20 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

Back in June 2004, I wrote about Microsoft’s introduction to viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. A more detailed document is the Antivirus Defense-in-Depth Guide, which has recently been updated to include the new technologies introduced in Windows XP service pack 2.

Should you run the Windows Firewall, a third party firewall, or both?

Posted on By Mark Wilson
This content is 20 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

“Which firewall should I use?” – it’s an interesting question. Microsoft are positioning the Windows Firewall (part of Windows XP service pack 2) as a major leap forward in terms of network protection, and it is; but there are many good third-party firewall products out there. Should you use the Windows Firewall? Should you use your third-party product? Should you use both?

According to the Windows IT Pro magazine network (formerly the Windows and .NET magazine network) Windows Tips and Tricks Update, Microsoft issued the following statement in response to such questions from their customer base:

“We strongly recommend that users run only one host firewall on their system. Yes, the XP SP2 Windows Firewall can coexist with third-party firewalls, but multiple firewalls don’t make you safer. Running multiple firewalls just means you have to configure the settings in multiple places (e.g., opening ports for each firewall you run). For anyone who wants to keep using a third-party firewall after installing XP SP2 – for example, because they like some of the extra features – we suggest they turn off the Windows Firewall. We have already advised third-party firewall vendors to programmatically turn off the Windows Firewall in their future releases, so this will eventually be automatic.

We don’t have any specific guidance as to whether people should use the built-in XP SP2 Windows Firewall or use a third-party product. We absolutely believe that people who don’t already have host firewalls should run the Windows Firewall in XP SP2. Almost all firewalls on the market (including the Windows Firewall) provide good security; it then boils down to what features and capabilities people want. The Windows Firewall, for example, doesn’t do any alerting or intrusion detection. Neither does it offer outbound filtering capabilities. The Windows Firewall focuses on preventing attacks from successfully penetrating a system, but it doesn’t do anything to protect systems once bad software is locally installed. Some other products also have better diagnostics and centralized reporting than the Windows Firewall (which has no reporting whatsoever). I don’t believe people are “safer” running third-party firewalls, but there may be some features in these products that they would like to have.”

Whatever the answer, in today’s climate, and in line with the security principle of defence in depth, we should all seriously consider the use of a firewall on all PCs, and the Windows Firewall is a good starting point.

Using group policy objects to hide specified drives in My Computer

Posted on By Mark Wilson
This content is 20 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

Whilst locking down the Windows XP desktop using an Active Directory group policy object, I needed to prevent access to certain drive letters that didn’t fall within the default settings. Microsoft knowledge base article 231289 details the process for editing the system.adm file to provide more control over access to particular drives.

I chose to write my own .adm file with just the relevant settings (although it fails to load in the same policy as system.adm, due to duplicate definitions, so needs to be applied through a separate policy).

Script to disable password expiry for local Windows accounts

Posted on By Mark Wilson
This content is 20 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

One of the shortcomings of the net user command in Windows is the inability to set the password never expires flag on an account (account expiry options can be set, but not password expiry and the full syntax is described in Microsoft knowledge base article 251394).

There are 13 flags on an NT SAM/Active Directory user account which may be manipulated using VBScript (for further details of the 13 flags, see Microsoft’s sample scripts or there is some useful information about the object model at the Motobit Software website).

This script can be used to set the password never expires flag on a specified account. I’ve tested it against the local SAM database on a Windows XP PC, but in theory it should work on all versions of Windows NT (2000, XP, 2003 Server, etc.) and also against Active Directory accounts if you run it on a domain controller.

Command line alternative to the Windows device manager

Posted on By Mark Wilson
This content is 20 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

One of the Microsoft consultants that I have been working with sent me a link to a handy tool today – devcon.exe is a command line alternative to the Windows device manager and full details (including a download link) may be found in Microsoft knowledge base article 311272.

Bluetooth Drivers for Dell TrueMobile 300

Posted on By Mark Wilson
This content is 20 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

Following my previous post about the trouble I have had getting the Bluetooth hardware in my Dell Latitude D600 repaired, I then had to reinstall the Dell TrueMobile 300 Bluetooth driver. During the three week wait to get the hardware repaired, I had installed Windows XP SP2 and as Stuart Preston reported on his blog, the Dell drivers do not function correctly under SP2, resulting in a requirement to use the native Microsoft drivers (which are less functional).

A hunt around the Dell Community Forum revealed many unhappy users (bizarrely mostly blaming Microsoft for releasing SP2!), but no real solution until a Google search came up with Dell support document FA1090448 (a search of the Dell website had failed to locate this), pointing to an updated driver that seems to fix the problem.