WindowsXP SP2 dissected . . .

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DJGM
Posts: 528
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 15.39
Location: Manchester
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I've just read a fascinating insight into how Windows XP Service Pack 2 supposedly tightens up
the security levels of the average home PC running Windows XP. It seems that XPSP2 doesn't
really do much to improve the overall security of an average install of Windows XP after all.
WinXP SP2 = security placebo?

By Thomas C Greene
Published Thursday 2nd September 2004 10:48 GMT

Reg Review: We evaluated the security features of Windows XP SP2 on a test
machine, following a clean install of XP Pro with no configuration changes and
no 3rd-party software or drivers installed. We installed XP with the NTFS file
system, choosing all of the factory defaults, then patched it with each rec-
ommended security update including SP1 (required), before installing SP2.

While we found that there are indeed a few minor improvements worthy
of acknowledgment, in particular, some rather low-level improvements
that don't show to the admin or user, overall, SP2 did little to improve
our system's practical security, leaving too many services and net-
working components enabled, bungling permissions, leaving IE
and OE vulnerable to malicious scripts, and installing a packet
filter that lacks a capacity for egress filtering.
Go here to read the lengthy report in full at TheRegister.co.uk . . .
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Chris
Posts: 845
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 19.03
Location: Surrey

What's with all the extra carriage returns in your post? :?
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Dr Lobster*
Posts: 2123
Joined: Sat 30 Aug, 2003 20.14

that's the thing with windows xp - it can be very secure... just not by default

i'd love to be able to use my machine as a 'user', not power user or administration, but the problem is that many applications fail when run like this (even now... you kind of expect it with old apps, but many new software titles fail to operate as a limited user - indeed, several printer and scanner drivers which carry the 'designed for windows xp' badge fail if the user is not logged in as, at minimum, a power user.
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cwathen
Posts: 1333
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 17.28

On SP2 I've noticed a little bug, a lot of the drop down menus in Windows explorer are now 'squished' so that the full text doesn't fit on properly. Please tell me that I'm not the only one experiencing this?
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Neil Jones
Posts: 661
Joined: Thu 11 Sep, 2003 20.03
Location: West Midlands

cwathen wrote:On SP2 I've noticed a little bug, a lot of the drop down menus in Windows explorer are now 'squished' so that the full text doesn't fit on properly. Please tell me that I'm not the only one experiencing this?
Mine's okay...

Screenshot?
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cwathen
Posts: 1333
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 17.28

Neil Jones wrote:
cwathen wrote:On SP2 I've noticed a little bug, a lot of the drop down menus in Windows explorer are now 'squished' so that the full text doesn't fit on properly. Please tell me that I'm not the only one experiencing this?
Mine's okay...

Screenshot?
Screen shot below. It shows firstly menu options being cut off, and secondly the menu bar itself suffering from the same problem. This didn't happen before I installed SP2, and I haven't installed anything else with it that could cause this to happen.
Image
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Neil Jones
Posts: 661
Joined: Thu 11 Sep, 2003 20.03
Location: West Midlands

Hmm, tried changing out of the default skin (to the classic theme) and seeing if it still happens then? If not, change back to the Windows XP default skin and see if it happens again.
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