Re: I need to password protect my pc at startup

I'm at a very small company... we have 8 people working in the office here.
I don't know that much about how to set up passwords or if using the log on
password is effective enough. I do not have that set up now. I am one of 3
owners here, almost everyone in the office has keys to get in here on
evenings and weekends. We are to small to have an IT person let alone a
department. So we are pretty much on our own. One person here is best with
pc's and does what she can to keep us up and running but doesn't seem to
know if the windows log on is secure enough to prevent other people on my
machine. I have several files password protected so users can not get into
those. However I suspect a co-owner getting nosey and poking around on my
machine.

Hopefully this has helped explain my concern. I have delicate files on my
machine that this other person has admitted getting into and reading. I
don't want them doing that again so I'd like to protect my machine when I am
not here. This person being an owner has access to my office as well with
keys so locking the door isn't going to do it.

I want to set it up with a password so that if the machine is off, they can
not get into it even if they can turn it on.

Thanks



"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uglYtBi0IHA.4772@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kat wrote:
I have XP Home on my PC at work. I need to protect my computer so
NO ONE else can get on to it. I know someone has been coming into
the office after hours and on weekends and reading my emails and
looking at files. Personal emails have been read and then marked
unread but when I click them typically the person sending has "send
a receipt" when opening emails and on Mondays I'm not getting that
message if I reply to an email and the sender again replies then I
do get that. Also when looking at properties on files it will say
when it was last accessed and it will be a time I was not at work.
So...
How do I make my computer secure?
Is using windows logon with a password secure enough so no one else
can get on my pc?
Is there a better way to protect my machine?

If someone has unrestricted physical access to your computer and time -
they can access everything on it. The only 'practical' exception may be
encrypted files/folders - as they *may* take years to get into using means
most would have access to. Beyond that...

I think you may be suspecting something that is not happening. You seem
to concentrate around email specifically - which to me implies that the
security breach may have nothing to do with the local computer. Email
goes through servers - and depending on what type of server your company
uses - someone could easily get access to your email account from anywhere
given the right resources and ingenuity. As for the file 'access'
stamps - are these locally stored files or are they stored on a remote
server share?

You can 'somewhat' secure the system from most. There is ways around
everything, however. New lock - custodial staff likely can still get in -
as well as other people. New password(s)? The IT Staff likely still has
full access to your computer remotely and your email without even knowing
your password.

Of course - if this is *not* your computer and is your company's computer
and the IT staff is not involved in fixing this with you - some of this
may be against policy and get you in trouble...

1) Lock your office. The first rule of computing security measures is
physical security. Without physical security - just about everything else
can be overcome. If you think your cuyrrent lock will not stop them - ask
to have the lock changed.

2) Change all your passwords. I recommend passwords that are 15
characters or longer. Hopefully you don't have any limitations in length
(other than 'has to be at least x characters...) Something you can
remember - but not obvious. Making up a phrase and then
abbreviating/putting in numbers and symbols is a good method. Like..
"Stop hacking into my computer!" could turn into
"5topH4ckingInt0MyC0mp!"...

3) You could set a BIOS password and change the boot method so that it
boots only from the hard disk drive (no other methods.) How to get into
your BIOS and such would differ per machine - but most tell you when
powering on the first time what key(s) to press to get into the
BIOS/System Setup and once there - setting a password to boot the computer
and/or change BIOS settings should be easy enough to find. If you set it
so that it won't even start to boot without the password - this is
actually your best protection (in your case) as the 'casual' hacker will
not likely be able to get past this and the better hacker would - but
covering their tracks would be almost impossible - you'd *know* someone
came in and did something. Some others might just take the drive out and
boot in a similar/exact other machine - then put it back when done - but
they'd have to REALLY want whatever you have on that machine. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html



.

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