I understand now. What a nightmare.

Post #247,558 by Another Scott 3/11/06 8:46:00 AM Reply	I understand now. What a nightmare. I'm glad I haven't had to go through anything like that. Yet. It sounds like there's a market for Aaxnet's *Fort Knox* - A collection of tools to disinfect, lock-down and guard your Winders so nasties can't break in and steal your gold. I'll keep looking around - I agree that someone should have come up with some scripts on how to do these things in a reasonably automated way. I'll let you know if I find anything. Otherwise, pick Andrew's brain. :-) Oh, before I go: Meanwhile - I'm experimenting on the notebook (now undergoing a second repartitioning - to see if.. once merely partitioned -still NTFS- but Not reformatted via fdisk: my assigned Extended Partition space (for dual-boot, natch) shall not be auto-wiped by the single-minded Restore set / on This try. I don't think you'll be successful. I have a T41 that has XP restore disks. When it was shipped, it came with a FAT32 partition. When the laptop is started for the first time [link\|http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/answers/Hardware/Installing_SuSE_9_0_to_dual_boot_on_an_IBM_ThinkPad_T41_with_XP\|it runs a script] that converts the partition to NTFS, installs XP, creates the system "pre-desktop" restore partition, etc. It's a pain for people who want to run Linux on it because you need to figure out a way to keep that script from running if you want to keep the Win partition FAT32 (so it can be resized by most Linux distros without incident) and keep the pre-desktop partition (if you don't have the restore CDs - though they can be requested from IBM). If you ever run the XP system restore stuff from the pre-desktop partition on the disk, it'll restore everything to the state after that first boot - meaning all of the partitions will be reset to the original configuration, wiping out Linux, etc., in the process. At least that's my understanding - I've never done it. If it works differently for you, please report back. :-) Cheers, Scott.
Post #247,601 by Another Scott 3/11/06 9:15:29 PM Reply	A good checklist for securing XP. [link\|http://www.techbargains.com/hottips/hottip13/index.cfm\|TechBargains] has a good hyperlinked list of things to do to secure XP. Microsoft has some articles on doing a "lockdown" of user accounts, but it doesn't seem to have anything comparable for limiting internet access (other than XP's limited firewall, of course). HTH. Cheers, Scott.
Post #247,605 by Ashton 3/11/06 9:50:44 PM Reply	Interim report.. I had partitioned a 60 GB (Notebook! HD) with Primary 20 GB "C:" Extended Partition: 20 GB (Assigned one logical drive for now, D:) ..this left ~18 GB of free space at end. I thought Restore disk - in worst case, anticipating presentation of a blank new HD - could complete the format choice, not needing Any format applied within partitions (as would, of course be converted to HPFS in due course.) Nope. Brain-dead Restore disk had No Idea what to do with such a disk (as would be the case had I indeed a merely low-level formatted new HD..) Formatted C: and D: - FAT-32 as is fdisk's only repertoire (Jeez that's OLD) Nope; can't find a disk (!! cretin) Remove Swiss-army-knife XP-boot disk; add mine with sys.com Sys the sucker - yup, transferred; IT could find a drive. fdisk / mbr just because - exits with no error. ie a Home User had best have a toolkit, know basic DOS - to replace that hP hard drive. NOW ... Ex Pee 'Restore' notices a disk and the partitions. Wants me to select Something to do with the free space; figure it can't hurt (?) to tell it to go ahead and assign it a partition/logical drive. [Hah.. some of us never learn] Reinstall completes with the tedious necessary evasions of "Unknown User" and "no thanks, don't start that Wizard" Runs; replace the Garish with 'Classic' face and go to put a Shortcut to file manager on desktop. W.T.F. - Not. Much. There on C: The Artificial Dumbth Algortithm - decided to put most-all of the install on F: (ALL those bloated files with an F:\\ in their absolute address!) [Space reserved for any foreign epithets naming syphilitic camels, their ancestors and coprophilic activities] So then, a couple things emerge re THIS Restore disk (not quite as you described re IBM) 1) Yes you Can force it to recognize a Primary Active Partition. (Am not sure that above would apply to prior -Home Restore disks on a second try with more details in other partitions.. Hope not to learn this piece of trivia the hard way, either.) I am using [\ufffd] ""Professional"" on this RRR, from the later notebook: it's all for Science, natch. 2) And yes, I presumed from previous sagas - not only Must Doze be installed first, recognizing as it does: no other software exists. Implict was that, with the in-bed Corporate Marketing relationships of mfg. - so would the Restore faux-OS versions insure that, if your Doze stuff dies beyond even zIWE-grade resurrection: you buy a Retail package / or prepare to reinstall the entire HD. Am I right sir, am I right? Breakfast with crocodiles.. when you put this stuff on innocent magnetic materials. [\ufffd] As likely all here know - while ""Prof"" contains yet more layers of Enterprise, AD-ready Group management gobbledygook, all mixed in with the Useful pieces: there are at least a few more things you Can turn off, that demand Registry hacks in the intentionally crippled -Home. ie [Give the people needing the Most protection: The Least / Pure Redmond (or, pure Cheney?) And leave them fewer security tools, even after they find out w2hat the out-of-box Experience: just cost them.] I shall rely upon modularization of the AD-related infestation by XP-Lite\ufffd tp greatly assist in the vacuum cleaning of this Monstrous kluge. So then next: Wipe, leave the F: drive in that partition. See if I can get the sucker to leave F alone, as it did D (CDROM == E, as would have been changed) Geronimo . . .

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