eversman

as i said above, i already use WPA2 with a very large, very random key. a Point is, defense in depth. ev

i beleive in defense in depth. i have it set so only the mac addresses of the puters on the network will be accepted. i have WPA2 Corporate, enabled, with a pretty big and very random key. Got the NAT firewall setup, too. also got SSID turned off. All sensitive data that goes through the network here at home gets passed in an encrypted form. Im a big fan of PGP. I think thats a good start. if anyone has any other ideas, shoot. also, thank you for the information on the Mac address spoofing. didnt realize you could do that. thank you all for the heads up. this has definitely been an interesting thread. i like the debate thats gone on in this thread, i think its important to discuss this, even this passionately, and all ideas this way. its healthy and we all benefit from it. thanks, all. ev

i didnt know mac filters could be spoofed. can anyone elaborate on that? thats a security risk id like to know more about, as i use it as one of the primary defenses in my network. also, can you get mcafee wireless protection suite as a standalone product? ev

i have the cable internet service through them. heres a look at my speeds. bear in mind im also wireless. :::.. Download Stats ..::: Download Connection is:: 6828 Kbps about 6.8 Mbps (tested with 5983 kB) Download Speed is:: 833 kB/s Tested From:: https://testmy.net/ (Main) Test Time:: 2007/10/10 - 10:20pm Bottom Line:: 119X faster than 56K 1MB Download in 1.23 sec Tested from a 5983 kB file and took 7.179 seconds to complete Download Diagnosis:: Awesome! 20% + : 51.73 % faster than the average for host (mchsi.com) D-Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-QJN2F8OSX User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.8.1.7) Gecko/20070914 Firefox/2.0.0.7 [!]

I have that same laptop, actually. when i installed vista, i updated to HP's driver for the touchpad. its made by synaptics by the way. the new driver is GARBAGE. ruined the ability to use it. go back and get the XP driver for the touchpad and install it, it is compatible with Vista actually, and works a lot better. ev

http://www.windowsvistamagazine.com/US/05582469248596696351/use-any-usb-stick-to-readyboost-your-computer.html Use any USB stick to ReadyBoost your computer Comments (57) | E-mail | Print Click once to vote this item up the content rankings 61 Votes | Click to indicate that you'd like to hear less from this author | What's this? Got a USB stick that Windows Vista doesn't want to use for memory? Read how to use it anyway. By chris on Thursday, March 22, 2007 Sooner or later, everyone's computer tends to slow down. Call it old age or simply doing too much, but even the most cutting edge PC's seem to lag after a year or so of use. For those who aren't keen on opening up their PC to put in more memory, Windows Vista has a handy little feature called ReadyBoost that can use USB sticks for additional memory. Unfortunately, Windows Vista doesn't take kindly to the slower sticks on the market and refuses to use them. Proving once again that we control the computer and not the other way around, here's four simple steps to get around this limitation and use any USB stick you have to increase your computers memory. 1. Setup Properties of a USB stick First things first. Plug the device in. Ignore AutoPlay if you have the enabled, and go to Computer in the start menu. When it pops up, right-click the USB stick and select properties. 2. Disable the stick Disabling the stick Click on the Readyboost tab on the properties menu and check Do not restest this device. Click okay and unplug the stick from your computer. 3. Edit the registry! Editing the registry Woah! Don't panic, it's not as frightening as it sounds. Firstly, you need to open regedit, by opening the start menu and typing regedit, then enter. The registry window should load up. Using the left-hand pane, work your way through the following folders: HKLM (Local Machine) -> SOFTWARE -> Microsoft -> Windows NT -> CurrentVersion -> EMDgmt. You'll have a list of USB devices the computer has encountered, one of which should be your USB stick. Click on it. Here there's a few details you need to edit. Double click on Device Status and change the value to 2, then ok. Do the same for ReadSpeedKBs and WriteSpeedKBs, changing their values to both 1000. Exit the regedit and breathe a sigh of relief. 4. And back in again Putting the stick back in again Now all that's left to do is put the stick back in and once again go to the device properties (Computer > Right-click on drive). If you look under the Readyboost Tab, you'll be able to now select Use this device. Success! Now enjoy your faster PC.

OK, just tried that and........ THAT IS HELLA COOL!!!!! good job guys!!!! Way to go, Distrubed!!! ev

Acquire a copy of Norton Ghost 12 (earlier versions not compatible with Vista) or Acronis True Image. those are the very best for making Mirror Images of your disc. thats what id do, and its what i actually did. i bought a duplicate hard drive to the one in my laptop, and used Acronis to copy it over to the new one, which is my spare. Now that i have Vista Ultimate, i use the complete pc backup function but before i had Ultimate, i used Acronis. both programs are really awesome. you can back up to a disk, a usb or DVD set. ev

in a perfect world not losing the laptop would be ideal. thats imperfect for people who travel with it. so, you pull out every card you have to TRY to keep it safe. its better than nothing, and its that simple. because, frankly, you might get lucky. and if theres a slim chance it CAN be recovered, HOWEVER slight it might be, dont you think its worth playing that card? or would you rather just decide to replace it and not even try? ev

Yeah, but just how many laptop theives are smart enough to do that? not the majority of em. plain and simple MOST of em are headed right to the pawn shop and MOST of the laptops bought from there are by people who DONT look for that, which is why lojack is a good idea. and thats an AWFUL lot more trouble than your average theif is gonna go to, swimmer. And with all that said, i think these are still the best solutions for protecting your investment. if you guys and gals dont like em much, you dont have to use em. They are imperfect solutions to a nearly impossible problem, but they are the best you have, take em or leave em. up to you. ev

that would work for data, but the prob with lojack is it installs into bios too. wipe the drive, and it simply regenerates teh files the next time you boot. and if you have a bios password......so no matter what the thing is still gonna fone home. ev

Not with PGP you dont have access. Try PGP Whole Disk Encryption, and see if that works. ev

Laptop Security.... Recently, a member of a different forum with the screen name of Dynamike had his laptop stolen. wanting to help others avoid the same fate, and trying to do a little bit of good, he posted some links to help people find the methods and tools to keep themselves, and their expensive technogoodies, safe. http://www.absolute.com This is a really great software solution. do i recommend it as a stand-alone answer to laptop theft? sadly, no. Absolute is the primary provider for the Computrace LoJack software. Its designed to let ET fone Home so to speak. When your laptop is stolen, you call computrace and they start tracking the laptop. using the ip address, they can give the info on who the service provider is and what ip the stolen laptop is using to connect to the internet. Computrace contacts local law enforcement who can then act to recover your stolen laptop. it works by being installed not just in the hard drive, but permanently into the bios as well. if the thief reformats your drive, the bios agent rebuilds the files on the hard drive again. http://www.pointsec.com This website offers data security solutions for your laptop. Encryption means that bad guys who may be looking for sensitive financial, personal, or corporate data wont get it. instead, they get a bunch of unreadable files. http://www.pgp.com This website offers the very best in encryption software. we are talking about virtual drives, thumbdrive encryption, entire disk encryption, mail encryption, and instant messenger encryption, as well as self decrypting archives for sending sensitive data to people who do not have the program, but need the data, securely. i recommend this one, i am using it and have for years. PGP- they call it Pretty Good Privacy for a reason. http://www.alertsec.com/ This website offers data security solutions for your laptop. Encryption means that bad guys who may be looking for sensitive financial, personal, or corporate data wont get it. instead, they get a bunch of unreadable files. http://www.lojackforlaptops.com/lear...or-laptops.asp See Absolute.com above for explanation. http://labmice.techtarget.com/articl...opsecurity.htm Very well put together and thought out guide to security practices regarding your laptop. its a really great how to that goes into a lot of detail to give you some ideas, and point you in the direction of helpful tools to keep your laptop secure. http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1186 This is another security how to, but is less comprehensive and more concise. Its got a few points the previous how to guide omits. http://www.computersecurity.com/laptop/ A link to a company offering several security devices for a corporate environment. http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/stay...psecurity.mspx A short and sweet 9 point guide to increasing the physical security of your laptop while on the road. http://www.networkworld.com/newslett.../00477464.html A great article/ review of Motion detecting laptop security devices. They are a great supplement to cable locks and other devices. article gives links to the devices and discusses them in detail. http://www.secure-it.com/ A site offering several various security devices. Among them, a privacy filter for your LCD screen to keep unwanted eyes off your work in a public place, and several locking devices. http://www.securitydocs.com/library/3399 Another very comprehensive security guide, but this one is more focused on Data security and Network security. It also discusses physical security of laptops as well. http://www.targus.com/us/accessories_security.asp Great maker of laptop locking mechanisms such as cable locks, and motion sensing alarms. http://us.kensington.com/html/1434.html My personal favorite lockmaker. I use the kensington MicroSavor Retractible. i like it because its small and easy to carry in a small carry bag, its retractable, and uses a key instead of a combo. i have real problems remembering what day of the week it is, let alone a combination to a lock. Because of that i like the one i chose. they offer many different locks, and also offer models with motion sensing alarms too. A special thanks to Dynamike for posting the links, and good luck with the hunt to retrieve your stolen laptop. Hopefully we can all learn something valuable from what happened to him, and take his advice. Laptop theft has become the most prevalent technology crime in the past few years, and replacement cost for those of us who buy our own is a huge hit to take for simply not taking appropriate measures to protect our investment. For corporate users, it can be even worse. sensitive client data, financial data, valuable proprietary data, or even in some cases national security data, can be lost and in even worse cases, fall into the wrong hands. that is in addition to the cost of the loss of the equipment itself. hope this helps someone out. ev

Glad they finally made things right by you, Swimmer. It shouldnt have taken all that hassle, and it shouldnt have taken the posts to get that from them. But, better late than never! im glad they finally did right by you, enjoy the new machine! ev

all i know is what i see here in my area. im glad they are working out for you, inferno. in my area, the service is substantially less reliable, and dealing with their customer service is worse than a trip to the dentist for drilling. they suck. and DSL here doesnt seem to have any of the headaches your friend is currently experiencing, and costs 40% less. im happy with my switch, and for those in my area atleast, i would recommend the same course of action. ev