Hello, I usually do the same things on my PC day in and day out. Play wow, porn, pics, music, videos and the like. Not much more then that. Don't make many system wide changes, such as settings, configs, registry. Only when necessary to install or fix something. Is there any software that can lock down the registry and system files/folders from changes to keep my XP running in tip top shape, then I can just unlock it when I want to install something, or make a change, then lock it again, so it wont be susceptible to the normal gradual slowdown and BS that comes along with having an XP install for years at a time from spyware and such messing things up? If anyone knows of anything, let me know Thanks, Dan
You can make a baseline image of your c: partition and save it on a different partition or external drive. If your c: drive gets damaged or corrupted you can just restore it to a baseline configuration. From my expierence restoring an image backup back to the same hard drive/partition is a routine and safe task for me. But it works best when your c: partition is small, If your c: partition is 200gb, than it would take too long to backup and restore, if it's in the 20gb size, than it can take 10 minutes to backup and about 15 minutes to restore. There are 2 free image backup software paragon drivebackup express and macrium reflect. I've actually tested macrium on my computer and it worked excellent, it was faster than true image 10 (which I used before). You can also use the free "returnil" when you need to test something right away that doesn't require a reboot, I always use it when I surf the internet. When you enable it, it put's your computer in virtual mode in realtime. Nothing is written to the real c: partition. The virtual c: partition acts like a normal partition, you can edit the registry, install programs etc. As soon as you reboot everything that happen when returnil was engaged dissappears. "Returnil" would be more useful if your c: partition is too large to use the image backup and restore method. http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp http://www.majorgeeks.com/Returnil_Virtual_System_Personal_Edition_d5702.html
want a real hackers way??.. go into the windows directory and find system and system32 and set every file to read only... then do the same for the directorys... Nothing can install, and nothing can update. the core system will then be locked down solid.. You can do the same thing to other "essential" system files.. I guess you want to lock it down, not reinstall it all the time or run it in some cockeyed VM arrangement..... have fun breaking it now.. try reading some books http://www.netbks.com/operating-sys...xp-professional-administrators-guide_133.html always a great idea to learn about obsolete and discontinued software past it's sell by date.
Yes, returnil is a great program that reverses all changes made to your PC with each reboot. However, a guest account can be useful, if you set the account's priveleges to not be able to modify anything. You can use the guest account to surf the net and not have your computer changed, and if you need to change something, use the administrator's account. Best Regards
Microsoft created a tool called SteadyState Disk and System Protection that is designed to be used in schools and libraries for doing exactly what you're talking about. I think it will work for you as well. Plus... it's free. You can read about it and download it from the following link. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/whatis/diskandsystemprotection.mspx
