10 Tips for Securing Your PC Part 3
7 Clear the Internet Explorer History Folder
You visited a
great web site on Thursday, but
forgot to bookmark the URL. Now
it's Sunday and you can't
remember how to get back there.
This is where the Internet
Explorer History folder comes in
handy. But just as it lets you
trace back your Internet
browsing steps, others can also
use it to see where you've been.
If the downside seems greater
than the upside, here's how you
can delete the Internet Explorer
History and how you can prevent
it from being stored in the
future.
- From the Internet Explorer menu, click Tools | Internet Options. For Internet Explorer v7, follow steps 2-4 below. For Internet Explorer v6, follow step 5. For both versions, follow the steps outlined in steps 6 and below.
- For IE7, under Browsing History, select Settings
- Under History | Days to keep pages in History, change the setting to 0.
- Click OK
- If using Internet Explorer v6, under History | Days to keep pages in History, change the setting to 0.
- Click OK to exit the Internet Options menu
- Close Internet Explorer and restart it for changes to take effect.
8
Disable File and
Printer Sharing
File and Printer Sharing may be necessary in
an office network, but chances are it's not needed at home.
And it poses an increased risk on wireless connections. If
you must use it, disable it when connecting via hotspots,
and re-enable it when you return to your home or office.
Here's how.
If using the Windows Classic Start menu, click Start | Settings | Control Panel. If using the default Windows XP Start menu, click Start | Control Panel.
- Double-click the Network Connections icon to view network connections.
- You may have several connection options listed. Right-click the icon for "Wireless Network Connection" and choose Properties.
- In the Wireless Network Connection Properties dialog box, click the checkbox next to "File and Printer Sharing" to remove the check mark.
- Click OK.
- Close the Network Connections window by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the window.
- To re-enable File and Printer Sharing, repeat steps 1 - 3, then click the checkbox next to "File and Printer Sharing" to add a check mark, and repeat steps 5 & 6 to finish.
- Repeat steps 1 - 6 for any other network connections listed for which File and Printer sharing isn't required. (For example, dial-up accounts listed or Local Area Network connections that pertain only to Internet access and not to actual network connectivity).
9 Delete Temporary Internet Files and Cookies
Internet Explorer caches web pages you visit and cookies coming from those pages. While designed to speed up browsing, if left unchecked the burgeoning folders can sometimes slow IE to a crawl or cause other unexpected behavior. In general, the less is more principal works well here - keep the Internet Explorer cache small and clear it often. Here's how.
- From the Internet Explorer menu, click Tools | Internet Options. For Internet Explorer v7, follow steps 2-5 below. For Internet Explorer v6, follow steps 6-7. For both versions, follow the steps outlined in steps 8 and below.
- If using IE7, under Browsing history select Delete.
- From the Delete Browsing History window select Delete all... from the bottom of the dialog and click Yes when prompted.
- To delete individual categories, select Delete files... for the desired category and select Yes when promoted.
- When finished, click Close to close the Delete Browsing History window.
- If using Internet Explorer v6, under Temporary Internet files select Delete Cookies and select OK when prompted.
- Next, select Delete Files and select OK when prompted.
- Now that the files and cookies have been cleared, take steps to minimize their impact going forward. While still in the Internet Options menu, select Settings (for IE7, under Browsing History; for IE6 under Temporary Internet files).
- Under "...disk space to use...", change the setting to 5Mb or less. (For optimal performance, no less than 3Mb and no more than 5Mb is recommended).
- Click OK to exit the Settings menu and then click OK again to exit the Internet Options menu.
- Close Internet Explorer and restart it for changes to take effect.
10 Bypass Attachment Restrictions in Outlook
Outlook blocks access to certain types of
attachments in email. While it's a nice security feature,
sometimes you really need that attachment. Here's how to
unblock the blocking feature in Outlook email. This requires
editing the system registry. If you aren't familiar with the
system registry, read the tutorial "Windows System Registry"
before you begin, or ask a computer savvy friend for help.
- 1 Close Outlook if it is running. Outlook must be closed before following the steps below.
- 2 Open the registry editor
- 3 Browse to the following key: