Introduction

Taking Control

There are some default settings that many people will want to be aware of. For example, in Windows XP, the System Restore feature is on by default and can not only slow down your PC to a crawl, it can eat up a ton of disk space as well. If you use Norton Ghost or a backup program, you already know what you're doing and don't need Windows XP trying to play safety net for you. Luckily, as the image below-left shows, you can adjust settings to your liking or even turn the feature off completely.

There is a thoughtful feature included in XP called Automatic Updating, which will go out on the web and grab all of the latest Microsoft updates for you should you wish. Dial-Up and corporate users will likely want control over the timing of this process, and may therefore wish to turn the feature off so updates are done manually.

Disable System Restore

Turn Off Auto Updates

As the two images below show, there are some other options you can set to give you more control over your system. Below-left is the dialog to limit the Remote Assistance feature. Those of us who want to lock down our boxes from outside intrusion will want to turn this feature off. Nothing wrong with a little paranoia as long as we're not constantly being monitored...

Limit Remote Assistance

Configure Driver Signing

Above-right is the screen to configure Driver Signing. Regardless of what Microsoft says, there are going to be a lot of vendors who would rather get driver updates out to consumers fast and worry about certification later. But if you are a business, you may want to limit updates to those that have been approved to ensure compatibility.