I need stability,security.

[cremator]

Ok heres the deal. Currently im running WinXP and my system locks up very often. One time it claimed it was the video drivers. My ram is shipping today and I think its going to be a big help on benchmarks. Now, the question. I want stability and security. Im going to format today and I want like a list of stuff I can do to increase stability and security. Here is what im planing to do (please add to my list)
-Flash My Bios
-Format
-Put XP Pro back on here
-Get all the needed windows update files (only the ones I feel are needed)


I want a fast and stable machine (one that can stay on and online for days and weeks at a time)
Im using the ECS K7S5A Board which was cheap and fast at the time I bought it so don't tell me to get a new board, just tell me what I can do to get the maximum out of my system.

Current Setup:
1.4 (266 fsb) Thunderbird
ECS K7S5A Motherboard
Asus Geforce 3 Ti-500 Deluxe
Soundblaster Live X-Gamer 5.1 Soundcard
Enermax 350w powersupply
2 60gb Western Digital (storage drives)
1 30gb Maxtor (Bootdrive)
(This will be added today) 2 256mb OCZ PC2400 DDR Ram

 

[Mitzi]

I'd say get all the critical updates from the Windows update, not just the ones you feel you need.

Also, ensure you have latest drivers for all your other hardware (graphics card, sound card etc).

 

[bubba]

For stability, don't overclock.

Make sure you download the latest nVidia reference drivers from www.nvidia.com, not the drivers from your vid card manufacturer.

 

[NogginBoink]

For stability, don't overclock, don't run drivers/services you don't need.

Format NTFS when you install. Setup will assign reasonable ACL's to the files and folders that way. If you format FAT and then convert to NTFS, the permissions are everyone/full control.

Put a strong password on the administrator account.

Don't log on as admin for daily use.

Use encrypting filesystem (BACK UP YOUR KEY!).

Do lots of reading. Security is a continuous process.

 

[btvillarin]

Nice system.

Anyways, I agree with the previous posts. I think there's only one more thing to say, and that would be not to install any beta software. They haven't been tested thoroughly, and are sure to have some bugs. Plus, they might not uninstall properly if you don't like it. So, after you go through your list, install only the known good and stable programs.

Then, if you have a copy of Drive Image or Norton Ghost, create a image of this setup. That way, you don't have to go through this again (for a while) if you screw anything up. Plus, if you want to go hog-wild with installing and uninstalling programs, and one of them messes up, then you can restore this "perfect" image you've made.

You've basically posted exactly what I shoot for all the time. I used to want to overclock, but I realize that it doesn't really matter. I'd rather go stock.

If you need any links for Windows XP, perhaps my website can help (see link below).

 

[nuttervm]

make sure you have the latest agp driver installed for the motherboard. it comes on the cd that came with the motherboard, and is also available at the ecs website. one time i fogrgot to install it and had major stability problems, so i bet that would help you out alot. the agp driver is NOT the same as your video card driver, the agp driver controls communications between the video card and the rest of the motherboard. I know its stupid and ecs/windows sucks my ass for not providing the proper driver by default (i have a k7s5a too or at teh very least proper documentation/troubleshooting.

as for security, install openbsd