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Make XP read-only (embeded)

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NickC_UK

Member
Is there anyway to make an XP system read-only, perhaps the whole XP partition?

Ok so I know the pagefile will need to be on a separate partition but anything else that needs to be moved to make this work. More importantly how do I make a whole partition read-only?
 
I think at the library here, all the XP systems get refreshed/cleared to their original/backup image the each morning. That idea would work on a VM too. I don't know if XP is designed to handle nothing changing ever (ie. no cookies, temp files, to remember, etc.), maybe "Windows XP Embedded" itself (which has support until 2016) is better for this? I think some things that are normally saved to the hard drive would have to be directed to RAM instead, maybe it would be possible to store the entire hard drive in RAM that gets reloaded into memory after each restart? You can turn the paging file off also.
 
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Don't think windows XP embedded will work because I want to run NTBackup within this and I don't think XP embedded has NTBackup, only full XP Professional.

The idea of running from RAM might work if I could work out how to do it.
 
What exactly are you trying to accomplish by making the system read-only?

At first glance, this seems more like the kind of thing you'd use Deep Freeze or similar programs for, rather than making the system literally read-only.
 
Like ViRGE said, if my assumptions about your goals are correct, I would also recommend Deep Freeze.
 
We use DeepFreeze in our classrooms. It works perfectly with XP as well as 7. It allows the students to make changes, but a reboot then restores the machine to the original state. Only a couple of technicians have the password keys to unlock for the purpose of upgrades, mods, changes, etc. DeepFreeze works well for us.
 
XP is going end of life in August this year so no more security updates after that. Just wanted to find a way to virtually freeze an XP install so nothing can infect it.

This is so that we can use that XP workstation for running NTBackup; server 2012 no-longer supports backup to tape. I would like to find a simple way of making XP read-only except for the pagefile, user profile and any other bits we choose to redirect to another drive.

DeepFreeze looks like it would do the job but I have been looking on their website and half an hour later I still can't find a simple price for this product.
 
NickC_UK said:
XP is going end of life in August this year so no more security updates after that. Just wanted to find a way to virtually freeze an XP install so nothing can infect it.

This is so that we can use that XP workstation for running NTBackup; server 2012 no-longer supports backup to tape. I would like to find a simple way of making XP read-only except for the pagefile, user profile and any other bits we choose to redirect to another drive.

DeepFreeze looks like it would do the job but I have been looking on their website and half an hour later I still can't find a simple price for this product.
Click to expand...

I strongly urge you to come up with a better solution than just keeping XP in your environment. There are other ways you can continue to backup to tape if that's what your goal is.

DeepFreeze is definitely a good product to help secure XP machines after April (it's EOL in April, not August), but people should only be trying to sustain XP in environments where it is absolutely required and there is no alternative. It should only be used in environments where Business Critical apps require XP. Backup to tape is business critical, but you should buy a product that can do it from a newer OS.

For pricing, click the red "Order Now" button on the right side of the page at http://www.faronics.com/products/deep-freeze/

Edit: just to be clear - Deep Freeze does not really make an XP installation read-only. It just reverts the system to a base "image" every time it is rebooted. While the system is running, the OS is still vulnerable to attack.

For better security, In addition to using Deep Freeze to revert to a Known-Good state at every restart, you will also want to make sure that you're running Anti-Virus with current definitions (probably a problem if you're rebooting daily and reverting to an old image), and you may want to consider Application Whitelisting (Bit9). Also, keep XP systems as segmented as possible from other systems on your LAN and build strict Firewall (and possibly IPS) configs to control traffic to/from.
 
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Or, . . . they do not want to get involved with retail sales. I know of several companies like that, i.e., those that develop and sell software development tools to the retail developers.
 
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