WinXP Home safe for parents with no computer experience?

[Lord Banshee]

Ok my fiancee's parents do not own a computer or ever owned one so we were going to pass an older one that is just sitting in our closet to them. The machine is an HP with a WinXP Home Product Key.

I currently have ubuntu 7.10 installed on it and it works flawlessly (slower compared to WinXP on same machine though). The reason for putting ubuntu on it was so it will keep the system virus / spyware / crap free. But the more and more i think about it the more i have been thinking about installing WinXP Home back on the machine, in case they ever would buy something like a digital camera or high tech printer, all the software for such devices would not work 99% of the time as most products having only windows versions (i guess this could also be a good thing when you think about some of the programs that are included with these devices).

But i guess my question is how can i safe guard the PC enough that i do not have to worry about it being take over by installed crap. I would keep linux on it but if they also have a problem we will be moving 25+ hours away so i don't think i would be able to help a non-pc user fix issues on a not so friendly OS like linux. Any suggestions with tweaks, programs, checks, etc to do on the machine in winxp home that would be great.

Also the PC main purpose to connect to the internet, email, pictures, and maybe some office stuff.

Thanks

 

[mechBgon]

This would be my suggestion (adapt as needed, and skip step 11 since Home can't do it):

http://www.mechbgon.com/build/security2.html

This is the approach I use for my mom's XP Pro rig (including step 11, since Pro can do that).

User education is going to be important to keep them from abusing the Admin powers, though. Educate them about the dangers of shiny baubles like "FREE SMILIES," stuff which other peoples' email signatures seem to recommend, e-Cards, etc. All that glitters is not gold and so forth. Hammer it into their heads NOT TO TAKE TEH INTARWEBS AT FACE VALUE. A thorough explaination about phish emails would be very important, and you might check out OpenDNS as well, plus use a browser which has phishing filtration (IE7 or FF2).

Also, I would install just the bare minimum stuff if possible. Don't go loading it with QuickTime, Java, DiVX and 50 other things until such a time as they really are needed. The less stuff is on there, the less potential attack surface.

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: Lord Banshee
Ok my fiancee's parents do not own a computer or ever owned one so we were going to pass an older one

But i guess my question is how can i safe guard the PC enough that i do not have to worry about it being take over by installed crap.

Been there, done that....
Remember all the crap YOU went through with your first computer? Well they're going to do the same stuff ....and you're going to be MR. IT GUY for them........

They don't know anything about "safe computing" and you can't teach them, all you can do is fix the problems when they happen.

Don't download torrents or anything from Warez sites. .....What is download?
Don't click on any a suspicious links on the internet. ...How do I know when I'm on the internet?

See??? Remember?????

And, on top of that, you can't take away their "computer privilages", like with your kids when they misbehave.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Billb2

Originally posted by: Lord Banshee
Ok my fiancee's parents do not own a computer or ever owned one so we were going to pass an older one

But i guess my question is how can i safe guard the PC enough that i do not have to worry about it being take over by installed crap.

Been there, done that....
Remember all the crap YOU went through with your first computer? Well they're going to do the same stuff ....and you're going to be MR. IT GUY for them........

They don't know anything about "safe computing" and you can't teach them, all you can do is fix the problems when they happen.

Don't download torrents or anything from Warez sites. .....What is download?
Don't click on any a suspicious links on the internet. ...How do I know when I'm on the internet?

See??? Remember?????

And, on top of that, you can't take away their "computer privilages", like with your kids when they misbehave.

LoL, Yea there's a lot of potential for headaches in this situation, especially since you'll be living so far from them. You might want to look at remote desktop for taking care of their computer for them. Try to log in every day to keep up with maintenance, and you might not get the BIG DISASTER that requires being there in person to fix.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Billb2

And, on top of that, you can't take away their "computer privilages", like with your kids when they misbehave.

Step 1 is to take away their Admin privileges, actually :evil: or at least make them put them aside. My parents can't get onto the Admin account on their PC, only I can. And their computing needs are so static that it's fine that way.

 

[Lord Banshee]

Thanks,

I am going to install WinXP Home today and see how well the "standard user" method works out. Also that remote desktop idea is pretty good too, i'll have to make sure that works good before we leave.

thanks again