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Windows Forum / Windows Vista / Security / April 2007Why was my question deleted?
I want to know how to get into Services so I can block wireless access. With Windows XP, I'd use the Run command, typing in services.msc. Also, how do I disable Remote Access? (Vista Home Premium, administrator account) to start services: Start type services.msc in the search box, hit return or use the run command, type in services.msc and return Michael >I want to know how to get into Services so I can block wireless access. >With > Windows XP, I'd use the Run command, typing in services.msc. Also, how do > I > disable Remote Access? Thank you. I think I did do a search but it didn't come up. I couldn't find the Run box. I just got a portable computer with Vista on it, and I'm completely confused. I downloaded something that was supposed to be a manual from Microsoft, but my computer couldn't read the files. I'm used to XP Home on a PC. Is the account that came up when I first turned the laptop on the Administrator account? I'm afraid to stay on the laptop exploring without first disabling the wireless capability, which in Services was Wireless Zero Configuration. I used to disable Remote Access on my PC by going to the Help index, which directed me to the right place. I think it was a My Computer tab. The Vista interface is so different. I'll check the tab you suggested. > (Vista Home Premium, administrator account) > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > I > > disable Remote Access? Run box: WinKey+R > Thank you. I think I did do a search but it didn't come up. I couldn't > find [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] >> > I >> > disable Remote Access? Not sure how you intend to block wireless access with services, but services.msc is still there in Vista (at least on most of the SKUs). What are you trying to do? --- Your question may already be answered in Windows Vista Security: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470101555?ie=UTF8&tag=protectyourwi-20 > I want to know how to get into Services so I can block wireless access. With > Windows XP, I'd use the Run command, typing in services.msc. Also, how do I > disable Remote Access? I disable Wireless Zero Configuration in Services. What is an SKU? I have Vista Home, which came on the laptop. Judging from my experiences with XP Home, it might not have everything the Pro edition has. I'm not sure what I'm trying to do either. I'm just afraid to use the laptop until I'm certain that no one can connect through the wireless. I don't intend to put the laptop online ever. I have had terrible experiences when I try to go online, so I'm only going to go online with the PC, as I'm doing now. I'll check the links and hope I can understand them. I would really appreciate simple directions on how to make the laptop invulnerable. Since I don't intend to plug it in or set up an Internet connection, I think I only need to worry about wireless. Thank you. > Not sure how you intend to block wireless access with services, but > services.msc is still there in Vista (at least on most of the SKUs). [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Windows XP, I'd use the Run command, typing in services.msc. Also, how do I > > disable Remote Access? Elizabeth, you are trying to do this the hard way. If you want to make your system invulnerable to the outside world, you can disable the wireless (and any other network ports) very easily. Follow this sequence: 1/ Click the Start orb 2/ Right click on Network, and click on Properties 3/ In the left panel, click Manage network connections 4/ On each network connection icon, right click and select Disable This will disable every network port on your computer. If you just want to disable the wireless port, that would be fine. Incidentally, lots of laptops have a button somewhere which lets you switch off the wireless connection. Look for one with a picture of a radio aerial on it. If, for some reason, you can't see "Network" when you've clicked the Start orb in step 2/, do the following sequence first: 1/ Right click the Start orb, and click on Properties 2/ Click on the Start Menu tab 3/ Click the Customize... button 4/ Scroll down the list until you see 'Network', and tick the checkbox 5/ "OK" all the way out. You will now be able to follow the sequence above to disable your network ports. Hope this helps. Let us know how you got on. Steve Elizabeth, I think you are misunderstanding what the wireless software does. Having Wireless Zero Config permits you to easily connect to a wireless network, either at home, at work, or at your favorite corner coffee store. Having Wireless Zero Config, or even an active wireless network adapter, is NOT the same as inviting the world to party on your laptop. First, your laptop does not advertise itself to anyone; not unless you go through some rather unintuitive steps to set that up. Second, the laptop does not accept unsolicited inbound connection requests over wireless; again, unless you go through those same steps. If you have a laptop with a live wireless network card that is not associated to a network nobody can connect to you. Third, your computer will never connect automatically to a new wireless network without asking you first. It will, however, automatically connect to a wireless network that you have used in the past, if you told it to do so when you first connected to that network. Fourth, even if you are connected to a wireless network, or any other network for that matter, your firewall, which is on and configured by default, would stop all inbound connections as long as you tell the computer you are on a public network. The computer will ask you when you connect to a network what type of network it is. If you chose public your computer essentially turns into a black hole that nobody can connect to. Putting the laptop online is absolutely no more risky than putting your regular computer online as long as you keep the computer patched, use the built-in firewall feature, and make sure your anti-virus program is up to date. It is a bit easier for an attacker to see what data you are sending over a wireless network if it is unsecured, but that is about the only difference. I really think you are not only trying to do this the hard way, you are trying to protect against almost non-existent threats. The only potential threat there is against a wireless network card that is not associated to a wireless network is if there is a vulnerability in the network card driver. That has happened before, but if you use the built-in driver, Microsoft Update will patch it. If not, then the manufacturer of your computer will provide patches. Instead of trying to figure out how to strip useful functionality out of your computer I would recommend you spend the time figuring out how to find patches from your computer manufacturer. BTW, a SKU is a "Stock Keeping Unit." It is used to denote the various versions of Vista, such as Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, and so on. As you noted, not all SKUs come with all the components. --- Your question may already be answered in Windows Vista Security: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470101555?ie=UTF8&tag=protectyourwi-20 > Elizabeth, you are trying to do this the hard way. > [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > > Steve First of all, thank you all very much. I feel that my laptop is safe and I can finally get some work done. There was a switch on the bottom, but it wasn't a toggle. It slid and snapped back, like the kind that release something so it can be opened. But it didn't seem to be connected to anything. It wasn't mentioned in the literature accompanying the computer. Jesper, thank you for the information. You write in a very clear way. I think I will buy your book. But I would like to ask you one question. Could you get into my computer if I were using wireless to access the Internet? Do you know anyone who could? The person who is hacking me is obviously a computer professional. He knows Microsoft totally. No firewall or antivirus has ever been able to keep him out for more than a few hours. I had to turn off automatic updates because he inserted a virus disguised as an update. He doesn't use viruses to control my computer. He does stuff that I might conceivably do if I were a "power user." I'm not sure if I can even explain this example, but you might be familiar with it. I caught it because I have an earlier version of MSWord. I found Version 8 in the Administrator's area. He set up some weird program that sent everything from my computer, including my thumb drive, to an Outlook Express page, which he could access. I think he somehow used Word as a server. This is way over my head. I'm just guessing. Your advice would work for nearly anyone else using a computer, but this guy is obsessed and very skilled. > Elizabeth, I think you are misunderstanding what the wireless software does. > Having Wireless Zero Config permits you to easily connect to a wireless [quoted text clipped - 82 lines] > > > > Steve > First of all, thank you all very much. I feel that my laptop is safe and I > can finally get some work done. Glad to hear that. > There was a switch on the bottom, but it wasn't a toggle. It slid and > snapped back, like the kind that release something so it can be opened. But > it didn't seem to be connected to anything. It wasn't mentioned in the > literature accompanying the computer. My Dell D620 has one of those. Other computers have a virtual switch that you activate by using the FN key and one of the keys on the keyboard. I can't think of a single laptop that does not have a hardware switch to turn off the wireless stack though. > Could > you get into my computer if I were using wireless to access the Internet? Do > you know anyone who could? First, the question you ask has nothing to do with wireless. From where I am, it makes no difference whether you are using wireless or wired networking. Wired v. wireless only matters if I am in the vicinity of your computer and you have an improperly secured wireless network. Even if that were the case, the worst I could do with it would be to see what traffic you send and receive, and probably modify it. That's the extent of where wireless makes a difference. Even on some wired networks I can do the same, so it really makes very little difference. A properly secured wireless network is every bit as safe as a wired network, even more so in some circumstances. If you build one at home, make sure you get one that supports the WPA2 protocol, and then make sure you implement it. I do not know of a single wireless router that implements it by default but the manuals always tell you how. A public wireless network is exactly that - public. On that network someone that is in the vicinity can see your traffic. If your traffic is not sensitive, that won't matter. If your traffic is encrypted, such as web-based shopping usually is, then they can't see it. As for whether I, or someone else, can get into your computer: yes, that is possible, but it has nothing to do with wired v. wireless. The easiest way would be to send you an e-mail with some kind of malicious attachment and fool you into opening it. You sound like the paranoid type though, so that may not work. If not, then usually the attacker would resort to using unpatched vulnerabilities, and if you keep up to date on patches, and you have a firewall, the job is very difficult. > The person who is hacking me is obviously a computer professional. Hmm. Are you saying that you are being hacked? What do you base that assessment on? > He knows > Microsoft totally. No firewall or antivirus has ever been able to keep him > out for more than a few hours. I had to turn off automatic updates because he > inserted a virus disguised as an update. I can tell you that it is virtually impossible to insert a virus disguised as a Microsoft update, using Automatic Updates. The system is designed to reject any such updates. Your computer verifies that all updates deployed using Automatic Updates come from Microsoft and rejects them otherwise. > He doesn't use viruses to control my computer. He does stuff that I might > conceivably do if I were a "power user." I'm not sure if I can even explain [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > my thumb drive, to an Outlook Express page, which he could access. I think he > somehow used Word as a server. This is way over my head. I'm just guessing. I really do not understand what is happening here or what you are basing these conclusions on. What you are saying does not entirely make sense. It is extremely rare for a home user (I am assuming you are a home user) to be specifically targeted; if you have been attacked it is likely with something non-specific to you. Regardless, if you believe you have been attacked, or are under attack, I would highly recommend you call Microsoft's security help line. They can help figure out what is going on much more easily than any of us can in the newsgroups. If you are in the U.S. or Canada the phone number is 866-PC-SAFETY. If you are elsewhere in the world, go here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/gp/securityhome, and select your region on the right-hand side to get the number in your part of the world. Security support is free. Hi - I left your post on this because it has been so long since I've been able to get online that you probably would have forgotten what you wrote. I agree that wireless is no more dangerous than wired. It's just that I can carry a portable with me wherever I go, while a PC is vulnerable once you leave your home. No one will get a chance to attach my laptop to the Net by wire, so wireless is the only thing that concerns me. The reason I took so long to answer this was because I went out for a few hours and found my PC trashed when I returned. I managed to get Ctrl-Alt-Delete and saw that my CPU was running at 100% constantly, while my programs showed zero. They opened, but only ten minutes after I clicked on them, and they closed immediately. In DOS, I tried Return to Last Configuration that Worked. It didn't help. DOS worked perfectly. If I'd known what to do, I probably could have fixed it. When I tried to reformat, I got the message NTLMD is not present. Finally, after removing and replacing the battery, I was able to reformat. Of course, this was done in conjunction with an illegal entry to my apartment. Law enforcement has yet to recognize that we are living in an electronic age, and electronic hitmen and stalkers exist. They at least are doing something about child stalking, and I salute them for that, but they have a long way to go. Probably they wouldn't have been able to fool a computer expert with a phony Microsoft update, but if I see a little square with kb123456, I'm taken in. Windows is deceptive. It doesn't reflect what's going on in the guts of the machine. For instance, the hacker moves the clock back to make it appear that whatever he did happened when I was at home. Occasionally he forgets to return it to the correct time. I can usually fix this through Windows, but once I had to go into DOS to make it work. I didn't know about the Security Help Line. I will certainly call them. I didn't know that such a thing existed. If it isn't too expensive, I'll ask them to help me. Thank you very, very much for letting me know about them. I've often wondered why large organizations didn't do something to track down really malicious hackers. Most are harmless. I really wouldn't care if one put a quiet little Trojan on my computer. But this guy is determined to keep me from doing the research I need. Thank you yet again. > > First of all, thank you all very much. I feel that my laptop is safe and I > > can finally get some work done. [quoted text clipped - 78 lines] > region on the right-hand side to get the number in your part of the world. > Security support is free. > I disable Wireless Zero Configuration in Services. What is an SKU? I have > Vista Home, which came on the laptop. Judging from my experiences with XP [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > don't intend to plug it in or set up an Internet connection, I think I only > need to worry about wireless. Most laptops have a switch to disable the wireless adapter. > Most laptops have a switch to disable the wireless adapter. Some do, I would not say that most do.  SignaturePaul Adare MVP - Windows - Virtual Machine http://www.identit.ca "The English language, complete with irony, satire, and sarcasm, has survived for centuries without smileys. Only the new crop of modern computer geeks finds it impossible to detect a joke that is not clearly labeled as such." Ray Shea Elizabeth You should be able to disable the wireless interface hardware. Start right click on computer select properties select device manager in left pane under network adapters there should be an entry for the wireless unit right click on it, select properties select the driver tab select disable (no uninstall) this should keep it off, when you want to trun it on again repeat steps and 'enable' Michael >I disable Wireless Zero Configuration in Services. What is an SKU? I have > Vista Home, which came on the laptop. Judging from my experiences with XP [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] >> > do I >> > disable Remote Access? Hi, This will not affect your internet connection. Only any remote connecting. To disable Remote Assistance : 1. open Control Panel 2. click on SYSTEM 3. click on "Advanced system settings" on left side 4. click on REMOTE tab 4. uncheck the "Allow Remote assistance ......" 5. click OK to apply To disable all the remote features in Vista : 1. open Services (In Administrator Tools) or C:\Windows\System32 \Services.exe 2. Disable these entries by right clicking & properties : a. Remote Access Auto Connection Manager b. Remote Access Connection Manager c. Remote Registry d. Routing and Remote Access 3. Reboot to apply changes Note: DO NOT disable the Remote Procedure Call (RPC)-- You would loose Internet Hope this helps, Shawn Signaturebrink "Practice makes perfect, then you reinstall" Vista 64 Home Premium 1.5 Gig DDR2 533 Mhz (PC4200) RAM |
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