Windows XP Problems
Windows XP was released in 2001 by Microsoft and comes in two editions namely Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional. Known widely because of its better performance, efficiency, stability and has been designed to be more user-friendly, it has outdone its predecessor Windows 2000. Although it has been a great hit, with over 400 million copies in use, Windows XP has its set of setbacks.
The first problem is with relation to the password access in Windows Xp which are rendered useless when a hacker has physical access to the computer. The hacker can do the following to crack the password and gain access to the system.
- Using a Win 2000 CD the hacker can boot the XP box and start the troubleshooting program known as Windows 2000 Recovery Console.
- Even if the password used by the Administrator is strong, after doing the above XP allows the hacker to function as a Administrator.
- The visitor has access to other user accounts as well if present and even if they have a password.
- What is even more surprising is that all the data can be transferred to a removable data disk, which generally not allowed when the Recovery Console is used normally.
Another problem faced by XP is that it has difficulty in running a number of DOS programs this is due to the fact the XP does not use DOS as its ground functionality and is NT based.
Windows XP also has an Administration Downgrade problem, which basically means that XP is mostly unsuccessful in restricting users from getting administrative privileges that they had earlier in workgroup environments. The users can see the running processes that other users are running at the minimum or might even have other privileges. To overcome this problem it is suggested that normal users administrative rights should always be denied. And if a supplementary administrative account is needed then it can be added as a separate account and deleted when its purpose is served.
Also a floppy formatted by an earlier version of Windows will XP often not read or write and this might cause a problem for other user since it lacks compatibility.
Another flaw with Windows XP is the security vulnerability, the flaw has an effect on the Windows Remote Desktop Service that lets remote users to access their Windows PC. As found out and posted by Security Protocols Web site the problem lets hackers access the PC and exploit the problem causing it to crash. The user sees the infamous repercussion know as the ’ Windows Blue Screen of Death’. According to Security Protocols, fully patched Windows XP machines even those with the Service Pack 2 update and the firewall enabled are vulnerable. Michael Sutton, a lab director at iDefense after researching into its vulnerability has said that “It does not look like it is more than a DoS(Denial of Service), an attacker won't be able to take over your PC, but could knock it offline." The vulnerability has been rated as moderately critical by Secunia, a Security monitoring company. Microsoft has released a patch to fix this vulnerability.
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