Launch safe suspicious programs

Certainly most computer users understand the need to regularly update their anti-virus programs as well as stay alert when downloading software from the internet. However, what if you cannot be sure about the security of the software you want to execute or install? Simply put, you can set up "limited" installation capabilities for any suspicious software by using a useful feature in Windows XP.

Figure 1

To safely launch a program, right-click the icon (or shortcut) of the program and select Run as ( Figure 1 ). Note, in some cases, you need to press and hold the key to see the Run As option when opening the right-click menu. In the Run As dialog box, select Current user and make sure the option Protect my computer and data from unauthorized activity program is checked ( Figure 2 ). Then click OK .

When executed in this mode, the program can read Registry settings, but cannot change them. In addition, if the computer hard disk is formatted according to NTFS, this program will not be able to change any files associated with the current user account (profile),

Figure 2

including cookies and temporary files of the browser, desktop and My Documents folder . Besides the ability to protect computers against malicious programs that are executed in the system, this option will definitely prevent some "serious" applications when they need to save the settings or files to the messages. above item. Therefore, this option should only be applied to software with an unclear background or that you have never used.

Not only that, when you launch Internet Explorer with the Run as option, the website will be disabled to record data on the hard disk so the computer will be more secure. Also note, in this mode, you cannot use IE to access any secured website (starting with " https: // "). Similarly, some commands (such as " Open Link in New Windows " in the context menu) will not work either.

Bui Xuan Toai