Well, here
you go, the second part of my series. If you did not see the first, this
is where I am going to touch on different features of Windows 2000 that I feel
are going to be helpful to the average user.
Well, here you go, the second part of my series. If you did not see the first, this is where I am going to touch on different features of Windows 2000 that I feel are going to be helpful to the average user.
3. Encryption and
Decryption of files – This feature is best for users who are working with data
that they don’t want anyone to view. If, for instance, you work in an
environment that forces you to share a PC with one or more workers, possibly a
24 hour support role, this would be helpful to keep your documents secure.
If you want to enable this
feature, go to the file or folder that you want to keep secure and right
click. Go into the Properties dialog and select Advanced. Under
Compression or Encryption Attributes, Select the Encrypt Contents to Secure Data
check box. This will put encryption on whatever file or folder that you
have selected.
Keep in mind that users who
log into your machine will not be able to view this file, but will have the
ability to delete it. If you need to have this file totally secure I would
recommend making a copy of it somewhere (network, floppies, etc.).
4. The RunAs Service –
The RunAs service is one of the best features of Windows 2000 for
administrators. How many times have you gone to someone’s machine who is
not a local admin and had to sit there awkwardly while the machine logs them off
and you on. This service offers you a solution. You will now have
the ability to run applications using the administration rights that you have
without having to log off and back on.
If you would like to enable
this service for testing, here is how:
Go to your Control Panel,
and then to your Administrative Tools icon. Check the Services icon
to see if the RunAs is enabled and then check that the account that you want to
use is entered. When you want to run a program in another users context,
right click on the application executable and click Run, when the dialog box
comes up, enter the password for the appropriate account.
Let me know if you have any
other features that are helping you, as an administrator, out and I will publish
them.