Home Windows 7 administration: tips, tricks, pointers?

[freezervv]

Finished with the standard account separation (almost welcome to 1980s Unix, Microsoft), patching, and backup image creation.

Edit: (re: ekuest) Forgot to mention, MSE is on the "done" list as well.

Are there any other features I should be leveraging to make management easier and more bulletproof?

- Use case is standard home casual / office
- Emphasis is on reliability, security, and ease-of-client use (in that order)
- Windows 7 Professional

Any threads to follow greatly appreciated. Feature name and/or idea of use is plenty -- I can Google for myself.

PS: Yes, RDP is on the to-do list. Need to work on the network security side of that before I'm opening a port just to make my life easier.

 

[ekuest]

i prefer MSE and no antivirus, but whatever you prefer, got it?

 

[bigdogchris]

Make sure anyone who should not be installing software is a Standard User. Also, leave UAC on.

As for anti-virus, I recommend a product that includes a web filter. I personally use Avast6. This way malware is blocked before it even hits your hard drive/Internet temp files. Kaspersky and Avast are the only products I know of that include a true web scanning component that is capable of dropping connections. If you decided to go with a product that does not have a web filter, which is almost everything else, install something like Panda URL Blocker. To install the URL blocker, install Panda Security Toolbar, then go to add-remove programs and uninstall the Toolbar, leaving the URL blocker in place. This URL blocker is a clound based service which will drop connections to known malicious sites. The toolbar itself is unnecessary bloat.