Syngress - The XP Files - Windows' Hidden Tools,
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The XP Files-Windows' Hidden Tools for
Secure Sharing, Communication, and
Collaboration
Guy Hart-Davis
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Printed in the United
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publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a
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exception that the program listings may be entered, stored, and executed in a computer
system, but they may not be reproduced for publication.
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1234567890 CUS CUS 0198765432
ISBN 0-07-222401-0
Publisher:
Brandon A. Nordin
Vice President
&
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Publisher:
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Editorial Director:
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Julie M. Smith
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Technical Editor:
Felicia Buckingham
Copy Editor:
Bart Reed
Proofreader:
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Indexer:
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Dedication
To the memory of my grandmother, Diana Barstow
Acknowledgments
I'd like to thank the following people for their help with this book:
•
Gary Masters for rogue agency
•
Roger Stewart for deciding the book was a good idea
•
Tana Diminyatz for handling the details that Roger didn't
•
Julie M. Smith for coordinating the editing and production of the book
•
Felicia Buckingham for reviewing the manuscript for technical accuracy
•
Bart Reed for editing the manuscript with a light touch
•
Tara Davis for laying out the pages
•
Linda Medoff for proofreading the book
•
Jack Lewis for creating the index
Introduction
XP offers a great set of tools for communicating, collaborating, and sharing files across the
Internet. Without needing to install add-on software, you can make audio and video calls to
anyone with a computer anywhere in the world, chat with them, transfer files back and forth,
and collaborate on projects-all for the price of your Internet connection.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has hidden some of XP's most powerful communications tools to
encourage you to use the tools that Microsoft wants you to use. XP's default communications
tool for most purposes is Windows Messenger, which ties in with Microsoft's .NET Passport
digital persona to reveal to Microsoft the details of your communications sessions and online
habits. To that end, Microsoft has positioned Windows Messenger to eclipse other powerful
tools included with XP, such as NetMeeting and Phone Dialer, doing the unsuspecting user a
great disservice.
Who Is This Book For?
This book is for anyone using XP Professional or XP Home Edition who wants to fully
understand the range of communications tools that XP offers, know the advantages and
disadvantages of each communications tool, and use them to the max to communicate
effectively and securely across the Internet.
In other words, it's for you.
This book assumes that you're at least moderately comfortable with XP-that you know how to
log on, manage your user account, navigate the Start menu, use Windows Explorer and
Internet Explorer, and so on. If you're not, you might want to supplement this book with a
book that'll get you going on XP basics.
What Does This Book Cover?
This book discusses how to use the communications technologies built into Windows XP to
communicate effectively and securely over the Internet. Here's what the chapters cover:
•
Chapter 1
, '
Meet Windows' Hidden Internet Communication Tools
,' sets the scene for
the rest of the book. This chapter explains why XP hides some of its best
communications tools, introduces you briefly to each of the tools the book covers, and
shows you which tools to use for which task.
•
Chapter 2
, '
Get the Best Internet Connection and Secure It
,' tells you how to choose
the right type of Internet connection for your needs and your budget, how to choose an
ISP, and how to set up and configure your Internet connection. This chapter also
covers how to share your Internet connection with other users on your home or office
network, how to secure the connection against intrusion with a firewall, and how to
troubleshoot your connection, sharing, and firewall.
•
Chapter 3
, '
Establish Your Digital Identity-and Protect Your Privacy
,' discusses the
problems of establishing identity in the physical world and online and the tools you
can use to prove your identity online. The chapter highlights the threat that Microsoft's
.NET Passport scheme poses to your privacy and suggests an approach for minimizing
this threat. The chapter also tells you how to get and install a digital certificate for
proving your identity.
•
Chapter 4
, '
Create, Manage, and Use Free E-mail Accounts and Outlook Express
,
'
shows you how to create, manage, and use e-mail accounts on XP. The chapter covers
Hotmail, Microsoft's Web-based e-mail service, in detail, examining its benefits and
drawbacks. It then shows you how to use Outlook Express, XP's built-in e-mail client,
to access Hotmail or other e-mail services. The chapter ends by mentioning some of
the other prominent Web-based e-mail providers that you may want to consider
instead of Hotmail.
•
Chapter 5
, '
Chat with Anyone in Public or Private
,' shows you how to use Windows
Messenger and NetMeeting to chat with anybody in public or private on the Internet.
The chapter starts by comparing Windows Messenger and NetMeeting to each other
and discussing which of them you should use for chat in which circumstances. It then
shows you how to configure Messenger and use it as a chat client. After that, it shows
you how to set up NetMeeting, configure it, and use it as a chat client.
•
Chapter 6
, '
Make Free Worldwide Voice and Video Conference Calls
,' discusses how
to make voice and video calls using your PC and your Internet connection. By using
Messenger, NetMeeting, and Phone Dialer, you can make PC-to-PC calls that cost you
nothing more than the cost of your Internet connection. These calls can be to any
computer in the world that has an Internet connection. And by using Messenger with a
suitably configured voice service provider, you can also make calls from your PC to a
phone anywhere in the world for relatively modest charges.
•
Chapter 7
, '
Enjoy Unrestricted, Untraceable File Sharing
,
' discusses how to share files
using the programs and tools that come with XP. This chapter assumes that you want
to share files securely (for example, for business reasons or privacy) and explains
which tools let you share files securely and which don't. To help you avoid
committing copyright violations that could cost you dearly in money or time, this
chapter also runs quickly through the legalities of sharing files of copyrighted content.
•
Chapter 8
, '
Work with Friends, Family, or Coworkers on Online Projects
,
' shows you
how to use the whiteboarding features built into NetMeeting and Messenger to
brainstorm or sketch out ideas, and how to use NetMeeting's and Messenger's
program-sharing and Desktop-sharing features to work with other people on other
kinds of documents (for example, text documents or spreadsheets). It also describes
how to use NetMeeting's Remote Desktop Sharing feature for controlling your
computer remotely.
•
Chapter 9
, '
Build Your Own Free Online Communities
,' discusses how to create MSN
communities so that you can share files and hold discussions. It mentions other
possibilities for storing and exchanging information online, and it details the tools that
XP provides for uploading files to and downloading files from online sites.
•
The
Glossary
provides a list of terms you may want to refer to while reading the book.
As you can see, this book concentrates on communications: It's anything but a generalpurpose
XP book. XP has scores of other features, from its graphics-heavy and resolutely shiny new
interface, to built-in CD burning and improved support for wireless networking-but many of
these features aren't covered in this book. Only when your understanding of one of those
features is critical to understanding XP's communications technologies does this book cover
them.
Approach of This Book
Because many of the programs discussed in the book have overlapping functionality, this
book presents its material task by task rather than program by program. This approach lets
you compare the features that the programs offer for completing a given task more easily.
For example, you can make voice and video calls by using Windows Messenger, NetMeeting,
or Phone Dialer. Rather than reading a chapter about each of those programs and all the
features they offer (for many tasks other than voice and video calls), you probably want to
know which of them you're better off using for making calls. The way the chapters in this
book are organized, you can find that out easily.
Conventions Used in This Book
To make its meaning clear without using far more words than necessary, this book uses a
number of conventions, two of which are worth mentioning here:
•
The pipe character or vertical bar denotes choosing an item from a menu. For
example, 'choose File | Open' means that you should pull down the File menu and
select the Open item on it. Use the keyboard, mouse, or a combination of the two, as
you wish.
Most check boxes have two states:
selected
(with a check mark in them) and
cleared
(without
a check mark in them). I'll tell you to
select
a check box or
clear
a check box rather than 'click
to place a check mark in the box' or 'click to remove the check mark from the box.' (Often,
you'll be verifying the state of the check box, so it may already have the required setting- in
which case, of course, you don't need to click at all.) Some check boxes have a third state as
well, in which they're selected but dimmed and unavailable. This state is usually used for
options that apply to only part of the current situation. For example, in Word for Windows, if
you select one word that is formatted with strikethrough and one that isn't and then display the
Font dialog box, the Strikethrough check box will be selected but unavailable, because it
applies to only part of the selection.
Chapter 1: Meet Windows' Hidden Internet
Communication Tools
This chapter gives you the big picture of what's covered in the book, introducing you to the
communications tools-the communications programs and communications technologies-that
Windows XP provides. This chapter is short, and its meat provides a brief description of each
tool, a discussion of its purpose, and a summary of its advantages and disadvantages. At the
end of the chapter, there's a
moderately exciting table
listing the communications tasks
covered in the book and the communications tools most suited to them.
XP: Built to Take Advantage of the Internet-and of You
Microsoft designed and built Windows XP to take advantage of the Internet. That's no
surprise, given how central the Internet has become to most businesses (and organizations) of
any size and to hundreds of millions of individual users. And it sounds like unmitigated good
news-which it should be. But it's not. Along with helping
you
take advantage of the Internet,
XP is designed to help Microsoft take advantage of the Internet-and to take advantage of you
as you use the Internet.
In order to take advantage of the Internet while preventing yourself from being taken
advantage of-or, more realistically, while limiting the advantage that Microsoft or anyone else
takes of you-you need to understand the various tools XP provides for using the Internet; you
need to know which of these tools reveal which information about you and your actions; you
need to know who might be interested in keeping an eye on you; and you need to know which
tools to use and how to use them to get your business (or pleasure) accomplished most
quickly and effectively while limiting your exposure to recording, monitoring, surveillance, or
worse.
Windows XP (hereafter, 'XP,' unless we need to be formal) emphasizes some of these
communications tools while hiding others. For example, XP nags you relentlessly via
notification area pop-ups to add a .NET Passport (a form of digital ID) to your Windows user
name. Windows Messenger (XP's shiny new client for chat, audio and video calls, sharing,
and collaboration) automatically displays an icon in the notification area. This icon appears
with a 'broken' symbol (a white X on a red circle) until you add a .NET Passport to XP and
configure Messenger. (You can also specifically hide the notification area icon for Messenger,
but-human nature being what it is-most people will click the icon to find out what's wrong.)
By contrast, XP also includes a fully functional version of NetMeeting, a multifaceted client
for chat, videoconferencing, meetings, sharing, and collaboration that Microsoft used to plug
heavily in earlier versions of Windows. In XP, NetMeeting receives no icon in the notification
area, no shortcut on the Start menu or Desktop, and in fact no acknowledgment of its presence
beyond its program folder (which XP screens from view until you insist on seeing the
Program Files folder and its contents) and a few mentions in the Help file.
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