Windows XP Program Protection

There’s always a moment of fear, when you’ve just downloaded a program from the Internet and you click on the file or .exe icon to install it. What if it contains a virus or something nasty that will crash the computer, or worse?  It’s impossible to be one hundred percent certain about downloads and even software from reputable sources has been tainted, but Windows does have a way of protecting itself. The next time you want to run or install a download that you are not sure about try this Propellerhead top tip, right-click on the file and select ‘Run As’.

This will open a dialogue with the option to ‘Protect My Computer’; make sure it is selected and click OK to proceed. This allows the program to read information from the Windows Registry, but it won’t allow it to make any changes, nor will it allow the program to mess around with User Profiles or interfere with My Documents folders, Temp files, the Desktop. The only points to watch out for are that before using Protect Mode you should close all running programs, and some otherwise harmless applications may not work properly under these restrictions. There are hundreds more great tips just like this one on the PCTopTips website