default folder

[mom2three]

Please be kind to this newbie..as they may be silly questions..but none the less. Running IE6, winXP, right now I have the songs downloading to C:\Documents and Settings\Debra\My Music. A friend of mine told me that they should be in a shared folder on my desktop or else people will be able to get into my computer and see other files I have and perhaps do something distructive. Is this true? Do I have the default folder set wrong?

[nasrules]

What your friend has told you is utter shite.

Next: Are you on a Dial-Up or Broadband connection?

[Theinfamousone]

No no no, your friend has it completely backwards in every sense of the word, the problem with not having them in your shared folder is that no one else can get files from you, in other words, you are taking from the network, and you are not giving back, which is referred to as leeching around here. And that just means that if you don't share, and you are still downloading files, you are hurting the network, because other people that do share can't get files. Too many people doing this has resulted in Winmx being referred to as Quemx. In other words, very few people share, meaning that when you want to get anything, you have to wait in line forever, and that degrades the network because there are less files going around overall, kind of a catch 22.

No file sharing applications out there is going to allow people to do damage to your computer in any way. Unless you download a virus I suppose.

You should try Kazaa lite. It sounds like it would suit you better than Winmx.

[Evil_Dweller_01]

Very well said the InFamousOne..
She never mentioned that she has any troubled using Winmx so why are you telling her to visit leecher's paradise..aka kazaa lite?

[Krell]

OK . . . let's pretend that I had a life, and I didnt spend 18 hours a day in Windows 2000, XP, XP Pro, and .NET - Server 2003

AND . . . assuming that I would use that folder, which I do not, what security holes are there?

I cant find any ones directly related. There are index files, in XP, that keep track of what you do. This does not allow anyone to "get" or modify your files.

If you right click on the My Music folder, look at Sharing and Security, you will notice that by default, it is not shared between other user on that computer. Secondly, you can put a check mark to enable - Make This Folder Private.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/using/productdoc/en/default.asp?url=/WINDOWSXP/home/using/productdoc/en/windows_make_folders_private.asp

related
http://www.ahherald.com/bcug/2002/bs020328_file_mgmt.htm

On your home computer, you do not have the benefit of Group Policy, so you have to sort of make your own custom security Settings. When you enable the - Make This Folder Private, it changes the attribute so that it is not just READ ONLY, but will require a password for anyone else to access. Anyone that is not signed on with your security credentials will not be able to access the contents.

Well thats a bit extreme in my humble opinion. How does this relate to file sharing? If you want to use P2P, you should share. To download from P2P, and not give back, is leeching, and frowned upon. In order to share you files, they must be accessible.

If you have a second hard drive, I recomend that you use that drive for P2P, and not risk sharing out anything on your C: drive.

Log on as Administrator, and rename the Administrator account to something like Larry, Moe or Curly.

Delete the Guests as a User, and Group, and any other accounts that you do not need such as Back Up Operators, Help Assistant, Support . .

Use a firewall, and do not allow the Windows Services to chat your business out to microsoft etc.

Use the Spybot Search and Destroy, and Ad-Aware to remove spy-ability from your machine.


hope this helps

[mom2three]

<<Never post while under the influence>> ...someone should take their own advise.
Who said I was not sharing..that's funny because this morning 5 people were getting music files from me.. but that's all I want them to get is music files. So in plain english, if they can get the music files that are SHARED (which is fine by me) at C:\Documents and settings\Debra\My Music.. can they get to anything else?

[mom2three]

To nasrules.. I am dial-up

Other's I'm not worried about kids or hubby as they download and share files on mom's pc now anyway. Just worried about outside the house hackers.

I do have Norton Antivirus and firewall programs too..but just want to make sure I'm not missing an area.

[phalkon30]

Others cannot get files unless you have shared the folders

So in answer to your question, no

[mom2three]

Well I do not know what to do than because when I open up WinMX and click on the button shared folders it shows this:
C:\Documents and settings\Debra\My Music
C:\Documents and settings\Debra\My Music\Ashley
C:\Documents and settings\Debra\My Music\Tim
C:\Documents and settings\Debra\My Music\Tyler
C:\Documents and settings\Debra\My Music\Debra
Which is all shared music files..that I'm fine with ...
but could they get to lets say to C:\Documents and settings\Debra\My Webs or
C:\Documents and settings\Debra\My Pictures even though those are not listed in WinMX as shared or can they ONLY get to one's listed as shared?

[Krell]

You friend is wrong, its not that folder in particular that is vulnerable. The problem is access to your machine, irrespective of P2P usage.

"can they get to anything else?"

In plain English, yes. It is possible. Not probable, but possible.

That's why I . . . obviously in less than plain English, advised you to change your accounts, because I can access your machine as Adminstrator, then I can change your account settings, and take ownership, and even lock you out of your own PC.

That's why I advised you to use a firewall.

It is the "Shared" folder for that very reason. It is meant to be shared from, so if you want to share your files there, go for it.

Sharing access to My Music, does not allow access to My Pictures etc.

[mom2three]

I have Norton Personal Firewall and Norton antivirus do I have to change any settings..because of the shared folders for WinMX?

[Krell]

Nyeh, if you are confident that in Winmx, you are only sharing your My Music folder, then you are fine.

No firewall is 100%, but its better to have than to not.

You are good with the basic rules of file sharing, stay safe, stay clean, stay organized.

On a side note, I keep my finished files in a different folder, than my Download folder. For two reasons, first, so when people browse me, they only see the files I am ready to share, I HATE to see 90% unfinished files when I browse people.

Secondly, if you have a 2nd hard drive, share out from that, its better performance wise. As the files finish, you move them to the Shared folder, which on a 2nd drives defrags in the move.


best wishes

[mom2three]

Thanks Krell for your help...second hard drive is a dream for me right now. Have to wait til 17 yr old and 14 yr old who snowboard and paintball are out of the house ...then we have the surprise child who is almost for. So I figure 2nd hard drive in about 14 years : )

[noxiousneo]

No but they can see that you are called Debra. I would make a directory on your C:/.
Call it '_' --Blank made by pressing alt + 0160
Then ppl can see just "c:/_".

-NoX-