Windows7How

Security in Windows 7

August 12, 2009

What is the most important thing to the average users while doing everyday things on their computers? To be connected to others and to be certain that no matter what they do everything will be secured and protected from numerous malicious codes or people. Protecting the data and the connections has been considered as a priority for a long time, especially by Microsoft. Their effort to improve the safety can be seen in each version of Windows. When it comes to this trend, Windows 7 is definitely no exception. In the following lines we will present you some of the security measures that have been integrated into this new, officially unreleased operating system.

Action Center – This is the command center. Unlike the predecessor from the earlier versions, where the sole purpose was to deal with security issues, the Action Center in Windows 7 maintains system problems as well. This means that besides the antivirus and antispyware real-time protection, you will be able to change the firewall settings and the level of security in the network connection. The completely new features in this section, therefore, are the possibilities to fix system errors and return the system to its earlier state.

UAC (User Account Control) – I’m sure many Vista users would be interested to know what have been changed in the UAC. To your surprise, one of the most searches word for Windows Vista are “How to disable UAC”. This feature, included for the first time in Vista, had an irritating habit of asking the users whenever a change in the system was done. Yes, there is a way to disable UAC, but for security reasons it is not recommended. Since most of the users started accepting the feature as a “necessary evil”, Microsoft decided to incorporate the same feature in Windows 7 but with extended possibilities and user friendly functions. Now, users can choose one of the following four options in UAC: Not to notify when the users or some software applications make changes to Windows settings, to notify only when programs try to make changes to the user’s computer (but not to dim the desktop), to notify only when programs, but not the users try to make changes to the computer, and the last so-called “comfort-level” is: to notify when programs or user try to install software or make changes to the computer.

Biometric support – In Windows 7 you can configure any attached biometric devices. For everyday work most of the laptops with a biometric reader had to have certain drivers installed. This is not the case with the newest operating system. Windows 7 automatically recognizes the fingerprint reader (if any is attached) and it enables you to protect all kinds of data or to secure access to sensitive data on the net with your fingerprint.

Improved BitLocker – BitLocker Drive Encryption is a feature that encrypts the content of the hard drives. It was introduced for the first time in Windows Vista and its primary task was to encrypt the data on the hard drive and make it unreadable to unauthorized individuals (in case of theft, for example). This protection, however, was for the data on the hard drive but not for the portable memory cards. Up until now, that is. In Windows 7 you can easily encrypt your memory cards and USB memory drives. Even those that are less familiarized with the whole encryption process will have no trouble securing their data.

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Tags: Action Center, security, uac, vista, windows 7