7 Tips for the truly paranoid PC user - Tip #2

Tip #2:

Harden your account settings

Spend a few minutes tweaking your Windows account settings. Few security measures offer so much protection for so little effort. A good first step is to disable any guest accounts that are present, ensuring that a password is set for each account, and disabling automatic login.

If you use sleep mode, adjust your PC’s settings to require a password on waking up.

Next, enable a screensaver and set it to start with a reasonably short inactivity timeout of between 1 and 5 minutes. To do so, right-click the desktop, select Personalize from the menu, and click Screen Saver. Make sure to select the On resume, display logon screen checkbox. Obviously, you will need to have a password configured first for this step to work.

Finally, require that users reenter their system password if the PC has been inactive. Configure this option by clicking Power Options in the Control Panel and selecting Require a password on wakeup in the left column.