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SearchWin2000.com's Security Tip
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TODAY'S SECURITY TIP: Selecting a boot partition security
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"More on partitions and security"
By George Perkins
Reader George Perkins responds to our tip by Adesh Rampat about using
FAT on a server because of the ease with which you can repair it.
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The boot partition contains %winnt% system directory.
The system partition contains the boot.ini file, the NT loader, and
of course, the boot record on track 0 of the C: drive.
In a typical installation, the boot and system partitions are the
same. However, on a multi-boot machine (as may be configured in a
test lab), the boot partition may not be the same as the system
partition. In that instance, a FAT system AND boot partition could
prove useful if you are debugging boot.ini problems, flaky hard
drives, broken mirror sets, or the like. A quick boot from a DOS
diskette can have you up and running quickly in some situations where
you have messed up the system partition or overlaid directories in
your boot partition.
However, I would never use FAT on a production server, and disagree
with those who say you should. Security is just too important. Any
administrator who sacrifices good security practices for convenience
has no business maintaining Windows servers for an enterprise, in my
humble opinion.
A better all-around useful hip-pocket emergency tool is ERD Commander
(http://www.winternals.com/), which can boot from a 3.5" diskette and
provide DOS-like access to NTFS volumes. If you're running Windows
2000, Microsoft delivers (for no additional cost!) a nice emergency
boot tool (although quite limited). Just boot to the Recovery Console
(bootable from the installation CD, or you can pre-install it on the
hard drive, giving you a dual-boot configuration. For the reasons
stated previously related to security, I'd recommend just booting
from the CD.
I know this is less of a tip and more of a clarification, but I hope
you will find it useful.
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