One of the foundations of good security routine is auditing. It’s always best to know what’s inside your computer and what’s happening to them. This way, it’d be easier to trace what happened with your computer just in case something bad happens.

For older versions of Windows, I’ve written about auditing freeware in my previous posts.

But with Vista out and our pool of freeware not too eager to jump into the Vista fray, here’s a tip on how to do your desktop audits on Vista which focuses on access policies and file usage. According to The Unofficial Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista excerpted by Computerworld:

To audit access policies, you need to change some settings to the local computer’s policies. This can be done using the Local Security Policy snap-in for standalone or workgroup computers, or using the Group Policy Editor for computers attached to a domain.

Messing with group policies can be done via an MMC snap-in to provide you with a comprehensive look at policies.

To install it, simply

• 1. Open mmc from the Start menu search box.

• 2. Use the Add/Remove Snap-in menu to add this snap-in. After it is installed, right-click the snap-in and select Generate RSoP data. The Resultant Set of Policy Wizard appears.

• 3. Click Next and then select Logging mode and click Next again.

• 4. Select This computer and then click Next.

• 5. Select Current user and then click Next.

• 6. Review the selection summary before clicking Next.

• 7. Click Finished at the end of the wizard.

Source: Computerworld