Data Protection The AMD Way

That seems like a lot of work, but the extra protection is worth it. DEP prevents rogue programs from accessing protected memory locations and running harmful code. It works by marking common memory locations as forbidden to execute unauthorized programs. If a worm or virus tries to run in these locations, Windows closes the program and notifies the user. By default, DEP is turned on when installed on new Windows XP machines.

DEP can be found under the Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance/Settings tab. Users have three different options:

• Turn on DEP for all programs, which is the recommended course of action;
• Turn off DEP; or
• Turn on DEP for all programs except those that you list explicitly.

"DEP is another tool for the channel to look at and to help differentiate themselves," says Sumit Agnihotry, notebook product marketing manager for Acer, which is one of a variety of OEMs, such as eMachines, Hewlett-Packard, Hypersonic and Voodoo, that carry laptops with Athlon 64 CPUs. Acer will ship its popular Ferrari line of cherry-red covered notebooks with the Athlon 64 CPUs this summer, and plans on including Service Pack 2 later in the summer when the finished version is available.

"We are trying to give VARs and systems builders a new perspective when selling laptops and desktops," Agnihotry adds. "This includes support for new wireless features such as 802.11g radios, investment protection with larger hard drives and better video processors, and 64-bit CPUs."

What's more, DEP is one of numerous security features that have been implemented in Service Pack 2. Assembled under the "Windows Security Center" control panel, for example, are three other features that monitor programs that check for many of the popular security loopholes. With this technology, Microsoft is trying to make sure users keep their systems current and have installed software firewalls to protect themselves.

Here's how it works: Security Center first checks to see if you have an antivirus program running and if it has been updated with the latest virus pattern files from the vendor. Next, it will determine if you have installed all the latest patches and updates from the Windows Update service that is run by Microsoft. This could be an issue for some systems builders who like to wait and make sure that the latest patch doesn't cause more trouble than it cures.

Finally, Security Center will also check to see if you have firewall software installed on the system and if it is running. You can also enable the Windows firewall directly here, which now has its own Control Panel dialog box.

In my own tests, I found both DEP and Security Center to work reasonably well at identifying system weaknesses on an AMD white box Athlon 64 PC. If I changed the Security Center settings to be less restrictive, I was bothered by a series of frequent warning messages.

Early tests of Service Pack 2's Security Center monitoring features are mixed. Nevertheless, they represent a step forward by Microsoft and others in trying to stem the tide of viruses, trojans and other malicious programs.

Safe And Secure
XP Service Pack 2 security features

• Data Execution Prevention: Prevents rogue programs from accessing protected memory locations and running harmful code.
• Security Center: Checks for popular security loopholes, monitors antivirus programs and firewalls, and ensures the latest patches and updates have been installed.