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Install cygwin.

Agreed. And then read this. And learn to use Perl's Win32::API. Most Unix people have no idea that Windows has all this stuff available - it's a bit different from Unix but if you want to use a command line a script everything, you can.

Install an SSH server on Windows and you'll have much of the same functionality as UNIX through the command line.

" With UNIX I'm in Ireland (I'm usually based in the US) and I get a call 'We just got a new user, could you add them'. I whip out my Ericcson 68i and Sharp Zaurus - and ssh into the server and run a script to add the user."

Did you even bother to check out whether this was possible in Windows? I guess not: this site shows you how to add a user from the command line in Windows. In fact, you could even write a script to do that (batch files... remember those?) In fact, here are lots of handy other things you can do from the command line in Windows, including changing user passwords, forcing users to log off, and more.

Once again, ignorance of what Windows can do is no excuse. I administer 16 Linux boxes... I'm not anti-Linux by any stretch of the imagination, and I know that there are lots of situations where Linux is the better choice. But that still doesn't mean I'm ignorant about what Windows can and can't do.

On the back is a blurb saying the disc is designed to play on CD players, DVD players, PCs and Macs. What it doesn't say is that in order to play it on a computer you're supposed to use the software on the disc (hmm... totally future-proof). Furthermore, it autoruns an installer to install the software.

I wonder how long it'll be before the installer not only auto-runs, it also auto-installs (like the installation for BitTorrent which doesn't ask any questions).

Best bet is to disable the autorun feature.

Google also found a neat page with other security information (the autorun info is toward the bottom).

Just in case anyone is wondering what this is all about click here.

Yes, you're right. Sometimes you can even use a backdoor password. I remember that password AMI worked for every AmiBIOS some time ago (extremely stupid idea, once someone knows such a password, every system can be compromised). There's a lot of interesting articles on the Web about cracking BIOS passwords:

• HOW TO BYPASS BIOS PASSWORDS by Elf Qrin
• How to Bypass BIOS Passwords by LabMice.net
• BIOS Password Recovery by Password Crackers, Inc.

A Google search for BIOS Passwords gives quite a few hits. Putting your floppy into the drive is the fastest and easiest thing you can do if you have physical access, but it's not the only issue. No one should ever be allowed to be near the important servers, except people responsible for the security.

Somehow off-topic, but speaking about security, I have to recommend one of the best texts about security (mostly about secure programming) I've ever read: Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOWTO by David A. Wheeler. Great read. And speaking about passwords, it's good to read great publications of Alec Muffett, the author of the famous crack(1) and CrackLib:

• Security FAQ
• Proper Care and Feeding of Firewalls
• WAN-Hacking with AutoHack (plus slides)
• How To Build Your Own Network Intrusion Kit (readme)
• Programming Holes that will hose your System Security
• Crack FAQ
• CrackLib README
• Crack Humour

It's maybe not very on-topic when speaking about physical security, but it's very important to understand the security as a whole.

Disaster Recovery Resources - it contains a lot of useful articles about disaster recovery.
I wish you luck!