Getting  Along With Your Computer Column Archive

What's New?  What's Next?
By Cate Eales

Appeared November 10, 2005 on castanet.net

We’ve talked before about securing your computer and keeping it secure.  One thing Windows XP users should be doing is grabbing those Windows Critical Updates and installing them.  If your computer is set up to download and install them automatically, you do need to make sure the computer is turned on at the designated time.  If you’re going out and getting the updates manually, you should know that Microsoft typically releases the updates on Tuesdays, but not every Tuesday.

Patch Tuesday
November 8 is the next scheduled “Patch Tuesday.”  As I am writing this column on Monday, November 7, I can’t tell you if they actually released the patches, but between 9 and 14 Critical Updates are scheduled at this writing.  Whether you need 1 or 14 will depend on what version of Windows you are running. 

To download the updates, point your browser to: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/.  And guess what?  You have to be using Microsoft Internet Explorer; it won’t work with Firefox.  Follow the prompts there to install any controls you may need, and to download and install the updates.  If you want to change the settings for how and when you download these files in future, you can do so from that page.  Windows XP users with Service Pack 2 installed can also do this from the Security Center on the computer.  Click on Start | Control Panel | Security Center | Windows Updates.  (You might also have a little icon in the Notification area of your computer.  This is the area in the bottom right corner of your screen, near the clock.) 

By the way, Microsoft DOES NOT send emails to customers about updates.  If you receive an email purporting to be from Microsoft and advising you to download something --- don’t do it.  You can bet that whatever it is you download from that link is going to be at best annoying and at worst catastrophic! 

Flash Update
Hey, it’s not just Microsoft that finds huge problems and fixes them!  If you use Macromedia Flash (this is what plays some kinds of animations in your browser) you should be aware that there is a problem with Flash, and there’s a fix for it, too.  The latest version for Windows is 8,0,22,0.  The problem is with version 7 and earlier.  You can read more about it here: http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/security/security_zone/mpsb05-07.html.  If you don’t know what version you have, you can find out here: http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_15507.  There’s a link there to download the latest version. 

New Firefox Version Soon
The latest version of the Firefox browser is 1.0.7.  At least, that’s the latest production version.  Firefox plans to release version 1.5 “soon.”  That version has made it through Beta Testing and is now designated as a “Release Candidate” version.  That means that they feel good about the progress they’ve made, but know that there’s still more to do.  Anyone who wants to can download Version 1.5 RC1 here: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/.  However, Firefox says that this is a for testing purposes only and they will not support it.

If anyone out there is already testing it and wants to comment, I’d love to know how it’s working out for you.  Please let me know.

Links
Secure your computer: http://rlis.com/columns/column2.htm
Part 2: http://rlis.com/columns/column3.htm
Windows Updates: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
Fake Microsoft security update: http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2005/04/va_fakemsupdate.html
Flash Player 7 Improper Memory Access Vulnerability: http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/security/security_zone/mpsb05-07.html
Version test for Macromedia Flash Player: http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_15507
Firefox Version 1.5RC1: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/

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Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric, and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet Solutions, helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management. Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit the Real Life Internet Solutions website at http://rlis.com/.