GeekByte: Keep Your PC Up To Date

One thing I’ve noticed with a lot of users is that they don’t keep their home PC’s updated. The nice thing is that most of your important software has the ability to automatically update itself. Usually the biggie is the antivirus. There are a lot of people out there who don’t realize that their software needs to update to know the latest viruses out there. Make sure your antivirus is doing automatic updates on a regular basis, and while you’re in there check what the date is on your last update file. A couple of days old is ok, but if it’s more than that then you need to update it. You also want to make sure your antispyware software is updating as well. Just like virus definitions, you need to keep your spyware definitions current so that the software will recognize any new threats.

If you’re running Windows make sure to have the Automatic Updates turned on. You can configure this setting under the Control Panel. When Microsoft releases a new update your computer will alert you and install it based on the settings in the Automatic Update configuration. You can choose to have them alert you before downloading, download it and then alert you before installing, or download and install without alerting you. These updates will keep you safe by patching any security holes that you have, and will provide you with service packs for your operating system.

You might also want to download the service packs to Microsoft Office if you own it. I’ve run into a few issues with setting up an email account in Outlook before because it didn’t have the necessary patch level to work with the server’s settings. A simple service pack install did the trick. Most of the time the service packs for a product like Office aren’t that big of a deal if you don’t have them installed, but if you are having any kinds of problems then you might want to look at installing them. You can download the service packs and other updates for Office from Microsoft’s Office website.

All in all keeping your PC safe is a big deal. One of the easiest things you can do is keep up with the latest updates for your computer. Of course safe browsing and safe Internet activity is always a must, but the patches will give you a good start to keeping the ‘puter nasties out of your PC.