What should I do....Microsoft releases eight security updates for Windows

Peter 14.7

Peter 14.7

Hi All

Todays SMH reports

Microsoft releases eight security updates for Windows
February 10, 2005


Microsoft yesterday released eight security updates rated "critical" for computers running the company's ubiquitous Windows operating systems and urged users to download and install them as soon as possible.

The "critical" threat level is only given in response to vulnerabilities that would allow an outsider to gain control of another computer.

The vulnerabilities affect all computers running Windows and exploit known problems in Internet Explorer and Windows Media player as well as other flaws.

The batch of updates was the second largest released by Microsoft since it began issuing regular security updates two years ago. The updates are available at the website windowsupdate.microsoft.com.

I went to the MS site and it seems to be antivirus and firewall programs. Yet as I run Norton do I need this?

I tried to download other Anti V programs recently and it gets confusing which one is in charge and I fear crashing the system.

What should I so, if anthing?

Peter 147
 
Thanks a lot :D

My limited IT knowledges knows Linux is an operating system so I assume not compatible with windows.Does that help me?

Peter 147
 
Peter 147 said:
Thanks a lot :D

My limited IT knowledges knows Linux is an operating system so I assume not compatible with windows.Does that help me?

Peter 147
Click to expand...

Replace windows with Linux !
 
Unbelievable.

I was going to ask a similar question. I'm running windows 2000 (believe it or not, I only recently upgraded from windows 95 lol) and every now and then get the update message on my screen. Was wondering, when the new security updates are downloaded, do they supercede older updates that are now obsolete. Should I be wiping the older security updates off my system to free up space or is it not an issue??

Regards
Marty
 
I believe you should keep the old security updates on the system. They patch other holes ! Might have to check the Microsoft site to verify this
 
Peter 147 said:
Thanks a lot :D

My limited IT knowledges knows Linux is an operating system so I assume not compatible with windows.Does that help me?

Peter 147
Click to expand...
I think this is how it works:

With Apples' OS X you install your Windows onto the Unix kernel so if you have a program which must run on Windows (Comsec Pro) you open it without changing your OS but it has the inherent security of Unix as protection.

You can use any printer or mouse etc with a USB cable so the arguments against it are diminishing. You can justify the cost on the basis that you are getting a good product which should last longer than a Wintel box.

Thommo
 
There's nothing new about Microsoft releasing a "critical" security update for Internet Explorer. :rolleyes:

You don't have to switch to another operating system like Linux.

A simpler way is to use Firefox as your web browser. It's actually a better web browser than Internet Explorer. And it's free... :)

http://www.mozilla.org/

Cheers,
 
WillG said:
Go Linux Go !

Firefox is steadily taking over IE. Spread da word ... Firefox/Mozilla is da word
Click to expand...
It looks like it is....
On checking my annual website stats, only about 75% of the visits are now from IE browsers. With about 24% being Mozilla/Firefox. (based on about 20,000 hits per month)

I'd love to switch over to Linux OS myself, but i'm a bit nervous about a changeover.
 
Last edited:
Peter 147 said:
I went to the MS site and it seems to be antivirus and firewall programs. Yet as I run Norton do I need this?

I tried to download other Anti V programs recently and it gets confusing which one is in charge and I fear crashing the system.

What should I so, if anthing?

Peter 147
Click to expand...
You should get rid of Nortons and install Kaspersky instead. It is the only AV program you will need. I made the change myself a while ago on all our PCs and have never had problems with viruses since. There is not much different in price between KAV and NAV, but there is definately a difference in product quality. Have a gander at this site if you need more convincing (check the Aug04 on-demand comparative) :
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

As for Firefox, if "better" means more secure, then yes, it is a better browser than IE. However, it is slower and not as developed as IE (it doesn't yet support ActiveX for things like Netbanking, Windows Updates, etc, and a heap of other plugins). I've gone back to using Netscape - it has the security of Mozilla, and the plugin support of IE.
This article is a good read on Browser Wars :
http://slate.msn.com/id/2103152/

Ad(ios).
 
Firefox slower than IE ? You must have done something wrong Adam ... almost everyone I've convinced to try Firefox has exclaimed how much faster it is to load pages and such.

Yes it can be slower to launch the first time, but that's only because most of the IE code is loaded by Windows during bootup.

I really really dislike Netscape - and have since v4. Nothing has changed there IMO.
 
If you use firefox you can use this little tweek.

1. Type "about:config" in the address field. (minus the quotes)
2. Set the value of network.http.pipelining to "true".
3. Set the value of network.http.pipelining.maxrequests to "100".
4. Set the value of network.http.proxy.pipelining to "true"
5. create an integer and call it nglayout.initialpaint.delay and set value to "0"

There are pre-loaders for Firefox out there. Basically load the bulk on PC startup so when you click the FireFox icon it pops up very quickly.
 
Baloo said:
If you use firefox you can use this little tweek.

1. Type "about:config" in the address field. (minus the quotes)
2. Set the value of network.http.pipelining to "true".
3. Set the value of network.http.pipelining.maxrequests to "100".
4. Set the value of network.http.proxy.pipelining to "true"
5. create an integer and call it nglayout.initialpaint.delay and set value to "0"

There are pre-loaders for Firefox out there. Basically load the bulk on PC startup so when you click the FireFox icon it pops up very quickly.
Click to expand...

Baloo,

What does this tweek do exactly?
 
Thommo said:
I think this is how it works:

With Apples' OS X you install your Windows onto the Unix kernel so if you have a program which must run on Windows (Comsec Pro) you open it without changing your OS but it has the inherent security of Unix as protection.

You can use any printer or mouse etc with a USB cable so the arguments against it are diminishing. You can justify the cost on the basis that you are getting a good product which should last longer than a Wintel box.

Thommo
Click to expand...

Or do what I did and install Virtual PC, which is a Microsoft product now, for Mac OS X, and install the Windows OS of your choice on to that. This way, you can still run your Windows programs if you need to, whilst using Mac OS X to safely and securely do things like e-mail, Internet browsing, writing letters, (plus programming, development, graphic arts, music, photos, movies, DVDs, etc.).

Might I suggest you look at the Mac mini, which you can buy and plug into a USB equipped keyboard and mouse, and a VGA or DVI based monitor. A new computer for less than $1000. You get some great software bundled on the system, and you can simply get a copy of Virtual PC, and install a copy of Windows you already own, onto it.

Then, viruses, spyware, adware, worms, trojans, will be all a thing of the past.

Hope that helps.
 
Sim said:
Firefox slower than IE ? You must have done something wrong Adam ... almost everyone I've convinced to try Firefox has exclaimed how much faster it is to load pages and such.

Yes it can be slower to launch the first time, but that's only because most of the IE code is loaded by Windows during bootup.
Click to expand...
Yes...the fact that it's slower to launch is what I was eluding to previously. As for browsing speed, I have not found it to be much (if any) quicker than say Netscape.
Sim said:
I really really dislike Netscape - and have since v4. Nothing has changed there IMO.
Click to expand...
Without Nescape, there would be no Firefox. Netscape owned Mozilla (and maybe they still do ?) who created Firefox.

We have all left the Netscape party at some point, but I recently installed version 7.2 and they have got their act together again. As I said, it has the security of Firefox with the plugin flexibility of IE. Best of both worlds, not to mention a familiar interface that we have all used at some point.
 
Merovingian said:
Might I suggest you look at the Mac mini, which you can buy and plug into a USB equipped keyboard and mouse, and a VGA or DVI based monitor. A new computer for less than $1000. You get some great software bundled on the system, and you can simply get a copy of Virtual PC, and install a copy of Windows you already own, onto it.

Then, viruses, spyware, adware, worms, trojans, will be all a thing of the past.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
That Mac Mini is quite impressive. I've always found Macs too prohibitive due to the price tag, but that seems to have changed.

How is it that Macs are immune to viruses, spyware, etc ? Are these cyberpests not written for MacOS as well ?
 
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