• Home
• Prices
• About Us
  • How It Started
  • Mission Statement
  • Why Choose Computer Wizard?
  • Business Practices
• Virus Corner
• Services
  • Hardware Repair
  • Software Problems
  • Networking
  • In-Shop Service
  • Remote Assistance
  • Business Solutions
  • Computer Hardware Recycling
• Service Area
• FAQ
• Refer A Friend
• Feedback
• Contact Us
  • Directions to Us
• CWI Articles
• Educational
• For Experts
• How-To
• Important
• News
• Service Announcements
• Success Stories
• Tips & Tricks

What Programs Are Vital to Be Kept Updated

In the recent waves of fake antivirus infections we dug deeper and found out what are the common loopholes that the malicious software peddlers utilize. I’ve included some of this information in other articles but though that it’d be worthwhile to summarize what are the important things to keep updated on your computer.

By far the most important is to keep your Windows updated. Here’s how you can check on that:

• XP: Click on Start -> All Programs -> Windows Update (it’s on the top). Alternatively, if that link is missing then start Internet Explorer and go to http://update.microsoft.com/
• Vista & Win 7: Click on Start, then type in “update” (without the quotes) and select Windows Update from the filtered out search results. If that doesn’t take you there then Go to Start -> Control Panel and then select the Windows Update (might be under System and Security).

Make sure that you have no outstanding critical updates! If some updates are just does not get installed then contact us because that could result in security weaknesses. We can, in most cases, fix the issue remotely.

Then the most important third party programs to keep updated are:

• Flash Player: this is used extensively on websites to display movies and interactive content.
  Update from: http://filehippo.com/download_flashplayer_ie/ (for Internet Explorer), or http://filehippo.com/download_flashplayer_firefox/ (for other browsers)
• Java Runtime Environment: This allows Java based software to run on the machine. Some websites use this also to display interactive content (eg. www.time.gov).
  Download: http://filehippo.com/search?q=java+runtime (select the 32bit or 64 bit here: see http://www.computerwizardindy.com/32bit-or-64bit/ if you don’t know what that is)
• Adobe Reader: This is extensively used for document exchange, it can contain interactive features which can be misused by hackers.
  Update: http://filehippo.com/download_adobe_reader/

If you just keep these things up-to-date and avoid using Internet Explorer (or other IE based browsers such as AOL) then you will have little chance of getting your computer infected.

Did you find this information useful?
Please consider donating.