Because today's computer viruses are playing mean and nasty, we need to be aggressive in preventing them. If you don't have antivirus software yet for your computer, buy some. Do you have a firewall? Even better. But there's another thing you should be aware of in order to better protect your computer and your information. And as an added bonus, it's free!

I've addressed antivirus software and firewalls in previous articles. This article is about a resource that is easily available, easy to use, but rarely seen: Microsoft's Windows Update website.

If you are running a computer with newer versions of Windows (like Windows 2000, ME, and XP), you are entitled to free updates from Microsoft. These updates protect your PC from Bad Things.

To access the update site, open Internet Explorer. Click the Tools menu and select "Windows Update". Then click "Scan for Updates" to see what's available for your PC. Click "Yes" if you are prompted to install any software. You will see a listing of all available patches. To keep things simple for this article, our electronic lifejackets are the updates automatically selected in the "Critical Updates and Service Packs" section. Click the "Review and Install Updates" button. Then click "Install Now".

After you download the updates, at least some of the critical patches will be installed. Reboot if the installation recommends it, and go back to the Windows Update site until you've installed all the critical patches. Be aware this process will take a very long time for those with dialup internet connections.

Apart from the Critical Updates, you'll notice other software available. These are generally program and system updates that may improve features and performance, but use at your own risk. In fact, make a backup of your important data before doing any of this. (Are you really going to trust your expensive computer to some guy in the newspaper? Problems shouldn't arise during this process, but I've seen worse things happen. The movie "Speed 2", for example.)

Why should you care about doing any of this? After all, in the "old days", the noticeable affect of most viruses would be to slow down your system. Not too horrible. Today, though, the consequences of catching a virus are potentially much worse: Viruses will do things like: 1) Randomly email your personal information to thousands of addresses. 2) Cripple your computer and prevent it from working. 3) Internet providers like Comcast are shutting down accounts of users with certain types of viruses, making the user responsible for keeping their computer maintained.

Keep on top of Windows updates. Keep your antivirus software updated. The nature of these problems makes it hard to have guaranteed protection, but the above steps are the core components of a healthy computer.

For a searchable archive of most known computer viruses, as well as their "cures", go to:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html

Now that you know the process, make the above updates automatic at:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/automatic_updates.htm