I often hear people say “Oh, I don’t bother with those updates, I don’t need them.”  or  “Updates, what updates?”  Anyone who uses their computer to access the internet needs to do their Updates.  As this column deals with PC’s and the bulk of the users use some form of Windows we’ll deal with Windows Updates.

Windows Updates includes a number of different items, from security patches, to fixing glitches or common complaints with the program.  We all know about the growing pains associated with a new Operating System, well Updates is part of the solution.

A recent example for doing updates is the Worm that was released in October 2008.   The Worm hasn’t been activated yet and even though Microsoft put out the patch for it months ago, it is estimated that as of Jan 2009 some 9 million computers are still infected. (Conficker virus/worm).

If you are running Windows XP, Service Pack 3 was released late 2008 but some machines still aren’t up to date.  Failing to do the Updates, means you could run into programs that won’t work on your computer because they are designed for a particular update and if you don’t have that update then problems ensue.

Having said that, there are rare occasions when Updates fail and have to be rolled back. (The Update a few years back that caused Office to stop working if you had any HP equipment other than a printer – now that was annoying.)  However, the frequency of bad updates is far outweighed by the positive effects.

So, rule of thumb, if your Operating System tells you it needs to do updates, let it.  Look for the yellow shield with a red exclamation mark in the System Tool Tray (those really small icons on the bottom right hand side of your desktop).  Most Updates require a restart and while you can usually get away with delaying the restart for a little while, don’t delay too long or your computer will throw a hissy fit.  And the screen that says “Do not turn off your computer….” don’t get impatient, just let the Update finish and you’ll be back running faster than if you try to circumvent things.

Chatter