Tech Geek

You may have heard the news last week that Microsoft was pushing out an emergency security update to patch a vulnerability in Windows 2000, WindowsXP , Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 and 2008. If you didn't find out about it through the news, you may have, like me, been surprised that your computer had re-started itself sometime on Thursday night. Usually Microsoft releases patches on the second Tuesday of the month, but this was considered important enough that they released it at a special time. This patch was rated critical by Microsoft for Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, which means that a hacker could exploit the flaw to gain control of your computer and make it part of a botnet.

If you have your system configured correctly, these patches should have been automatically (automagically, for some) applied to your computer. However, if you are using an older operating system, like Windows ME or Windows 98, your system has reached its EOL (End of Life) and Microsoft no longer provides technical support, including security updates, for your system. They recommend upgrading to a newer Microsoft operating system. It is, of course, an option to go and buy a boxed copy of a newer version of Windows. In general, however, it is farcheaper to just buy a new, even if very cheap, computer to replace your old one and this computer will come with a newer operating system. Even a $299 computer from a big box store will probably perform better than a computer originally designed for Windows ME!

If you are stuck using an older machine with an older operating system, you may want to be careful about how much private data you store on that system, as it is more likely a hacker could gain access to it than to a fully-patched system.

If you are running Windows XP or later, make sure that you are configured to automatically receive system software updates. Open up the Control Panel and click on Security (Center) to ensure that you are configured to receive updates automatically.

God's blessings in your ministry,
Andy

P.S. - I see that OpenOffice.org has released OpenOffice 3.0. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but I'm hopeful that they will have upgraded Impress enough to begin to use it instead ofPowerpoint.