Very simple yet frequently forgotten security practice...

I know this will be old news for most of you, but I see this problem too often for me to not mention it.

One of the most important precautions you can take to protect yourself from viruses, spyware, and malicious hackers is updating your computer.  You know that little text box that pops up on the bottom right corner of your screen saying "There are updates ready to be installed onto your computer"?  Yeah, those are always important.

Here's a quick method to make sure your computer is always up to date.  I'm going to talk you through telling your computer to automatically check for, download, and install updates.

***** Mac Users -

Click on the apple in the top left corner of your screen.  Click on "Software Update..." and let your Mac check to see if there are any updates available.  If there are, click the install button at the bottom right of the window.  Mac will take care of everything else.  If your computer needs to restart, it will prompt you.  If not, you should be good to go!  Feel free to keep using the computer while this goes on.  Download times may range from a few minutes to a few hours depending on the speed of your internet.

***** Vista Users -

Click on the start button, go to "All Programs", and click Windows Update.  It should be above all of the folders.  If you can't find it, type "Windows Update" into the search bar and you should see it come up.  Now, opening this should make Windows search for updates.  If there are updates, ignore them for now.  You'll be able to get them in just a few minutes.

On the left hand side of the window, click "Change Settings".  Here, you can have your computer do one of four things:
--  Check for, download, and install all updates automatically.
--  Download the updates, but wait don't install them until you choose to
--  Check for updates but do not download or install them until you choose to
--  Never check for updates

The option you want is the top one.  Once selected, you can set how often Windows checks for updates, and at what time.  Mine is set to check daily at 3:00 am since I'm typically asleep by then.  I leave my computer running 24/7 and it never shuts off, so this is okay for me.  If you don't leave your computer running around the clock, pick a time in which you normally have it on, but may not necessarily be using it.  The only reason I say this is because updates sometimes require a restart, and that can interrupt your work day sometimes.

***** XP Users -

Open up "Control Panel" and double-click on the "Security Center" icon.  At the bottom of that window, click "Automatic Updates".  You're now presented with four options.  I'll restate them in case you've skipped the Vista Users section.  The options are:

--  Check for, download, and install all updates automatically.
--  Download the updates, but wait don't install them until you choose to
--  Check for updates but do not download or install them until you choose to
--  Never check for updates

We want the top one.  Set it to some obscure time when you're not at your computer.  On my XP machine, I have mine set for 3:00 am.  If you don't leave your computer on all the time, have it check when you're out to lunch or dinner.  You could even schedule it weekly to go along with meetings or some task that pulls you away from your computer on a regular basis.

I hope this article has helped!  It's fairly common knowledge to update your computer, but I've seen it ignored too many times for me to look it over.  If you enjoy these blogs, feel free to subscribe or add me to your RSS feed reader.  There'll be more to come every day!  Keep checking back!

-Nick