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Keeping you up to date on the web June 2008 - Special
In this issue
  • Windows XP SP3 Update
  • You Do Update Windows, Don't You?

    		•

    Welcome to a special June 2008 issue of the CyberArtisans newsletter!

    Each month we try to present information that will be useful to you as a website owner and as a user of the web. If these newsletters are useful, please forward this to a friend. To unsubscribe, follow the directions at the bottom of this email.


    		Windows XP SP3 Update

    In the last issue we reported on some of the problems people have been having with Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3). Since that issue was published, many more reports of problems with SP3 have surfaced.

    Therefore, we are reiterating our recommendation not to install SP3 yet. This is especially true if you have been keeping up to date with updates to Windows, since SP3 is really a roll-up of a lot of past updates, plus a few small additions that aren't critical.

    But how can you prevent Automatic Updates from installing SP3? Here's how:

    1. Go to your Control Panel (Start | Control Panel).
    2. Double-click Automatic Updates.
    3. Instead of the recommended "Automatic," select "Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them."
    4. Click OK.

    When updates are available for your system you will see a yellow icon in the far right of your status bar, near the clock. You may also see a popup that says that updates have been downloaded and are ready to install. Here's what to do next:

    1. Click on the Updates icon. A dialog box will pop up.
    2. In the dialog box, select Custom Install. Don't be intimidated by the statement that this is for advanced users.
    3. Click Next. A list of updates will appear.
    4. If one of them is SP3, uncheck it.
    5. A box will appear asking if you want that update hidden. Click Yes.
    6. Then go ahead and install the other updates.

    Don't worry about telling Automatic Updates to hide that update. It will remind you it's there from time to time and some time later this summer you can download it, after all the kinks have been worked out of it. And yes, they will get worked out, it's just a matter of time.

    One point to note: You really do want to eventually install SP3. That's because Microsoft considers Windows XP SP3 a different version of the operating system from any of the previous versions, and at some time in the future will discontinue support for the earlier versions. When that happens, the only way to get the benefits of future security updates is have SP3 installed.

    		You Do Update Windows, Don't You?

    While we're on the subject, we have come across a few stories in the press about people who think that the best way to protect their privacy is to never update Windows, apparently because they fear that Microsoft is downloading information from their system during updates.

    Unfortunately, this is the worst thing you can do to protect your privacy. That's because, without security updates, people who openly admit they are trying to steal your personal information (Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, passwords) will find your machine much easier to break into than others that have been updated.

    Is Microsoft downloading information about you and your system during updates? Well, we can't say they've never done it to anybody, but we can say that some pretty smart and suspicious minds have applied themselves to that question, using data analysis techniques that most of us wouldn't understand if they were explained to us, and they have come up empty. So, despite some of the well-honed paranoia out there, the odds are very good that Microsoft is not using Automatic Updates to steal information from your computer.

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