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COMPUTER Tips and Tricks |
Part 1 Email Maintenance Part 2 Protect Part
3 Update Part 4 Clean up Part
5 Backup
Part 3: Update
One of the things about computer software is that it is never finished. Software manufactures (like auto makers) don’t want you to own the same thing forever. They want you to purchase the latest and greatest.
Q: Update or Upgrade? What’s the difference? A: Updates are
free. Upgrades cost money.
Updates are most often security patches to close holes that
people have found in the basic Windows operating system. Upgrades are like a whole new level
of platform with many different bells and whistles, and, hopefully, fewer
security problems. Do you have to
upgrade (purchase the newest)? That
depends on many factors. If you can do
everything now that you want to do, then the simple answer is “no”.
Do you need to upgrade Windows itself? That also depends on what you want to run. ACT! has minimum requirement of Windows 98. CP Office has to have Microsoft Access (usually a part of Microsoft Office Professional). For most of you, your current hardware (laptop) has limitations on what it can possibly be upgraded to, so in your case, probably an update will do. Windows comes in 95, 98, ME, NT 2000 and XP. MS Office comes in 97, 2000 and XP. Here’s the confusing part. Office 97 was meant to run on Windows 95, but will work on 98, ME and XP. Office XP will run on Windows XP, but will also run on 98 and ME.
Before you update, be SURE to run your spyware and
antivirus programs to make your machine as clean as possible. This is particularly true with Windows XP
Service Pack 2.
How to Update Windows
The ever familiar blue “e” is the icon for Internet
Explorer. You might even have one at the bottom of your screen to the right of the 
button. A few weeks ago we talked about the dangers and pitfalls of Internet
Explorer with regard to spyware. However, in the case of Windows Update, this program is the one to use.
When open, across the top of the window are the words File,
Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, and Help. Click on Tools then Windows Update
and you will go directly to Microsoft’s website. Here Microsoft will inspect your computer (this is perfectly
safe) and prepare a download specifically for your computer to “update” your
computer.
When you see the screen below, click on Express Install (Recommended).
All of this should only be attempted with a high speed
connection to the internet. A dialup
connection may take several hours for this operation to be completed.
Once everything is downloaded and installed, you might want to update your spyware and your antivirus programs also and check to see if there are improvements for your word processor.
All antivirus programs have a button in the program
that says something like “Check for updates” or “LiveUpdate…”(this is from Norton or Symantec AntiVirus).
For other programs, go to that program’s website and
see if they have an Update button.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to
call me. Next week – CLEANUP.