Re: Microsoft Products - To Update Or Not To Update?

[mset]

Hi everyone

First, I must say that in the past week or two, the great members here have helped me to finally make some headway getting rid of a chronic internet connectivity problem I have been having. I have learned a lot about how to help myself in the process. I am no techie.

Now that my computer is (hopefully) stabilized), I am determined to do everything I can to prevent these things from happening again. A lot of people have told me that it is crucial for me to keep WIN 2000 Pro and all other Microsoft products updated by going to the website and checking for fixes that are posted there.

The problem for me is - I am not sure I TRUST Microsoft! For example, one of the things they put on my machine was loadqm.exe, something that slowed my machine badly and seems to be little more than spyware, from what I can gather from my web searches.

I went to the MSFT site and there are a ton of fixes I could potentially download, starting with SP4 for my WIN 2000 Pro, and also including fixes for IE.

Now for example - I have started using Mozilla exclusively. But when I got the the MSFT site, and entered my OS, it gave me the list of fixes, some of which depended upon which version of IE I was using. I had to open IE to find out, something I haven't done in a while. I got the version number and immediately shut IE down.

Then... my Sygate firewall started to go off, saying the IE was trying to access the 'Net. I said no, don't let it. A few seconds later, IE requested internet access AGAIN. Once again I said no. Then..... it requested access about 7 more times in succession! Each time I said no. Finally it stopped.

Now, even I know that IE does not request internet access when there is a fix available for it - it has never done so in the past - or am I wrong about this? Why was IE asking me to allow it to access the 'Net after I closed it down?

I guess that in the end this is a philosophical question, but any guidance would be appreciated - do I just go ahead and start installing all the fixes that the MSFT site shows I should have? WIN 2000 fixes only? Am I being paranoid?

Is there a reliable source of objective information about the patches and fixes issued by MSFT - some place I can go to figure out for myself whether I want to install one or not?

What is the approach by those of you who are unsure about whather you should throw your computer open to Bill, Steve and the rest?

Thanks for any advice. Nik

 

[mimo2005]

You can use firefox for browsing ,but i think you still need explorer to connect to the net for microsoft updates ,and if you running win2000 i suggest you to download service pack 4 .
If you lost all the hopes in windows ,i think it s time for you to switch to linux or something else like lindows ,but i am sure they are no better at this time than bill's window !
One more thing ,if you finnaly decide to keep your win2000 , just make sure you have a good antivirus , and anti trojan prog (pestpatrol or tds3 or wormguard)
the firewall its up to you , for xp users it s already integrated with the sp2 .
some good free programs : spybot,adware SE
free firewall
alarm zone and sygate personal firewall see link
http://www.download.com/Sygate-Pers...247416.html?part=dl-sygate&subj=dl&tag=button

 

[mset]

You can use firefox for browsing ,but i think you still need explorer to connect to the net for microsoft updates ,and if you running win2000 i suggest you to download service pack 4 .
If you lost all the hopes in windows ,i think it s time for you to switch to linux or something else like lindows ,but i am sure they are no better at this time than bill's window !
One more thing ,if you finnaly decide to keep your win2000 , just make sure you have a good antivirus , and anti trojan prog (pestpatrol or tds3 or wormguard)
the firewall its up to you , for xp users it s already integrated with the sp2 .
some good free programs : spybot,adware SE
free firewall
alarm zone and sygate personal firewall see link
http://www.download.com/Sygate-Pers...247416.html?part=dl-sygate&subj=dl&tag=button

Excellent - thanks a lot for the info - I currently run Sygate, Norton AV and have Spybot and Spyware Blaster. I do NOT have an antiTroj program - I will check those out.

I have Linux running on a partition but maybe I should check into Lindows. I know nothing about it. I wonder if you can run ANY s/w designed for Windows on Lindows?

Anyone else care to weigh in re: this question of whether I should install every fix and patch available at Microsoft without question?

 

[Bryan]

I've always installed them and have never had any problems. There's always a chance that you could have a problem but you need to realize the task involved in updating an operating system when millions of people with millions of different hardware/software combinations exist. It's an incredibly difficult task and obviously some will have problems.

Anyway, the exception is large operating system services packs. I usually will wait for at least a month before installing them to give them time to work out any bugs.

The other exception is hardware device driver updates from the Microsoft Update Site, I never install them. I goto the hardware makers website and get them from there.

 

[mset]

I've always installed them and have never had any problems. There's always a chance that you could have a problem but you need to realize the task involved in updating an operating system when millions of people with millions of different hardware/software combinations exist. It's an incredibly difficult task and obviously some will have problems.

Anyway, the exception is large operating system services packs. I usually will wait for at least a month before installing them to give them time to work out any bugs.

The other exception is hardware device driver updates from the Microsoft Update Site, I never install them. I goto the hardware makers website and get them from there.

Hi Bryan

Thanks a lot fore the response. It serves to confirm what I have been hearing. One knowledgeable respondent like yourself mentioned that I should do the SP4 update when I have the spare time to deal with any minor problems that might come up, but it's good to know that you didn't mention any of these. This person knew that I intended to overinstall SP4 over SP2.

I know what you mena re: the millions of configurations. Being a non-techie, it is stunning to me that this technology even works half the time.