The SCM Webmaster's Observations on Windows Update: Windows Update is designed to work only with the Internet Explorer Browser, not other popular alternative web browser programs such as Firefox and Opera. There are ways to get Windows Update to work in alternative browsers, however, such as this plug-in. It is very important to keep your Windows XP installation up to date. Malicious hackers and spyware coders are constantly looking for and finding holes in the Windows operating systems, and Microsoft works had to plug these holes as quickly as they are found. If you don't have Automatic Updates turned on in Windows XP, you won't get the benefit of Microsoft's Security Updates to Windows unless you make the effort to get them yourself via http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. Without these security updates, your system will be more vulnerable to spyware and viruses of recent vintage than if you take the precaution of keeping Windows XP up to date. Some people wonder why Windows operating systems seem to be more vulnerable to attacks than Mac OSX or Linux. The belief that the security built in to OSX and Linux is a myth. In fact, the reason Windows PCs are attacked more often is simply a matter of market share: there are vastly more PCs running a variant of Windows than any other operating system, and virus & spyware writers want to wreak the most havoc from their efforts. Put yourself in the position of a hacker. You want your efforts to have the greatest impact. Are you going to target PCs running an operating system that has only 5 to 10 percent of the market? Not bloody likely. If things were reversed and OSX had the lion's share of the market for PC operating systems, you can bet that Apple would be besieged with reports of vulnerabilities and would be scrambling, as Microsoft does now, to plug the holes when they are identified. ------------------------------- As for updates drivers for your PC's hardware: You can get driver updates directly from the web sites of the manufacturers that make the hardware that's in your PC, if you can't or don't get them from Microsoft. If you bought your PC from an outfit like Dell, or Gateway, or HP, is it best to go to the PC manufacturer's web site and follow the Support or Driver Download links on their site - you will need to know the make and model number of your computer to find and download updated drivers for your PC's hardware. Dell, Gateway and HP generally use OEM parts (i.e. parts made by other manufacturers) in the PCs they build and sell. Some people like to build their PCs from scratch, in which case the parts are purchased online or from places like CompUSA. In either case, it is possible to get updated drivers for specific PC hardware components directly from the manufacturer, provided you know the company that made them. Here's how to find out what hardware is installed on your PC, and the companies that made them: - Right-click the My Computer icon ** on your desktop, and select Properties. - Click the Hardware tab in the System Properties window. - Click the Device Manager button. This brings up the Device Manager window, which shows a list of device catagories. - Click the plus sign next to a device category, and underneath the category a list of devices of this category that are installed and running in your PC are displayed. - Right-click a device and select Properties. This will bring up a window for the device showing the manufacturer and model of the device in question. (** If you don't have a "My Computer" icon on your desktop, then click the "Start" button and then right click "My Computer" from your Start menu window.) Armed with this information, you can now open up a browser window and, via a Google search, find the web site of the manufacturer of the device in question. From there, follow the links on the manufacturer site to the Support or Download areas of the site, and look for ways to tell the site the model namd number of the device for which you wish to download drivers - this usually takes the form of either a dropdown list showing model numbers, a text field into which you enter the model number and click a "search" button, or some other model number lookup or search facility on the site. Once you locate the link to the driver download, click it and an ".exe" or ".zip" file will be downloaded from the site - the ".exe" is an executable program that will install updated drivers on your system, while a ".zip" file is a compressed archive file containing the ".exe" file needed to install the updated drivers. Regardless of whether you download drivers from your PC manufacturers web site or the web site of the company that manufactures a specific component in your PC, you always have the choice of launching the ".exe" (or opening the "zip" and launching the enclosed "exe") upon downloading, or saving the downloaded file to a folder on your hard drive ... if you choose the latter option, you can then launch and run the driver update at a later time. Back to Improving Your PC's Performance.