Yeah, yeah, keeping up a two-week schedule. Right. Well, I've been really busy with life changing... ah, who am I kidding. I'm lazy. Well, this series will be finished up by the end of the month, and we'll get back into the swing of things. Deal?
Great, so our computer is clean, organized and safe (relatively speaking- we aren't out of the woods yet!). Now what?
We're going to be looking at updates: what they do, what they're for, and why we need them. Updates are a crucial component of computer maintenance. Programmers and developers release updates for their programs on a regular basis. These patches contain updates to program functions that increase security and stability, offer new features, and improve the overall performance of the program they serve.
Updates vary widely in several areas: how they are delivered, when they are delivered and how greatly they alter the performance of a particular function. Looking specifically at every single program that we recommend would take much longer than you care to read (or I care to write), so we're going to break down three key updating pieces of software and examine how, when and why they're updated.
Our first stop is our anti-virus program. Whether is AVG or Avast, Kapersky or McAfee, anti-virus programs constantly have updates coded, written and released for them. Without getting into a long discussion of how anti-virus programs work (though, that sounds like a good topic for another post…), near-constant anti-virus updates are crucial. This is because anti-virus applications work on the basis of a signature database; the anti-virus program uses a database of signatures written by programmers to identify viruses and malicious code. Lab technicians at any anti-virus company work around the clock to analyze the dozens of new virus infections and symptoms that appear in the wild every day. Without these updates, your anti-virus software will quickly become out-of-date (translation: useless). Trying to scan a computer with an outdated databse would be like trying to proofread an English essay with a dictionary from the 1800's- you're going to miss a _lot_ of information, and that could be potentially hazardous.
Because of the necessity of relevant information, anti-virus companies offer updates to their users daily, if not several times a day. Often, these are delivered directly though the anti-virus program- 'Check for updates' is a button you should be clicking often if you don't have automatic updating set on your anti-virus program! Updating your anti-virus program is absolutely necessary if you want to maintain your system's security.
The next piece of software we'll look at is our operating system: Windows. Microsoft release updates for their operating systems on a regular basis. These updates range from critical security fixes to optional features and programs. The most crucial of these patches fix security flaws and gaps that, if left unchecked, will provide an open avenue that could potentially allow an attacker to maliciously interact with your system. Other security fixes are offered for Microsoft's supported programs, such as the native internet browser Internet Explorer or Microsoft Office. Small bugs, less-crucial components and third-party hardware controls (such as your video and sound drivers) can also be fixed through Windows' updates.
Typically, Microsoft releases updates several times of month. Often, these are released in packs of several updates in one release. The packs contain a mix of the security flaw fixes, component updates and optional features that we just mentioned. Usually, it's important to install the updates that Microsoft offers ASAP- there's no reason to ignore a security flaw or faulty component that can easily be fixed. Windows Update, the feature that handles Microsoft's updates, can be found in the Control Panel, and gives users the choice of when to check (and when to download and install) the updates that Microsoft recommends. I highly recommend that typical users leave the default update settings intact.
Our final program is a cleaning program I recommended to almost everyone I meet. CCleaner is a powerful cleaning tool that allows users to empty TEMP folders, clean broken registry keys, clear browser caches and more. Piriform, the company that produces CCleaner, periodically releases new versions of their software. These version updates come with new features and upgrades that weren't present in old versions of the software.
This type of updating and upgrading is very different from the other options that are available. For example, Version 1 of a program would be the initial piece of software that a company introduces; Version 2 might introduce a new feature in the program; and Version 2.1 would fix a bug in the new feature. Make sense?
Updates like this often won't be automatically downloaded and installed; instead (as in the case of CCleaner), the production company and programmers will make the new version of the program available, and users will have to manually install the new version of the program.
Programs that are updated like this often don't need to be "updated"; if updates aren't offered natively within the software, chances are you won't need to update the program for it to run properly. Need is the operative word here; running the latest version of a program to ensure the highest level of compatibility and security within you operating system.
So what now? Well… update! Your best option (if you haven't maintained your programs) is to go through each piece of software and make sure that it is updated. Company websites will often announce when a new version, patch or update is available for their program; that's usually the best place to go to make sure you're up-to-date. I've also included a few common programs whose older and unpatched versions are commonly exploited by hackers and malicious software:
Update Windows- Keeping your operating system updated with the latest patches and releases is a key factor in maintaing a secure system. You can update Windows by going to Control Panel > Windows Update or visiting the Windows update website.
Update Java- In addition to Windows updates, you also need to ensure that your version of Java is the most up-to-date. The current version of the Java Runtime Environment is JRE 6 Update 19. Make sure you uninstall any other versions of Java you have before you install the most up-to-date version.
Update Adobe Products- Adobe Reader is used to view PDF files. Flash is used to run various parts of webpages (for example, games or animated cartoons). Older versions of Adobe products are more suceptable to infection. You can download the latest version of Adobe's Reader here and Adobe Flash here.
'Keep it Up-to-Date' is part five in a seven-part series discussing computer performance and maintenance.
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