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Protecting Your System Keeping Windows Up to Date If you go on the Web for anything, you need to make sure your Internet Explorer has all of the latest "Critical" patches from Microsoft. This is one of the easiest things you need to do. Some Windows installations will include an automatic update feature that will cause a pop up message to appear in the System Tray. If you click on this notice, you will get a message box (see Figure 3-2). Even if you have this feature, it is a good idea to check for updates. Microsoft normally issues updates monthly. Note only Windows 98 or later are now being updated by Microsoft. Windows 95 is no longer supported. Windows 98 is scheduled to end support in June of 2006. To use Windows Update, start Internet Explorer. Then click on the Tools menu and select Windows Update (see Figure 3-1). This will take you to the Microsoft Update page. To learn about Windows Update, click on the "See Also, About Windows Update." It will give you a good overview of the process. The first time you run Windows Update, you will need to have a small utility installed on your system. You will be asked if you want to install it. Select OK. After installing the utility, you will see a box that says Scan for Updates. Click on this. You will soon see a message telling you Windows is looking for updates. When finished you will be presented with three types of updates, Critical Updates and Service Packs, Windows NN (NN represents the version of Windows you have), and Driver Updates. You should install the Critical Updates. The others are optional.