I got a call today from Rick B. – my favorite tech guru. He called to remind me to update my virus protection. Apparently there is a serious virus out there and it’s nasty because you don’t even have to open a file to get it! (Rick only calls me on these things when it’s important.)

Because I have a wireless network (and run XP) I had to take two steps to protect myself. (It’s important to update Windows patches if you use dial up connection to the Internet too – but you can skip the first step!)

1. Make sure the firewall is on. To do this I went did the following
   1. Go to start and open Control Panel
   2. Choose Network and Internet Connections
   3. Choose Network Connections
   4. Right click on Local Area Network
   5. Select Properties
   6. Select Advanced
   7. Check Internet Firewall box
2. Download Windows Updates. To do this I did the following:
   1. Open Internet Explorer
   2. Go to Tools (on the menu bar)
   3. Select Windows Update
   4. Review updates
   5. And download all updates

Because everyone and their brother is downloading updates it is a slow process – but it should be worth it. For more information on the virus check out the Microsoft Security Bulletin.