Posts Tagged ‘pc’
Health check your PC online… in just 5 minutes
Updating your software regularly will often help prevent problems rearing their head in the future
Some programs (such as iTunes) automatically check for updates and make these easy to install. Many programs don’t however (and the process for checking for the latest version is often inconsistent and time consuming). At this point you may be asking ‘Is it really worth the hassle?‘ and to be fair, if your PC is running just fine, then it might not be. There are some very good reasons for installing updates though, such as fixing security vulnerabilities, adding new features, or resolving bugs and system crashes.
Why don’t we update stuff more often?… partly because we’re too busy (and have much better things to do) but also because there’s no quick and easy way to find out which programs need updating. Enter the on-line health check from F-secure. Simply visit their website and (within a few minutes) you will be able to see which of your programs have later versions available. There’s even a ’solve’ button that will advise you what action you need to take, and direct you to the latest update (if one is available). The site is primarily designed with security in mind, but it’s also a great way of getting a snapshot of the status of your PC’s software. NB. the health check only works in Internet Explorer.
We recommend that you create a ’system restore point’ before installing or removing programs. This isn’t essential, but it’s a good safeguard (and we might even post on how to do this at a later date).
Via Lifehacker
Test drive ‘Vista’
Microsoft Vista has now been available for over a year. If you work for a large company, it’s highly likely that you will still be using a PC running Windows XP Professional, and you may be wondering ‘what is all the fuss about?’ Vista has had some pretty negative press over the last few months, but (whether you like it or not) it will probably be around for a few more years. If you are not familiar with the software, now might be a good time to keep one step ahead of your colleagues by seeing it in action (even if it’s just to say, ‘actually I prefer XP!‘). You can try an on-line demo on the Microsoft site.
