I. Laying the Foundation: Securing Your Home Computer

We'll start by talking about how to secure Windows itself, the base operating system that makes your computer run. Now, ideally you should do the things I'm going to talk about here when you first set up a new computer, but it's never too late to start. Your first step will be to configure your computer to automatically receive security updates from Microsoft. Remember those software flaws I told you about? The ones that hackers will use to try to gain access to your computer over your Internet connection? The good news is that Microsoft typically has patches available for these problems very shortly after they're discovered, and sometimes even before. These security patches need to be downloaded and installed on your computer to take effect, and the best way to do that is to configure it to happen automatically so that you don't have to remember to check for new updates all the time.

One problem with a brand-new computer is that you'll often be struck with a virus or another piece of malware in the time it takes you to go to Windows Update for the first time. The best way to guard against this is to install a personal firewall before you connect to the Internet for the first time we'll talk about personal firewalls in a later section.

The first thing you'll want to do is manually download any updates that you've missed. Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and click on the link that says Check for updates.The Windows Update site will walk you through the process of downloading any outstanding updates that your computer needs.Be sure to look for Critical Updates since Windows Update also includes some optional downloads that aren't specifically geared towards keeping your computer secure. Windows Update might allow you to download a new version of Windows Media Player or Outlook Express, for example. Although these updates usually offer a nice improvement for your computer, they aren't specifically security-related, and you can skip them if you're short on time.If you're prompted to reboot your computer after installing an update, keep going back to that same URL until there are no more updates for you to download. If you haven't updated your computer in awhile (or ever), this may take three or four reboots to accomplish.

After you're all caught up, you'll want to configure Windows so that it will automatically check for new updates on an ongoing basis. If you're running Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional or Home Edition, or Windows ME, this couldn't be easier. Just follow these steps:

1. Go to the Control Panel (usually by clicking on the Start button) and then double-click on Automatic Updates. You'll see the screen in Figure 1. As you can see, you have a few options for configuring Automatic Updates for your PC.

Figure 1. Configuring Automatic Updates for Windows

2. Click the button next to the Automatic Updates option you want to configure. I stick with the recommended option, which will automatically download any available updates and also automatically install them. You can specify the time of day that's most convenient by clicking on the small triangle next to "Every day" and then selecting the time of day that's most convenient for you. I recommend that you check for new updates a minimum of once a week, though as you can see I check for them every day. Try to pick a time that you know your computer is usually turned on so that you don't miss any updates. I leave my computer on during the day while I'm at work, so I have Windows Update perform downloads around mid-morning; you can also schedule updates to occur late at night. If you happen to be using your computer at the time that you've picked for updates to be installed, you can continue to do so while Windows Update is working. You may notice that your computer slows down a bit while Windows Update is downloading and installing patches, but the process usually only takes a few minutes. If Windows Update needs to reboot your computer, you'll be prompted to allow the reboot to take place; this will allow you to save any open files so that you don't lose anything you're working on.

3. Click OK once you've configured Automatic Updates.

If you're still running Windows 98 or Windows 98 SE, you'll need to download a special utility from Microsoft to be automatically notified of any new updates for your version of Windows. You'll see a notification window informing you that you have new updates to install; you'll have the option of either installing the updates right away or being reminded again later. To install this Critical Update Notification for Windows 98:

1. Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and click on Scan for Updates.

2. Click Pick Updates to install, and then click on Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition.

3. Scroll through the list of available updates until you find Windows Critical Updates Notification, and then click Review and install updates.

4. Click Install Now to install the Critical Update Notification.

If you don't know what version of Windows you're running, you can find out quickly by clicking on the Start button, then clicking on Run. Type winver (like Windows Version) on the Run line, and click OK. You'll see a screen similar to Figure 2, which will tell you the version of Windows that you're running, and which Service Pack you have installed. In this example, I'm running Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2.

Figure 2. Using winver to Find Your Version of Windows

A note on Windows 95 and Windows 98: in computer years, Windows 95 and 98 are both fairly ancient versions of Windows. At the moment, Microsoft is planning to continue to release security updates for Windows 98 only until mid-2006. After that, you may or may not be protected from any new security vulnerabilities that are discovered in Windows 98 and Windows 95 has already been "retired" in this fashion. To better secure your computer, you should consider upgrading to Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional before support for Windows 98 draws to a close.