What level Service Pack is installed on my computer?

Many of you have asked the question above, so here is one of several ways to tell. Right-click on the "My Computer" icon on the desktop or in the Start Menu. Then select Properties from the menu that appears. You should get a dialog box similar to the one below. This computer has Service Pack 3.

Support for many Windows versions ends July 13, 2010

Support for Windows 95, 98, NT and ME ended a long time ago. It's a natural progression. Microsoft, or any software developer, cannot continue to support old technology indefinitely. If you have any computers with Windows 2000, support will end July 13, 2010. This means no more security updates or patches. Microsoft will also stop support for versions of XP before Service Pack 3. If you have an older version of XP you can update to SP3 using Windows Update (see my March 6 post).

Windows Updates

About once a month Microsoft pushes updates that help make your computer run better and improve security. It's important that you install these updates. There are actually two different products. Windows Update is the older of the products and just handles software updates for the Windows program. Microsoft Update is the newer, and includes all Microsoft products. It's good to update your MS Office programs as well. For a great explanation of the Microsoft Update process click here. In its entirety it's a long read, but very worthwhile.

You should make sure that your computer is configured to automatically download and install Windows updates. If you are using Windows XP, follow these steps:

• Click "Start"
• Right Click on "My Computer" and select "Properties"
• Select the Automatic Updates tab and configure appropriately for your situation.