Home Computers
ITS developed this web site to assist staff and students update their personally owned computers with the latest Microsoft patches to help protect them from potentially very dangerous viruses. As the University does not provide IT support to personally owned staff or student computers, this web site alone represents the extent of support from the University. We hope that you find the content of this web site useful in ensuring your personally owned computer is protected from the latest Viruses.
ITS have placed some of the more critical patches on this website for you to download, as well as some virus removal tools. However we also recommend that (at least) monthly you follow the steps 4-9 below. In addition, we strongly recommend that you install and regularly update (at least weekly) an anti-virus program and a firewall program. Many such programs can be setup to automatically download their updates whenever you connect to the Internet.
How can I keep my windows based computer up to date with the latest patches?
- Find out what version of Windows you are running, by clicking on "Start" and then "Run" and typing in "winver" (without the quotes) and pressing the "Enter" key. This will bring up a small box telling you what version of Windows you are running and what Service Pack you have installed (if any). Windows 2000 and XP users should proceed to step 2. Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME and NT4 users should click here.
- Open up Internet Explorer and find out what version you have by selecting Help and then About Internet Explorer. If you have less than version 6.0.2800 (which is Internet Explorer 6 SP1), please download and install the latest version of Internet Explorer by clicking here (size = 77.6Mb: Because of it's large size, it is suggested that you download Internet Explorer 6 SP1 from the University's web server and burn it onto a CD to take home. Alternatively, if downloaded by modem, it may take many hours).
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WARNING: Updating of Service Packs should only be done on Home or Personally Owned Machines. Updating Service Packs on Work Machines can break some software currently used. Please only let ITS staff or your LCO install a Service Pack on a work machine.
Next ensure that you have installed the latest Service Pack (if available) for your Operating System. Click here to download the latest Service Packs for Windows NT4, 2000 and XP. ITS suggest that you download the Service Pack you require whilst at University and burn them to a CD to take home, as these patches are up to 130Mb in size and may take as much as 12-15 hours to download by modem.
- Once you have installed the latest Service Pack, open up Internet Explorer and visit http://www.windowsupdate.com/.
- Click on "Scan for updates" (Windows NT4 users click on Product Updates) to get Microsoft to scan your computer for any necessary patches. You may receive one or more security warnings. Review each security warning to ensure that the content is signed by Microsoft, and then click "Yes" to install the software.
- Click on "Review and Install updates" (Windows NT4 users click on Download if it is present) and then "Install Now" (Windows NT4 users click on Start Download) to install all Critical Updates and Service Packs.
Staff members should find any Service Packs in the list and select Remove in order that they do not install Service Packs on Work Machines. Please call the ITS help desk on 33000 if you have any questions about how to NOT install Service Packs from Windows Update.
As some of these patches are quite big, it may take some time to install.
- You will be presented with a license agreement that Microsoft asks you to read and select Yes to install the patches.
- Once the updates have been installed, you will be asked to reboot your computer to ensure all patches are correctly installed. Some patches MAY require invidual installation before you can install later patches, so you should repeat steps 4-8 until there are no more Critical Updates and Service Packs to install. Other updates on the Windows Update website should probably NOT be installed unless an IT professional recommends it for YOUR particular machine.
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If you are using Microsoft Office 2000, XP or 2003, you will also need to next visit http://www.office.microsoft.com/officeupdate/ to also update any security patches for Microsoft Office. When you open this site you should click on "Check for Updates". This will bring up a new windows that asks you to "Please wait, Checking for Office Updates you need ...". It then scans your copy of Office to see if there are any updates that need to be installed. If it finds such, please follow the instructions to update your computer. Most such updates can all be applied at once, but every now and then you'll need to install patches, reboot and then repeat this step again.
Ongoing Virus Protection Advice
ITS recommend that you regularly update your Virus protection software and apply the latest Windows Service Packs. This together with good firewall software will ensure that your computer is in the best condition to be protected from any new viruses.
Anti-Virus Software
The University has a license agreement with McAfee for the antivirus software.
If you have acquired your own virus protection software, please ensure you update it regularly.
Ongoing Firewall Advice
ITS also strongly recommends that you install a personal firewall. This is a program that blocks access in and out of your machine, except for programs that you specify. This together with an anti-virus program will ensure that your computer is in the best condition to be protected from any new viruses. There are a number of free firewall products available (eg ZoneLab's basic product ZoneAlarm or Sygate's Personal Firewall), though obviously more features and better protection is available for products that are purchased.
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