In recent months we have urged our users and readers, over and over again, to do their best to keep their computers "up to date" by applying the latest software patches and upgrades to their systems.  This month, we give you the best-kept secret in the 'race to stay current.`

   You do it many times a day. . . . pushing the 'start' button to bring up a fairly comprehensive menu of installed programs, system tools, shortcuts to useful files and objects, and more:  it's the start menu, of course.  And, right there at (or near) the very top of the list, sits a very helpful, but often ignored, tool:  "Windows® Update."

   Using this tool will help you to "automagically" (yes, that's what he meant---ed.) have your computer updated whenever you wish, and will, in many cases, even allow your computer to tell you when it needs to have it operating system software updated.  To use the tool, connect to the Internet and then select the icon from the 'start' menu.  Windows Explorer (the IE web browser) will open and take you to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.

   If this is your first visit to the site, your browser will alert you that it is being asked to install some software on your machine. This will happen 1-3 times---as long as the name of the program looks reasonable and *it is signed* by Microsoft, you'll be perfectly fine when you push 'yes.'