Regular readers of this column will recall that in December's issue I alerted you about the potential of older software, particularly operating system software, running out of support by the manufacturers. Apparently this is already taking effect, with this customer being one of the first casualties of this action. With his computer only being a Pentium 166 (I can remember when that used to be the best CPU out there in its days), we upgraded the computer's OS to Windows 98se and a newer version of Norton, thus keeping him at least one more step ahead of the sweepers following the OS Elephant at the end of the OS support parade.

Ignorance of virus matters is not Bliss. As I just illustrated using a real computer customer's serious plight, you must keep checking the status of your anti-virus program and its definition files to be sure it continues to remain on guard at all times and updated within the past week. I routinely tell customers to click the 'live update' button on Norton, or equivalent on their other software, at least once a week rather than depending on the automatic updates which are supposed to happen. Even on my computer at home, which runs 24/7 on a cable connection, Norton doesn't always grab the updates as soon as they become available. When I run the live update, periodically it will find other updates besides the virus definitions which have been made available as well.

Speaking of which, many of you know that I have long spoken against upgrading to Windows XP. I'll build or sell new computers designed to be compatible with XP, but I seldom recommend upgrading to XP on older computers because of driver incompatibility and security issues. There is a Website where you can monitor XP happenings and news, or get a weekly free newsletter e-mailed to you every Tuesday. That address is www.winxpnews.com. The backers of this site are reportedly an independent from Microsoft and aren't afraid to point out problems as well as great features of the XP operating system. Check it out and make your own educated decision.

And last, but not least, I recently was hired to install a new wireless system for a doctor's office in a professional building so that they could carry their laptops around from room to room, making patient notations or other inquiries. Using the affordable Linksys hardware for the wireless access point connected to their pre-existing hub and router, I installed wireless PCMCIA adapter cards in each of their laptops. 

When I turned the laptops on for the first time and ran the setup software for the wireless cards, does anybody want to guess how many unsecured wireless access points I could find and use to get out to the Internet? Yep, it seems the good doctor wasn't the only one in the building to have this same idea, but they were the only one with a consultant worried enough about security to activate WEP to lock out unauthorized users from accessing their system. 

The default channel for most systems is "6", but a good wireless system will scan all channels from 2 through 11 to see what is available. If you aren't careful enough to set up encryption (WEP) on your wireless network, someone else next door might be able to turn on their laptop system with a wireless card and start cruising your computer or use your high speed Internet connection to surf the web. 

Oh, well, at least I now know of at least one place to grab access to the Web if away from home by simply turning on my laptop inside a professional building and walking up and down the hallway until I get a strong enough signal from someone's unsecured wireless system.

When it comes to computers, just like the law, ignorance is not bliss, and it can be dangerous if you don't know what your computer is doing. Keep your anti-virus updated weekly, keep that firewall software running and updated, and don't forget to leave your WEP turned off on your wireless system so that everybody else can enjoy free high speed Internet at your expense. Well, maybe not that last item. I won’t install a wireless system even in a residence without activating the WEP using a code phrase that the owner can remember.