overwhelmed with updates

[MB]

I just got my new DELL system about 5 days ago. It has Windows XP. This is a
small
system, DIMENSION 2400. I will use it for internet browsing, word
processing,
spreadsheets, turbo tax, EBAY purchases, etc. That is, personal use. It will
not be a
server or any part of a network. But, of course, eventually I am sure it
will have sensitive
information on it, such as turbo tax information, etc.

Okay, so I ran the Windows Update check. It listed 25 Critical Updates (I
haven't even
looked at the others). I am real hesitant to install them all as I have read
horror stories of
people who have done this and then they have real problems with their
machine (if that
occurs, can I do a system restore and get back to where it was just before I
installed the
updates -- assuming I can even boot up?).

Anyway, here are the code numbers of the updates. I'm wondering if anyone
can advise
on which ones to install. Incidentally, the ones with question marks are
those that don't
sound worthwhile based on the brief description (ie: those for servers or
networked
computers or using some software that I don't have nor intend to use). I'd
appreciate
some guidance here!!

822925
330994
KB824105
KB824146
821557
819696
811493
9817287???????
816093
815021???????
9329441????????
814033
329834
9329390
9329115
328310
810565???????
810833??????????
810577
823718
817606
817787
814078
811630
329170????????

Any suggestions?

Mel

 

[Chuck Little]

Download them and install them.
Why would you want to take a chance?

 

[Ron Chamberlin]

Mel,
25 in the Critical list sounds about right for a new box. I suggest you
download at least the Critical updates, and set your machine to pull the
list once a week. Once you get the 25, the list will be much shorter. While
mileage may vary, the updates are tested across a pretty broad spectrum
before they are released.

 

[Mike]

Well if it's any comfort, I downloaded them all, saved
them to a file on my hard drive, installed them one by
one and they all worked. No problems.

Both Ron and Chuck gave good advice.

 

[Maureen Goldman]

Okay, so I ran the Windows Update check. It listed 25 Critical Updates (I
haven't even
looked at the others). I am real hesitant to install them all as I have read

Do a few at a time, every few days. That way if something goes amiss,
you'll have a fair idea of the culprit. Start with the ones that seem
particularly applicable to your situation, or any which seem to deal
with a worrisome subject. It's not a good idea to hit your system at
once with everything in the list. By and large, as long as you have a
firewall up and current anti-virus protection, it won't hurt if you
take two weeks to download the critical updates.

As for system restore: It's fine when it works, but the saved points
are on a chain. If one becomes corrupted, they all may fail. You
should have other backups as well. There's ntbackup, which comes with
the system. Another that I like is a 600K freeware utlility,
erunt.zip, which is akin to the old scanreg, making a copy of your
registry and essential files and restoring them easily.
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt

 

[Curt]

I just got my new DELL system about 5 days ago. It has Windows XP. This is a
small
system, DIMENSION 2400. I will use it for internet browsing, word
processing,
spreadsheets, turbo tax, EBAY purchases, etc. That is, personal use. It will
not be a
server or any part of a network. But, of course, eventually I am sure it
will have sensitive
information on it, such as turbo tax information, etc.

Okay, so I ran the Windows Update check. It listed 25 Critical Updates (I
haven't even
looked at the others). I am real hesitant to install them all as I have read
horror stories of
people who have done this and then they have real problems with their
machine (if that
occurs, can I do a system restore and get back to where it was just before I
installed the
updates -- assuming I can even boot up?).

Anyway, here are the code numbers of the updates. I'm wondering if anyone
can advise
on which ones to install. Incidentally, the ones with question marks are
those that don't
sound worthwhile based on the brief description (ie: those for servers or
networked
computers or using some software that I don't have nor intend to use). I'd
appreciate
some guidance here!!

822925
330994
KB824105
KB824146
821557
819696
811493
9817287???????
816093
815021???????
9329441????????
814033
329834
9329390
9329115
328310
810565???????
810833??????????
810577
823718
817606
817787
814078
811630
329170????????

Any suggestions?

Mel

============================================================================
==================
I hope you you've enabled the XP firewall and are runnig an AV program.
Getting all the updates you need will take some time, so please protect your
system. The advice in the prior posts is sound, so you should not have
problems. However, it would be a good idea to d/l the updates and burn them
to a cd just in case you have to redo your system to factory specs. This
would save the hassle of downloading them again.

HTH,[/QUOTE]

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

I just got my new DELL system about 5 days ago.

The way I see it, now's the ideal time to go ahead and download all the
updates. If anything goes really screwy, you won't be losing months of
work.

 

[Tom Pugh]

You can always do a system restore after installing the
updates. I routinely install every update that comes
around and I haven't had any problem. I'd install all
of 'em and see what happens. If nothing happens, fine.
But, a slower computer is better than one that has been
hit by a virus. Also, make sure your firewall is turned
on in network and don't open any email without virus check
first.