Windows Updates

On Sunday afternoon I finally installed Windows Service Pack 2 on my computer. The reason I delayed installing it was that I had checked Sony's support site for my Vaio model. There was a message in a big red font that sprawled all over the page. They were apologizing for the inconvenience. The message said that after installation of SP2 wri files could not be saved. There was a file to download to fix the problem but no indication if the patch should be applied before or after installation of SP2. I think the page must have been written in Japanese, translated to English, and they ended up with something that made no sense. On Sunday I checked the Sony support site again. The font on the message was still in red but reduced to a reasonable size. It clearly said to apply the patch before installing SP2. I did that and then installed SP2.

I am happy to report that I have found no problems with SP2. I absolutely love the popup blocker. Popups were the bane of my existence. SP2 has also helped me resolve another issue with my computer that has been bothering me. Back in January I noticed an icon in the icon tray that I did not recognize. I ran my mouse pointer over it and read a message that said support.com protecting your pc. I could not associate this icon with anything I had installed or recognized as belonging on my pc.

I decided it was time to get an anti-spyware program. Microsoft purchased a company called Giant Software in December. In January Microsoft released Microsoft Anti-Spyware in beta. I have lived by a cardinal rule that no software with the word beta associated with it would be allowed on my pc. Well, I broke my cardinal rule. I downloaded and installed the Microsoft Anti-Spyware. It has caused no problems. It does its daily scan and updates itself. It has found no spyware on my pc. I was still in the dark about the support.com icon. It only appears for brief times on my pc. After I installed SP2, I immediately saw a message from the Windows SP2 firewall that said tgcmd module from support.com was trying to access my computer and asked if I wanted to block it. I affirmed that I wanted it blocked.

I searched Google for tgcmd module and found a site that maintains a database of Windows files. It said tgcmd module was created by IBM and used by support.com for technical support for Sony and Toshiba among others. Now I feel much better.

After my sucess with Windows SP2. I found the courage to update My Microsoft Office. SP3 and 5 critical updates installed. It feels good to be current with Microsoft's critical updates, but I know it is only for a short time.