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As many of you know, my old computer died on the sixth of this month and I replaced it with a cheap used computer (yeah, I know; you get what you pay for). At first there were all sorts of problems--the main one a bad program that was slowing the computer down to the speed of a two toed tree sloth. Removing the program took care of that. Similarly, things have improved in other ways as well and right now I'm pretty satisfied with what I've got-- Except for one thing. My task bar frequently tells me that my Windows...

I don't think I've ever asked for computer help here before, but I'm having a really strange problem. I am quite used to the little icon for Windows Live Update popping up and asking me to install stuff, and it has never misbehaved like this before. But right now it simply will not leave me alone. I have "installed" security update KB979683 a bizillion times this evening. But after telling me it has installed it pops up just a minute or so later and asks to be installed again. Is this a trojan horse of some kind, or am I...

WASHINGTON -- Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday warned about a serious flaw in almost every version of its popular Windows software that could allow hackers to seize control of a person's computer when victims read e-mails or visit Web sites. Microsoft assessed the problem's urgency as critical, its highest level, and urged customers to download a free repairing patch immediately from its Web site, www.microsoft.com/security.