Thread: Am I at risk?

When I start my computer a persistent message appears that says: 'Your computer might be at risk'? How I do stop it? I have switched off the Automatic Updates because when I had it switched on, my 21GB hard disk was getting used up. I do not wish to receive any updates as my computer is behaving very well, and my policy is 'If it works, don't fix it'.

You can turn off the message but it's a very bad idea to disable Automatic Updates. Although your computer may appear to be working fine, there may be underlying problems that aren't immediately apparent. Automatic.lJpdates are designed to fix these problems without bothering you too much.

To do so, open the Security Center control panel (click Start, then Control Parle I, then double¬click Security Center). Click the link on the left 'Change the way Security Center alerts me', then remove the tick from the box marked' Automatic Updates', then click OK to close the box. You can also turn off the reporting for the firewall and virus protection, but again we'd caution against doing this because it will leave your computer completely unprotected, without warning you, if either of these fails.

If you do decide to do without Automatic Updates, it's worth visiting Windows Update every so often (we'd suggest once a week) ? in Internet Explorer type the address bar, then press Enter. Follow the instructions to install Critical Updates. If there are any listed, follow the prompts to install them.