Eternal MS security updates

[africa_tech]

I thought I would ask the question. Do we really have to download the continuous and neverending stream of security updates from Microsoft to enjoy safe computing? It is costing me a fortune in bandwith (very expensive in South Africa!) If I use a broadband router with a built-in firewall, is that not enough protection?

[mnosteele52]

Yes, it is of utmost importance to keep up to date with them. One pc should be a big deal, if you have multiple pcs you can always use Autopacher (http://autopatcher.com/).

:)

[CableDude]

I thought I would ask the question. Do we really have to download the continuous and neverending stream of security updates from Microsoft to enjoy safe computing? It is costing me a fortune in bandwith (very expensive in South Africa!) If I use a broadband router with a built-in firewall, is that not enough protection?

Don't do it and see what happens. I have a few PCs which have not been updated in months....

[YARDofSTUF]

They call them critical for a reason :p

[TonyT]

I have not updated any of my xp systems in a year or more! No problems either. The majority of what is referred to as "critical updates" are unneeded and reflect vulnerabilities that are rarely exploited unless frequent questionable sites such as pron or warez sites. Of course, this is just my opinion and the decision to update should be proportional to your level of comp skill & understanding. I also don't run an antivirus pgm or software firewall, but I don't need to either because nothing can infect my system w/out my knowledge of it beforehand.