Microsoft Windows is far and away the most popular operating system in the world. It was the first mainstream desktop operating system and with Microsoft as strong as it now is, there’s no end of the Windows factory line in sight.

By appealing to an international market, Microsoft is constantly seeking to come up with solid new functionality for its flagship product, without detracting from the ability to ship that product to a diverse audience that covers you, me and a whole range of different consumer needs.

Windows is not foolproof. Despite extensive testing before release, there will always be bugs picked up that require fixing. Such is the nature of an evolving digital age where online technology is becoming just as sophisticated as the operating system, Windows is constantly having to adapt and provide new solutions.

The Microsoft Updates website is a haven for keeping your Windows in the best possible working order. Say you were to purchase Windows XP in 2003 and still be using it now in 2008, thats five years where technology has advanced incredibly and new security threats have been exposed. How does the original XP 2003 customer stay safe without purchasing Vista? Downloading updates is the answer! Windows updates are free of charge and released almost daily. You can specifically ask Microsoft to inform you of pending updates and keep your PC updated every time you start up - but as many people will confirm, the updating process can become tedious when you really want to be cracking on with your work.

The most important Windows updates are where security is concerned. Viruses are constantly being designed to attack loopholes in the Windows framework. Plugging the gaps in that framework is a business that Microsoft hires an entire team to perform on a day to day basis. Their work is available for free from the Microsoft Updates website where you can grab the latest fixes hot off the press as and when they are released.

Of course, it’s a constant shift in power between the security guys and the hackers who are trying to get the better of them. But if you don’t bother to install Windows Updates, you’re putting yourself at a highlighted risk.

Microsoft is also known to periodically release Service Packs which bundle all known fixes with improvements to the actual functionality of Windows. These service packs are quite large to download, but are also free and can make quite a big impact on your experience with the PC. You’ll also find that many software apps for Windows XP now requite Service Pack 2 to be installed at the very least. This is necessary due to the change on coding structure and essential Windows library files.

Just visit the Microsoft website to get the latest Service Pack, but be aware that you will need a valid licensed version of Windows to download anything from the Microsoft site. Yes, they DO check before you download and you’ll be prevented from downloading if the version of Windows is found to be illegitimate!

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AOL users have not always had the easiest ride when it comes to the ISP updating its service and compromising the reliability of Internet connectivity. AOL, of course, remains one of the most popular choices for Internet packages - but it also remains one of the most restrictive.

AOL built a reputation as the walled garden of ISPs. A walled garden in the sense that its users are bound to connecting through the supplied AOL software. And unfortunately - as many have found - if something goes wrong with that software, it can become impossible to connect online.

AOL recently performed a migration to its new CPW servers and as a result, many users have been left out in the cold with broken connection software. The problem arose when AOL automatically triggered the migration by forcing users to download a software update. This is all very well, but the software update had a nasty habit of crashing mid-download and compromising the integrity of the Internet connection. In many cases, this prevented a connection being made entirely. While for others, the connection would break regularly.

You may notice an error stating: “Authentication Failure” Error 47-DUN-0691

A closer look reveals that AOL is now trying to connect via TCP/IP instead of the standard DSL modem. On top of this change, and assuming that you’ve managed to connect, you may notice a drop in speed which can be quite dramatic as illustrated by a mass of support topics on the AOL help site.

To get around the connectivity issue, you can go to Control Panel and enter your Network Connections. From here, click on Dial BB and then attempt to connect. AOL should load your Internet settings, but obviously, this is a slight break from the usual connecting habits that you’ll be used to. AOL will surely release a patch in the near future, but many customers have already vented their disapproval by physically removing the software update from their computers.

By rolling back to the original AOL 9 build, it’s possible to avoid the problem altogether - as long as you disable any further automatic updates to your AOL software! Though as you can imagine, this is an enormous workaround and quite unsatisfactory while AOL are trying to improve the reliability of their software.

Other users have reported issues with an AOL update that relate to a pop-up calling for a security bug to be rectified.

Security Update – Critical: Aol has identified a security vulnerability that can be used to execute malicious code. To correct, install this update. You may need to shut down applications and restart your computer.?Install Now?Update 4195.9.4

If you’ve installed the update but are still receiving the pop-up, you can get rid of the annoying alerts by removing the service anotify.exe from your system processes in the task manager. anotify.exe is the service that sends pop-up alerts to your desktop through the AOL interface. By disabling it you will prevent any further messages being displayed - assuming of course, you can’t get rid of them in your standard pop-up preferences.

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AOL.com is one of the world’s most visited websites, with traffic arriving from around the globe, though most notably from the United States - the company does stand for America Online, after all! AOL is a mainstream brand, famous for its Internet services and once dominant suite of software.

AOL.com was almost untouchable for several years, using its unique form of closed community to offer services and information that could pen in the many customers. While no longer enjoying the same market dominance that captured it 30 million customers, AOL remains an important Internet brand with a website seen by many experts as holding untapped potential.

AOL.com is similar to the Yahoo website in many ways, with both companies competing for much of the same web traffic. A look at the website and you’ll be confronted by a swarm of headlining stories that tie in closely with current affairs. AOL hasn’t quite held on to Yahoo in the viral buzz stakes, but you’ll still find plenty of unique and interesting content to keep you coming back. AOL is geared towards the more educated Internet users. While Yahoo is keen to splash its homepage with games and networking, AOL focuses on the latest political wranglings with up to date info on the stock markets and so on.

AOL.com provides all the standard search features that you would expect from a website that has been targeted by Microsoft in several takeover bids. With search powered by Google, you can rely on high quality search and image results. AOL has also established a good standard of local searching with a further tool allowing you to scour the shopping marketplace for best deals. AOL.com, as you’d expect, focuses on American consumers but the company has also released international websites that operate in the same manner as franchises.

AOL.com differs from its rivals in the sense that it isn’t afraid to offer direct linkage to competitive sites that could be seen as a threat. The AOL homepage advertises Yahoo and Google side by side, next to its own AOL Mail service.

If there’s one asset AOL.com does have that the competitors would love to snap up, it’s undoubtedly the messaging interface known as AIM. This remains the second most popular messenger in the world and has a huge market share. With traffic incoming every day from AOL’s instant message client, users can find themselves linked up to all of the latest news from a location that’s convenient to them.

The AOL website is designed to satisfy the Web 2.0 digital age, without being fully editable in the same manner as Google Homepages. You can select your own colour scheme and adjust the page as you like. But despite this, AOL.com still manages to retain its clean, understated theme. If you’re looking for a news portal that has everything you need to know, you can do worse than AOL.com. And as the battle for web traffic rages on, AOL is now far less picky about closing its doors to non-customers. You don’t have to be with AOL to enjoy the features and reporting that it offers.

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HP, short for Hewlett Packard, is one of the leading manufacturers of desktop computers, notebooks, printers, servers and many other electronic products. To keep up with changing technologies and to fix bugs and technical glitches, HP offers software updates and patches for most of its products on a regular basis. HP software update download is one such utility that allows HP users to get regular updates for their computers, notebooks and printers.

The automatic update tool comes preloaded with most hp products, but in case it has malfunctioned or was removed accidentally, you can re-install it using the hp software update package available for download from HP’s official Website. Download and installation is quite easy because the entire package is just a few MB in size. Once you do this, you will start getting regular updates from HP, something that will help you in deriving the best possible performance from your HP product.

HP software update download is no doubt easy, but in case you are facing problems, I would recommend that you visit online HP forums where you will find detailed information about all the different types of problems being faced by HP users. Online user forums should be your first priority because this is where you can get information about the most recent bugs and glitches and their potential solutions. You however also have the option to contact hp customer support in order to seek solutions to your problems.

Getting hp software updates is quite necessary and this is why I would recommend that you download and install the automatic update package as soon as possible. Technologies are evolving at an alarming rate and if you do not keep up by using the hp updates, your hp product is most likely to become incompatible with other software and hardware products. Act soon if you do not want to be left behind in the stone ages.

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