Are your friends getting odd e-mails from you?

You may not know about it if your friends are polite but your computer could be mailing everyone on your address list a whole load of stuff if you've got a virus. The one that everyone's talking about at the moment is called Conficker and, whilst supposed to do things on 1 April could well rumble away in the background and mail out or share information any other day in reality. I've already had a few examples from people I hadn't expected to be victims but who may not have got the important patches when they were released by Microsoft.

To make this as simple as possible, if you have any doubts (and especially if the computer's been running sluggishly on occasion) follow the instructions below to see whether you have the necessary Windows update file. (XP and Vista versions coutesy of Office Watch. There are links to the patch if you need it.

Windows XP

Go to Control Panel | Programs and Features | Add or Remove Programs then check the ‘Show Updates’ box and wait for the long list of updates to appear. Scroll down to the list of updates under ‘Windows XP – Software Updates’:

Windows XP - Conflicker patch details.jpg

Scroll down the long list and look at the ‘KB’ references – the one you want to find is KB958644 .

The Windows XP patch if you don’t have it installed.

Windows Vista

Go to Control Panel | Programs and Features | Installed Updates. It may take a little time for the entire list to appear including all the Windows patches.

Windows Vista - Conflicker patch details.jpg

Scroll down the long list and look at the ‘KB’ references – the one you want to find it KB958644 .

The Windows Vista patch if you don’t have it installed.