So it looks like because of my slow connection and lack of internet use over the last couple of weeks, my computer never got around to downloading the security patch which would counteract this MSBlast.exe thing.
Can someone please assist me in understanding how to be sure I have downloaded all available security patches even when my computer hasn’t had time to do so automatically?
Also, is it possible to explain to an intelligent person who nevertheless doesn’t know alot about the inner workings of computers why it is that all these WinXP security vulnerabilities involve "buffer overflow"s?
If you want to make sure you’ve gotten them all, just go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and click on the “Scan for updates” link. It will check your system, and tell you what you need to download.
You should always accept the “critical updates and security patches.” It’s probably a good idea to take most of the “recommended updates,” other than those that you’re sure don’t apply to your PC (like the .NET Framework patches, since you’re probably not using any of that software, anyway). I steer people away from accepting the “driver updates,” since a couple of those have blown my PC out of the water (thank Bill Gates for System Restore, in those cases!).