Still down over the imminent end of Windows XP as a viable operating system for your PC?
Don’t fret, just update programs like Adobe Acrobat and Java if your computer isn’t too aged, a local information systems manager said Wednesday.
“Update those programs that handle PDF files,” said Ben Buck, IT manager for Vicksburg accounting firm May & Company, during an address to the Vicksburg Lions Club. Buck reminded the lesser tech-savvy members of the club’s older makeup their Windows 7 systems are fine for about six more years.
“The actual system itself will be supported through 2020,” Buck said.
As users learn the ins and outs of Windows 8.1, a modified version of Microsoft’s most recent operating system, it’s not a bad idea to employ free, portable anti-virus systems that supplement paid products such as Norton AntiVirus and McAfee VirusScan. That way, there’s more than one technological hand on deck to clean up any malware.
“No one program gets everything,” Buck said, adding the products are effective but often poorly advertised.
“There’s that commercial on TV all the time, where someone says, ‘Oh, I spent $20 and my computer is 500 percent faster!’ Um, no. It’s not. You just spent $20, that’s all.”
Examples of mobile anti-virus programs include SUPER AntiSpyware and Malwarebytes, Buck said.