Thanks for the link. I heard something about this on GMA this morning. Luckily, my desktop has Mozilla installed which I'm using now.

However, my laptop which I use for business daily does not have Mozilla or any other search engine. How does one download Mozilla (or another search engine) on the laptop without having to open IE to get the download? I have to use the laptop for my job (I'm self-employed and work from home).

Thanks.

If you have a thumb drive you can download the Firefox or Mozilla to the drive and then transfer the drive over to your laptop and install it. I had to do that when I was using the computer in my son's room because my computer had crashed and after I got it back up and running, I used the thumb drive on the son's computer and downloaded the things I wanted on my computer, then took the thumb drive to my computer and installed them.

daylily - worked like a charm. Perhaps my "thinking cap" hasn't been thinking lately, because I should have known that.

Thanks.

more info from microsoft can be found here
workarounds from the recent IE advisory

more articles:
Friday update for Microsoft Security Advisory 961051
Microsoft confirms that all versions of IE have critical new bug
Internet Explorer flaw

I consider myself somewhat "technically challenged", especially after reading some of the articles cited in previous posts. The workarounds mentioned appear rather daunting to me, and I am not confident I could execute them correctly. I fear I will only end up with a huge mess on my hands and that I'll not have a clue as to how to get out of it.

Doesn't MS usually send out automatic security fixes for stuff like this? I almost prefer to not use the computer for a couple of days and just wait for them to put out a fix.

Also, if I were to execute a workaround, is that "forever", or would I need to "unexecute" them at some point in the future?

Finally, I have a desktop with XP and a laptop with Vista. So are they subject to different threats for which I would need to do different things, depending on the computer? That wasn't clear to me.

Sorry for rambling, but while I'm glad I read about this matter, I feel like I'm being asked to perform brain surgery. Maybe these workarounds really aren't all that complicated, but these folks surely aren't writing for folks like me. They need to "dummy down" these instructions. Rather than say "replace the transmission", they need to provide some step-by-step detailed instructions on how to replace the transmission. If those detailed instructions are included somewhere in those articles, they weren't obvious to me.

mike, ravencajun has posted steps for Internet Explorer. You might give Mozilla some serious thought; a lot less problems and fixes.

Mozilla has been discussed here at length, and highly recommended.

And firefox may help to resolve the other issue with Web pages loading that you have with IE in your other post. Below is the link for firefox (mozilla)

It's always good to have 2 browsers on your computer in fact you could have used it in the other post if firefox browser clears up the Web page loading thing then you know for sure the problem is limited to IE and not Windows...

zep.

Here is a link that might be useful: mozilla

Microsoft to Patch IE Zero-Day Vulnerability

quote:
Microsoft is prepping a security patch for a zero-day vulnerability in the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser. The out-of-band patch is slated to be ready Dec. 17 and will fix a data binding problem being attacked by hackers.

Using firefox or opera browsers would also be an alternative as stated.

meant to add the link to the official Microsoft bulletin
Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification for December 2008

this is an out of band update, is quite important.

What does the above do to your computer? and how would one know if they have it.

Many thanks to everyone for their great advice and recommendations. I'm now on Firefox! So far it's going great. Just have to learn about some of the useful features. Thanks again.

Debi said:
* Posted by debi_2006 (My Page) on
Tue, Dec 16, 08 at 11:27

"daylily - worked like a charm. Perhaps my "thinking cap" hasn't been thinking lately, because I should have known that.

Thanks."

Debi,
Glad I could help. Usually I am the one that asks some questions here but once in a while I am able to answer one or two since I had that problem before. Getting thumb drives is the best thing to move programs from one computer to another.

when ms has the patch ready will it be safe to use IE to update?

I primarily use IE, but do use FF and Opera as alternatives. Just to show that FF is not a panacea for Internet security I refer you to the link below.

DA

Here is a link that might be useful: Network World

Patch is suppose to be available through Windows Update and Microsoft Update today (12/17) at 1:00p.m. We will see.

DA

Here is a link that might be useful: Computer World Security

Just finished the update it went real smooth.

Ditto, just downloaded ticketyboo!
Until the next security breach!
"Horton"

I expected to click on the provided link by damccoy to find a "download IE patch" and I don't see one anywhere on the page or within the article. I want to download the patch using Firefox, not IE. Where is a direct link to the patch? I didn't even see it on MS site or IE.

Help....and thanks.

new article out today on Window's secrets newsletter that has some good info.

Here is a link that might be useful: article

debi this link should take you to the relevant update
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-078 - Critical Security Update for Internet Explorer (960714)

also should be available through auto updates and on the windows update website.

Debi,

My posts were intended to be informational status reports not links to the patches. It was just before 1:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. exactly at the time.

I was also on my work system rather than being at home where I could have tested the update utility and ferreted through Google for more information.

Sorry if I caused you any confusion.

DA

Raven....thanks, got it installed on all computers. Much appreciated.

Damccoy...no worries.