No, You Were Not Hallucinating…
Nor did you have a power failure during the night.
I received several calls, at unfortunately hours, this morning from concerned clients. With very few exceptions, this proved to be “much ado about nothing”, as they were simply caught off guard (and alarmed) by finding their computers 
off when they awoke, when they left them running overnight.
(One had a spreadsheet open, and hadn’t Save-ed in a while.. ahem.)
Here’s why: Microsoft releases emergency patch for Windows flaw. This update takes a while to install, requires a reboot, and doesn’t always go smoothly.
(Microsoft provide tech support for all security-related issues for free, just call 1-866-PC-SAFETY. [includes Updates])
As you may have noticed, this “out of cycle” release of Updates is becoming a consistent and persistent occurrence, which prompted me to write What’s With All These Updates?!*
The fact is, “updates” are really ‘patches’ that plug holes in programming that Evil Doer’s can/do use to plant code on target machines (guess who’s a target? Yes! Your machine!) such as keystroke recorders or mailer bots.
The more attacks, the more patches. Do the math.
Patches (aka “updates”) are good, and you want them.
Today’s free link: Keeping your programs patched and up-to-date is the most effective method we have of keeping the “hackers” at bay. The best tool I have found for evaluating your currently installed programs, and helping you get them patched, is a ‘scan’ I have posted here before, but the Software Inspector at Secunia is just too important, too good, and too easy not to mention again.
You not only want to do that now, you want to visit regularly.
Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. 
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• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
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