Although your computer is supposed to be aware enough to remind you to update, you might want to check Windows Update and make sure the process is actually done.

Microsoft Corp. issued fixes for nine security flaws, including four meant to keep hackers from breaking into computers through Web pages, during a regularly scheduled update Tuesday.

Microsoft gave the four Web browsing-related patches its most severe “critical” rating. The updates affect many versions of Windows, Server and Office software — including Windows XP and Windows Vista — and are meant to prevent hackers from breaking into Web surfers’ computers using specially crafted Web pages.

The other two critical updates target holes in the Excel spreadsheet program and in technology that lets users see downloaded images from e-mails or social networking Web sites.

Microsoft assigned the second-highest “important” rating to three security updates.

Although the software maker has said Windows Vista, which became available to consumers in January, is its most secure operating system ever, one of the important patches Tuesday fixes a hole in “gadgets” — small software applications — that deliver Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, feeds to the desktop.

[Source: AP via Yahoo! News]

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