The SWAT Team: Kill Bugs Dead

Do you suspect that Windows is running a little slow? Does it lock up when you try to shut down? Do you worry that hackers are reading your files while you surf?

No, you're not losing your mind. But you might be losing the war against one of the most powerful, frustrating, and insidious forces in the universe: buggy software. By now, you're probably scared to death of computer viruses: They'll eat your files, trash your programs, and make your computer unbootable. But even without a virus in your system, surfing the Web or reading your e-mail can be just as dangerous. Buggy software­based security flaws that afflict most versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator leave your system open to attacks from hackers and the viruslike applications they write. The only way to ensure your safety is to update your applications vigilantly.

Unfortunately, bugs are inevitable. In fact, software quality seems to be deteriorating, in part because of unrelenting financial pressure on producers to get new versions onto store shelves faster. And software companies can't test each product's compatibility with every possible hardware and software configuration residing on users' PCs.

What can you do about bugs? First, back up your data frequently and avoid beta software and nonessential utilities that can cause more problems than they solve. For more tips on keeping bugs at bay, see "Bugs Be Gone." For updates on the latest bugs and fixes, visit online bug-reporting sites, some of which are described in "The Best Pest Sites." And most important, install bug-fixing patches and software updates as soon as they're available.

To help with this last task, we've assembled a list of lethal and pesky bugs, plus information on where to find patches and updates to extirpate the little menaces. The list covers operating systems, apps, and utilities. For info on hardware bugs, see "Even Hardware Gets the Bugs." Most bugs are nameless, so we usually identify them in our list by the patch that fixes them. For each bug, we explain its known symptoms, what the fix is, and where to obtain the fix.

Some bugs just waste your time. But the worst species destroy your data, and they may even render your PC useless. To help you determine the seriousness of the pests in this rogue's gallery, we've assigned a traffic light icon to each bug.

The bugs that affect the most users or inflict the worst damage get a red light.

An amber light identifies those that cause headaches for many users.

And a green signal indicates a relatively benign but irksome bug that affects fewer users.

Now that you know what to do, it's time to take action. Go after those damn bugs before they get your data.