No anti-virus software needed….

It seems my wife installed the BBC iPlayer on the laptop (let’s not go into the whys and wherefores of that one in public) and it’s probably got something to do with that.

So I changed horses and went for option e in the end.

Today on my few-weeks-old Windows7 laptop that I only use for one work-related thing (not even internet browsing – I’m writing this on my old XP desktop) up popped the message when I booted it up –

“Adobe AIR Setup, .. this module will update Adobe AIR .. click to install this update now.”

Nice to be given the choice but I have never heard of Adobe AIR and have no idea what the laptop is using it for.

I’ve discovered on the Internet that it is a, “cross-operating system runtime that enables web developers to use their existing web development skills, code and tools to build and deploy rich web applications and content to the desktop” (http://onair.adobe.com/air/).

So that makes it sound like something I don’t need.

So what should someone do faced with having to make such a choice in the morning?:

a) Assume that because it says it’s from Adobe then it must be (because why would anyone pretend such a thing? unless, of course, there are nasty people out there who like to put nasty or even plain old unnecessary things on your computer) and that if its from Adobe then I must need it even if I don’t know what for.

b) Take a cautious approach and say “no” to things that try to install themselves on my computer if I’ve no idea what they are or why they’re there. That would mean taking the cynical view that there might indeed be nasty people out there and that there might be some smidgen of truth behind rumours of such beasts as viruses, trojans, worms, and mythical malware in general.

c} Toss a coin. Best out of three to be on the safe side. (Best out of five is only for the paranoid.)

d) Spend an hour trying to find out about it and then choose a, b, or c from above.

I went for option d and at one all have that coin warmed up in my hand ready for the decider.

One point to the Waste Every Computer User’s Time And Slowly Grind The Country Into The Ground consortium, in which spammers and virus writers no longer play the primary role.