I doubt there are many of you willing to pay a large amount of money to a consultant to test your system and tell you how secure it really is.Instead, you can download the free Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) and allow the program to do such a security check of your computer.

The analysis includes links to reports of the scan, details of the results, and means to fix any problems it discovers. MBSA is compatible with any version of Windows from 2000 SP3 on. However, Vista requires the 2.1 beta. MBSA also performs security checks on Office, Exchange, and other Microsoft products.

Do you forget to back up?

Fast Fix: As only XP Pro and Vista Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate include automatic backups, XP Home users will have to get their backup program from their Windows CD, navigate in Explorer to the valueadd\msft\ntbackup folder, click right on the Ntbackup file, and select Install.

For those using Vista Home Premium, a backup program is to be found in the 'Make Image Backups' section of 'Give Home Premium Vista Ultimate Features' where you can learn more on backing up Home Premium.

If you use XP, you have to click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup. If Advanced mode is already set then select Tools and Switch to Wizard Mode. The next step is to specify what to back up and where to do it. When 'Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard' is displayed, click Advanced. Indicate the type of backup (such as Incremental, which is suited for regular, automated backups) and click Next. Select other options on the succeeding screens, and click Next for each.

To do a back up in Vista, you have to select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup Status and Configuration. Choose Set up automatic file backup and validate at the User Account Control prompt. Set what, where, and when to back up by following the prompts. If you want to make some changes afterward, go back to this utility and select Change backup settings or Turn off to adjust or disable your backup bot.