>>>On my new Windows 7 PC I get a message (every 10 minutes) that Java Upgrade in available. I don't use Java. Do you think it still makes sense to upgrade it? Or should I find an option to disable the reminder?
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>>I assume this for JRE (Java Runtime Engine), from http://www.java.com/en/download (probably installed by some application that required it).
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>>I think you can go into the Control Panel and find a link to Java or Java Preferences, and in that, find an option to disable checking for Java updates. You may want to go ahead and update to the latest version, it's always backward compatible.

These days, one of the most common ways for computers to get infected with malware is by visiting compromised/infected Web sites. If you visit such a site, it will usually try to load a suite of malformed content in your browser, in the hope of exploiting a vulnerability in a plug-in. Three common attack vectors are:

- Adobe Flash
- Adobe PDF
- Oracle Java

If you have those installed on your system, always, ALWAYS, apply recommended updates. If you don't want to install updates, uninstall the product. But, with Java, some websites or locally installed software won't work if you uninstall it.

As for Java updates, the most annoying thing is that sometimes they include offers for extra stuff like the Yahoo toolbar, which are included by default - you have to look carefully, and un-check the option to avoid getting the extra crap.