pop quiz: how easy is it for someone to delete stuff on your hard drive(s), without them requiring access to your computer?
answer: if you're running windows xp, and you haven't installed service pack 1... VERY! thanks to the help centre flaw.

i first heard about this last thursday afternoon, and couldn't help thinking that this is too easy. and apparently microsoft have known about it since june. so now there's a fix (included in SP1), but most people wouldn't even know that there was a flaw to begin with, if not for the media picking up the story recently. still, how many people out there don't follow IT news, use XP, and would be inclined to click on a link or two during their web/newsgroup/email sessions?

speaking of SP1, i installed it on my work laptop last week, and it took all of nearly 3 hours... and i'm on a 100Mbps network. imagine trying that at home, over a dial-up modem connection. fun.

i love microsoft. not.