A new report suggests that patching your non-Microsoft applications might be just as important to a secure computing environment as keeping Windows and Office up to date — if not more. Most vulnerabilities are in third-party products As malware continues to evolve, keeping an eye on application updates is just as critical as maintaining security software. For years, that meant keeping your eye mostly on Microsoft. But with the regular monthly Patch Tuesday Windows security updates and Windows 7′s underlying security improvements, Windows and Office are no longer the attractive targets for cyber criminals they once were.

According to security vendor Secunia (site), the primary threats to PCs have shifted to third-party applications distributed by software developers large and small. In its 2011 annual report (free registration required) on the changes in computing security, Secunia found that from 2006 through 2011, its end-point vulnerabilities count tripled, to over 800. (Secunia defines end points as “the access points to all business-critical data, and are therefore lucrative targets for cybercriminals.”)

But with a few tweaks and adjustments, you can make Explorer fit your particular computing style. There’s little to complain about with Windows Explorer — that small, essential program you use a hundred times a day to find, open, copy, move, and delete files. It’s simple and direct, allows you multiple ways to view and sort your files, and even shows you their content (if they’re in a format of which Microsoft approves).

With Windows 7′s Explorer, the search field is always at hand and the indexed searches are remarkably fast. The navigation pane on the left gives you quick access to all your folders and drives, as well as your local network. You can even launch the DOS command-line environment within the folder of your choice.

Here’s how to repair or disable the RAC system, should it fail — and how to access its reliability-analysis records when it’s working as designed. What’s RACTask, and what’s it doing in my PC? Reader Steve Lutz ran across a part of Windows 7 most users have never heard of. “While troubleshooting a Win7 PC with shutdown problems, I found out about a little-known program, RacTask, which runs in the background and can cause systems to slow down or freeze for several minutes.

“Apparently, it compiles ‘reliability analysis’ information, which can be viewed via the Win7 Action Center. I would like to know whether routinely deleting the data from this app would avoid the slowdowns and hangs.” Win7′s Reliability Analysis Component automatically collects data on any failures that occur within Windows, applications, or other system areas.

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But with each iteration of Office and Windows, the Ribbon survives and spreads. This week in the General Productivity forum, Loungers set up a poll and quizzed one another about their attitudes and experience with the Ribbon. The ensuing discussion emits more wisdom than heat, which is a fine way for a discussion to go. More»

The following links are this week’s most interesting Lounge threads, including several new questions to which you might be able to provide responses:

In Part 1 of a series of stories on getting the most out of Windows’ Start menu, we start with the basics: pinning applications, folders, and files.

Future installments will cover just about everything you need to know about the Start menu — how to use it, change it, gussy it up, and dress it down. The Start menu is something we use dozens of times a day. Take a few minutes and make it look the way you want it to!

The major chapters of the Windows XP Survival Guide e-book include: Maintaining Windows XP Troubleshooting XP Win7 and XP: Living in both worlds All subscribers: Purchase The Windows XP Survival Guide for only $9.95 through your Windows Secrets shopping cart (an E-junkie online-commerce site).

If you’d like to download this free excerpt, simply visit your preferences page and save any changes; a download link will appear.

All subscribers: Set your preferences and download your bonus Info on the printed book: United States No doubt about it, Windows 7 is the most advanced Windows Microsoft has ever built. But for new Win7 users, discovering the operating system's many new capabilities is a challenge. David Pogue's opus, Windows 7: The Missing Manual, describes every aspect of Windows 7, from basics such as the Start Menu to advanced applications such as setting up Win7 on a network.

If you failed to buy your loved one a present on Valentine’s Day, perhaps you can convince them that updating Windows took priority. Okay — even I, a confirmed geek, know that won’t fly. MS12-010 (2647516) Browser patching is this week’s priority If your Valentine’s Day was devoted to chocolate and roses, it’s now time to focus on updates to your browsers, starting with Internet Explorer. The patch described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS12-010 fixes four privately reported vulnerabilities tied to maliciously coded webpages.

Impacting IE Versions 6 and up (including IE 10, included with Windows 8 in the Developer Preview beta), this is a critical update for workstation installations of Windows.

But sometimes, the associated error message might hint at the cause, letting you dig out a solution. Mystery software causes ‘Blue Screen of Death’ Reader Jill Mitchell’s PC keeps crashing, and she doesn’t recognize the software at fault.

“I use Windows 7. Increasingly, it’s crashing with the Blue Screen of Death — I mean every day and sometimes even more often.