Hi Rich McGlew
To know what version of DX you are running, do the following: Goto the Start
Menu and there select 'Run...'. A new window will open. There type 'dxdiag'
(without the '). A new Window will open. There, look for the Direct X
Version Line (at the bottom of the pane). You will know what DX version you
have installed.
And you are right (and WU too) that this is a critical Update. A
vulnerability in DX could allow an attacker to execute code on a user's
system. Therefore, its a highly critical update.
If you are already running DX 9.0 a you can either update to DX 9.0 b (which
includes this security fix as well as performance updates) or patch your
existing DX 9.0 a version (I recommend you do the former).
For other upgrade possibilities, please refer to the Security Bulletin
MS03-030:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-030.asp (Home User
Bulletin)
or here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-030.asp
(with all technical details etc)
Be sure to apply this update as soon as possible as without it you do
compromise your PC's security a lot. Please ensure as well the update
MS-03-026 is installed:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-026.asp
After installing you will need to reboot.
Hope this helps. Regards,
Fabio
