For some reason, Borders is now telling me that I can't sign into my account unless I have at least version 8 of Internet Explorer. My laptop has Internet Explorer 7. After some Googling, I was lead to windows.microsoft.com . . . where I can download Internet Explorer 9 (recommended by Borders). When I tried to download it, apparently I can't because I don't have all the prerequisite things needed. So, then I was lead to the security settings of the computer, where I needed to update 31 different things. I started updating them all, but after an hour and a half it was only a third of the way through and I was worried about using up all my downloads for the month, so I stopped it.

I'm so confused. Do I need to install all those updates? Is there another way for me to get Internet Explorer 9 without them?

I have no idea about IE, but have you tried using a different browser, or does it only work for IE?

The FAQ on the Borders websire says

Our website has no issues working with Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera browsers, all of which are free and easy to use.

I don't know, should I try using one of those?

You have nothing to lose. For what it's worth, I like Google Chrome, and it's always been fast and easy to download. But if you have any other browser on your computer, go ahead and try it to see if it suits your purposes until you can figure out the IE issue.

NOOOOOO!!!! You shouldn't even be online unless your computer is updated. Do not skip those updates!!! They are not optional!!! And if you aren't updating Windows, I'm sure you're not updating your antivirus definitions either - if you even HAVE an antivirus utility. You probably already have about 500 viruses. And your computer is likely being hijacked to send out spam - which is probably what's eating up your download quota - not the frickin updates!

I would recommend using Firefox. THe latest version has much better performance with regards to memory, internet browsers can chew a fair bit of memory.

i would recommend firefox too, but do not install anything until you update windows and your antivirus defs.

Thanks everyone! I frequently update the antivirus program and run all the scans, it's all the other updates that tend to get ignored.

Updating your antivirus is not enough. Your antivirus utility assumes your operating system and applications are also updated. If you have a security holes in Windows, your antivirus utility will not fix that.