Applying the latest Microsoft Windows
updates and keeping your Windows PC
up to date is always a good idea and is
especially important if you use the
Internet. When it comes to security,
Windows has not had the best track
record. All the more reason why you
should install the latest security updates
for your computer as soon as possible.
Aside from patching security problems,
installing Microsoft Windows updates
can make your computer more stable,
fix problems with existing Windows
features and software or even
introduce new features.
With Windows XP and Windows 2000,
Microsoft made a real effort to
streamline the update process. If you
have enabled automatic updates on
your computer, then Windows will
download and install the latest critical
updates automatically, as soon as they
become available. There are some
disadvantages to this approach
however and some computer experts
even go as far as suggesting that
automatic updates should be turned off.
Why is this? There are a number of
advantages to turning off automatic
updates, such as:-
On rare occasions, updates are
launched that cause problems with
some systems. Windows runs on a
huge range of systems and
problems like this, while rare, are
arguably unavoidable (and do
happen on other operating systems
too, such as Linux). Disabling
automatic updates allows time for
the updates to be tested in the wild
and lets other users deal with the
problems before you have to.
Some users simply do not trust
Microsoft. Microsoft Windows
updates such as the controversial
Windows Genuine Advantage, have
convinced some users that they
must scrutinize every update before
it is installed on their PC.
The Windows Genuine Advantage
'update' shown in action here collects
information from your PC in an attempt
to combat piracy. Some users are angry
at such intrusive efforts to thwart piracy
and have therefore disabled automatic
updates
The automatic update process may
start while you are trying to
complete other tasks on the
Internet, slowing down your
connection speed.
In spite of these drawbacks, we here at
Top-Windows-Tutorials.com still
recommend that most users leave
automatic updates on. There are
several good reasons to leave
automatic updates on, such as:-
You are protected against the latest
security threats as soon as possible.
If an update goes wrong, Microsoft
are far more likely to be of
assistance than if you skip an
update and as a result encounter a
problem with your system.
With automatic updates turned off,
most users tend to forget to search
for Microsoft Windows updates on a
regular basis. This results in
systems being un-patched for
longer, leaving them vulnerable to
security threats.
Windows offers several options for
automatic updates, let's take a look at
the automatic update options from
Windows Vista :-
If you do not know how to access the
update options, check the links below
for a short tutorial:-
Access Microsoft Windows updates in
Windows XP
Access Microsoft Windows updates in
Windows Vista
Access Microsoft Windows updates in
Windows 7
Aside from a few subtle changes in
wording, the Windows XP automatic
update options are exactly the same as
the Vista options shown above, with the
exception of the "Recommended
updates" section, which is not present
on Windows XP. As you can see there
are several options that you can
choose. We recommend that most
users choose the "Install updates
automatically (recommended)" setting.
This will download and install Microsoft
Windows updates automatically. You
can also have Windows download the
updates, but not install them without
your permission, by choosing the
second option in this window. If you are
concerned about exactly what Microsoft
is putting on your system, choose this
option. You can also have Windows
check for updates but not download or
install them without your permission,
you might want to do this if you are
worried about Windows update stealing
your bandwidth. You can also disable
automatic updates altogether, though
we strongly recommend you do not, in
this case you must remember to
periodically check for updates yourself.
Finally, Windows Vista users have the
option of including or excluding
recommended updates from their
automatic updates. Recommended
Microsoft Windows updates are not
critical to the security or reliability of
your operating system, but they may
include new features or improve
existing ones. We recommend you
leave this option ticked.
In Windows 7, Microsoft have added
even more options to Windows Update
and the options available to Vista users
are still present too. Let's take a look at
the new Windows Update options in
Windows 7 now:-
So a few options have been moved
around, instead of a radio button to
choose the update options, we have a
drop down box, but apart from this, the
update options work the same as in
Vista. Also, just like in Vista, we can opt
to get recommended updates as well as
important updates by ticking/checking
the box under "Recommended
updates".
There are now a number of new update
options. Firstly, "Allow all users to install
updates on this computer". If this option
is selected, then Windows will download
and install updates regardless of who is
currently logged in. This is very
convenient if you regularly run limited
user accounts. It means you do not
need to log into your administrator
account or use User Account Control to
install new updates.
Next, there's a new section labelled
"Microsoft Update". If you select this
option, Windows Update will check for
updates for other Microsoft software
too, such as Microsoft Office. You may
also be invited to download software
like Windows Live Essentials, which
replaces several of the free programs
that were bundled with Windows Vista
but excluded from Windows 7.
Finally, selecting the "Software
notifications" option will allow Windows
7 to give you "detailed
notifications" (adverts basically) when
new Microsoft software is available.
This may include both free and paid-for
software products.
You can check for updates manually by
visiting Windows update. This can be
done from the "Help and Support
Center" on Windows XP and on Vista
and Windows 7 via the Control Panel.
It's not a bad idea to periodically check
on Windows update as certain updates
(such as optional driver updates) are
not always installed automatically. So
you can take full advantage of Windows
update, we have prepared these short
tutorials to show you how you can
manually update your PC.
Manually update a Windows XP
machine
Manually update a Windows Vista
machine
Manually update a Windows 7 machine
Other Windows Updates
The Microsoft Windows updates do a
good job of updating most parts of your
computer but, they do not update
everything. One of the areas that isn't
updated is DirectX. DirectX is used for
most of the multimedia, video and
audio processing done on Windows. If
you play games on your computer, it is
a very good idea to keep your DirectX
up to date. See our how to update
DirectX tutorial for more information.
Updating Graphics Card Drivers
Get the most out of your gaming by
updating your graphics card drivers
Anyone who plays the latest 3D games
on their PC should frequently check for
new drivers for their graphics card.
Updating your graphics card drivers can
result in better performance and
stability when playing games or even
working with your computer in general.
Often new graphics card drivers are
made available through Windows
update but, in our experience, it is
better to download them from the
manufacturer's website. If you have an
ATI graphics card, you can check for
new drivers by clicking here. If you have
an Nvidia graphics card, you can check
for new drivers by clicking here. If you
have another brand of graphics adapter
(such as Intel) you will need to visit the
manufacturers website for further
instructions. Alternatively, you can use
Uniblue DriverScanner to check for
graphics card and other drivers from all
manufacturers. Read on to find out
more about this utility.
Updating Other Drivers
Often hardware manufacturers release
updated drivers for their products to fix
problems or to improve performance. If
you are having problems with hardware
in your computer, it is always worth
checking to see if an updated driver is
available. Keeping your PC's drivers up
to date is also a great way to ensure
peak performance from your system.
Modern PC's are composed of dozens
of different hardware components from
different manufacturers and each of
these components requires a different
driver. Drivers allow Windows to talk to
the hardware in your computer and are
therefore critical to the everyday
running of your PC.
Although some driver updates can be
obtained through Windows update, this
is by no means exhaustive.
Unfortunately, there are far too many
different pieces of hardware available
for Windows to cover them all! In the
past you would have had to visit each
manufacturer's website in turn and
hope their driver update instructions
were clear. However, thanks to the
clever folks at Uniblue, you can now use
Uniblue DriverScanner to check and
update all of the drivers on your PC.
The tutorials below will show you how
to use this fantastic utility.
DriverScanner Tutorial 1 - Installation
DriverScanner Tutorial 2 - Scan, backup
and update
Updating Other Software
Much modern software will now also
automatically update itself when an
update becomes available, or at least
alert you to the fact that an update is
available. It's worth checking the
documentation that came with your
software to see if this is the case. It is a
good idea to keep Internet enabled
software, such as web browsers, instant
messaging programs or on line games
up to date. Fortunately these programs
usually automatically check and update
themselves each time a new update
becomes available.
