How do I make sure that Windows is up-to-date?

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Summary: You can make sure that Windows is up-to-date by either enabling Automatic Updates or by visiting the Windows Update web site.

It seems like every week there's news about some newly discovered vulnerability or bug fix in Windows. And of course the stories tell us that we should all rush out and install the fixes immediately or the world will come to and end.

Or something like that.

In fact, Microsoft does announce updates weekly. With that rapid a rate, how should you stay on top of things and make sure that your system is up to date?

There are two answers.

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For Windows XP and later, Microsoft created a service that runs on your machine and - on terms you can control - checks for updates to Windows automatically and can download and install them for you.

To configure automatic update, right click on My Computer, select Properties, and click on the Automatic Updates tab. Make sure it's turned on by ensuring there's a check mark in the box where it says "Keep my computer up to date."

You have three options controlling how Automatic Update works:

• Notify on everything - with this first setting, Automatic Updates will only check the Microsoft web site for updates, and if there are any that apply to your machine, it will alert you, and nothing more. You can then choose to download and install, or not.

• Notify after download - with this approach, Automatic Updates will check the Microsoft web site for updates and actually download any that apply. Once downloaded, you're notified that they're available and can initiate the install.

• Notify after install - finally, you can just have Automatic Updates do it all, on a schedule you can define. Check, download, and install as soon as updates are available.

For what it's worth, I like to know what's happening to my machine(s) before it happens so I select the second option.

Many people find the concept of Automatic Updates a little too spooky or intrusive. Others just want to have even more control over exactly what happens when. And of course there are folks who are using older versions of Windows.

For all these people there's the Windows Update web site.

The first time you visit Windows Update, it'll download a component onto your machine that handles the inspection of your current Windows component versions. That list is then compared against the latest releases and you'll informed of the differences. You can then select which components to install.

As I mentioned, Windows Update works for older versions of Windows, back to Windows 98.

One important difference is that Automatic Updates focuses on Critical Updates only - those issues that typically represent security or other risky issues. Windows Update, on the other hand, includes both Critical Updates and other updates including newer versions of components and device drivers.

For that reason I recommend that everyone visit Windows Update periodically.

Video:

See some of the items I've talked about here in action.

Related:

• Ask Leo! - Are automatic updates a good thing?

• Ask Leo! - What's this new 'Security Center' thing in XP service pack 2 all about?

• Microsoft - Windows Update

Article C2024 - June 11, 2004