Microsoft regularly releases security updates and bug fixes for Windows operating systems. The official Windows updates are always recommended because usually they fixes security holes and other issues such as stability, product compatibility etc. But how to get the updates for your Windows installation? How to download Windows updates? Where to look for the latest updates? If you are not familiar with Windows Update service, questions like these might arise in your mind. Don’t worry! It is very simple. Read on to find out more about ways to update your Windows operating system.
Automatic Windows Update:
The best way to update an Windows operating system is to use the automatic updating option. As the name suggests, automatic updating will automatically install updates as they become available. So, no need to worry about searching and downloading critical updates. In order to avail the benefits of automatic updating, you must turn on Automatic Updates in your Windows control panel. The Windows Update mechanism will also let you specify how you want the updates. For example: you may set it to install updates automatically or set it to inform you about available updates. Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7 and Windows 8 supports automatic updates.
To set Automatic Updates on Windows, follow these steps:
- Go to Windows Start menu.
- Find and open Control Panel link.
- Open Automatic Updates or Windows Update link.
- Select option that turns of automatic download of updates.
- Press OK button.
Manually Update Windows:
One can also update Windows by downloading and installing updates from official website. Microsoft offers all it’s security updates and service packs on Microsoft Download Center. This process involves several steps. First visit the download center. Then pick the product for which you want to install updates. All available updates will be listed. For example, let’s assume we want to get updates for Windows XP. The steps will be:
- Open official Download Center link and select Windows as product.
- From the Windows download page, select Windows XP as your operating system.
- All available download will be listed (currently more than 4600). Sort the downloads list by Newest to Oldest.
- Then select Download type as Security Path. All recent security fixes will be listed.
- Press the link for an update which you want to use. On a new page download link will appear.
- Once downloaded to your local disk, run the update file to install that particular update.
- Repeat steps 6 & 7 for all updates. If you know the update names, you can also perform a search to find the download links.
In the above mentioned way, one can easily update Windows operating systems without using automatic updates. But I will never recommend it to general users. Because, default Automatic update system is much easier and safer than manual update. Unless you are 100% confident about what you are doing, don’t turn off the automatic updates.
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