Windows Update is a feature that helps you keep Windows up to date by automatically checking for Windows updates, service packs, and fixes for security holes, and either installing them automatically or notifying the first available Administrator that they’re available for installation. This section discusses how to use Windows Update in its default configuration and how to configure it to suit your needs.

Configuring What Windows Update Does

You can choose whether to run Windows Update automatically on a schedule that Windows chooses or manually at your convenience. Which setting you choose depends on your needs and what you want Windows Update to do for your computer.

Choosing Windows Update Settings while Completing Installation

Windows. After you’ve set up your Administrator user account, the Help Protect Windows Automatically screen appears and lets you choose which updates to install:

Use Recommended Settings If you choose this setting, Windows automatically installs important updates and recommended updates. Windows automatically checks online for solutions to problems your computer encounters. For example, if a particular program crashes, Windows checks online to see whether there’s a fix. This behavior is usually useful, but there are a couple of problems you’ll learn about in a minute.

Install Important Updates Only If you choose this setting, Windows automatically installs only the updates that are designated important - security updates and other critical updates.

Ask Me Later If you choose this setting, Windows doesn’t use automatic updates, but it prompts you again periodically to decide whether to use automatic updates.

Choosing Windows Update Settings Subsequently

The Help Protect Windows Automatically screen pressures you to choose automatic updates - which is arguably a good idea, because installing the latest patches and keeping Windows as fully protected as possibly is usually helpful. But installing these patches automatically has a couple of problems, as discussed in the “Why Wouldn’t You Use Automatic Updates?” sidebar.

Why Wouldn’t You Use Automatic Updates?

In an ideal world, your computer would always be running the latest version of Windows, including all the latest patches to keep your computer protected against the most recent attacks and exploits developed by malefactors. Windows would check online every day for new patches and install them automatically for you.

In the real world, Windows Update automatically does this for you. But there are a couple of problems in practice:

Automatic Updates May Lose Your Work If you allow Windows to apply automatic updates, Windows downloads the updates during the night unless you change the time, installs them, and then reboots your computer if necessary to make the updates take effect. This behavior makes sense, but if you leave any program open with unsaved work in it, Windows automatically closes the program without saving your changes. The result is that you lose any work that you had not saved in the program. The remedy to this problem is obvious: When you leave your computer for the night, save all documents, and preferably close all programs as well. But many people find it more convenient to be able to leave their computer with unsaved work at any time of the day or night.

Automatic Updates May Remove Features from Windows When you agree to automatic updates, you agree to let Microsoft update the software on your computer automatically without your being able to read about changes to the software’s functionality or to the licensing agreements. If Microsoft deems certain features to be dangerous or otherwise undesirable, it can remove them without your consent. This concern might seem abstract, but in practice it’s not. Even if the changes that Microsoft makes via automatic updates are designed to benefit you, they may have undesirable consequences in practice. To change your settings for Windows Update, take the following steps:

1. Choose Start All Programs Windows Update. Windows displays the Windows Update window, as shown here.

2.In the left panel, click the Change Settings link. Windows displays the Change Settings window .

3. Select the appropriate option button for downloading and installing updates:

Install Updates Automatically

This option button is the best choice for convenience and security. Use the two drop-down lists to specify which day to use for updates Every Day, Every Sunday, Every Monday, Every Tuesday, Every Wednesday, Every Thursday, Every Friday, or Every Saturday and the time of day at which to search the default setting is 3:00 AM. Choose the Every Day option if your computer has a permanent Internet connection and you’re prepared to have Windows restart your computer without giving you the chance to save any unsaved work. Set the time drop-down list to a time when your computer will be powered on rather than off and you won’t be interrupted by its use of your Internet connection.

Download Updates for Me But Let Me Choose Whether to Install Them This option button lets you control when Windows installs any updates that it has automatically downloaded. Select this option button if you want to be able to control when the updates are installed. The disadvantage to this setting is that your computer remains unpatched and unprotected longer than if Windows had installed the updates automatically.

Check for Updates But Let Me Choose Whether to Download and Install Them This option button lets you choose when to download any available updates and, after you download them, when to install them. Select this option button if it’s important that you control the use of your Internet connection’s bandwidth rather than letting Automatic Updates hog it at inconvenient times.

Never Check for Updates This option button lets you turn off Automatic Updates. Turning off Automatic Updates isn’t usually a good idea, because it can leave your computer open to attack. But you may choose to turn off Automatic Updates and run Windows Update manually from the Start menu choose Start All Programs Windows Update at times when it’s convenient for you to search for, download, and install updates.

4. If you want to include recommended updates as well as important updates, select the Include Recommended Updates When Downloading, Installing, or Notifying Me about Updates check box.

5. If you want to use the Microsoft Update service to receive updates for Windows and other Microsoft software, select the Use Microsoft Update check box.

6. Click the OK button, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control. Windows closes the Change Settings window, applies your choices, and returns you to the Security window.

What Happens When Windows Update Runs Automatically

If you choose to have Windows Update download updates automatically, Windows checks for updates at the specified time. If updates are available, Windows starts downloading them as long as your Internet connection is either idle or being consistently lightly used over a period of time - for example, if your e-mail program is checking for mail every few minutes and finding nothing, but no other activity is taking place. If you’ve left Windows Update set to run at 3 AMits default hour, chances are that your computer won’t be doing much.

What Does Windows Update Do If Your Computer Is Sleeping?

If your computer is sleeping and plugged in, Windows wakes it and downloads and installs the updates. If your computer is sleeping and on battery power, Windows doesn’t wake it.

When Windows Update is downloading updates, it displays an icon in the notification area. You can make Windows display the status of the download what percentage is complete by hovering the mouse pointer over the icon. You can pause the download manually by clicking the icon and choos ing Pause from the resulting menu, and resume a paused download by clicking the icon and choosing Resume from the menu. If you choose to let Windows Update install updates automatically, Windows installs the updates as soon as it has finished downloading them. Windows then restarts your computer automatically. When you next log on, Windows displays a notification-area pop-up message telling you that it installed updates automatically. If you choose the Download Updates, But Let Me Choose Whether to Install Them option button, Windows displays the New Updates Are Available icon in the notification area, as shown here.Click the New Updates Are Available icon. Windows displays the Windows Update: Install Updates for Your Computer window, as shown here.

If you simply want to install all available updates, click the Install Updates button, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control. Windows installs the updates. If you want to see which updates are available so that you can decide whether to install them, click the View Available Updates link. Windows displays a list of updates, as shown here, with the check boxes selected automatically. Clear the check box for each update you don’t want to install, click the Install button, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control.

Downloading and Installing Updates Manually

If you choose to have Windows Update notify you when new updates are available, Windows Update checks periodically for new updates. When it finds some, it displays a New Updates Are Available icon in the notification area with a pop-up message telling you that new updates are available. When you click the icon or the message, Windows displays the Windows Update: Download and Install Updates for Your Computer window, as shown here. If you simply want to install all available updates, click the Install Updates button, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control. Windows installs the updates. If you want to see which updates are available so that you can decide whether to install them, click the View Available Updates link. Windows displays a list of updates, as shown in the previous section, with the check boxes selected automatically. Clear the check box for each update you don’t want to install, click the Install button, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control.

Restarting Your Computer

After installing the updates, restart your computer if Windows tells you that you need to.

Viewing Installed Updates

To see which updates Windows has installed, click the View Update History link in the left panel in the Windows Update window. Windows displays the View Update History window . From here, you can click the Installed Updates link to display the Installed Updates window, which lets you remove some updates from your computer. However, Microsoft doesn’t let you remove most updates from your computer, as they’re considered essential to keeping Windows running securely.

Restoring Hidden Updates

If you decide to install updates manually, and you choose not to install some updates, you can change your mind and install them after all. To do so, take the following steps:

1. In the left panel in the Windows Update window, click the Restore Hidden Updates link. Windows displays the Restore Hidden Updates window.

2.In the list box, select the check box for each update that you want to restore.

3. Click the Restore button, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control. Windows restores the updates, and then prompts you to install them.