Keeping Up-to-Date

One of the first times you start Windows XP, a little balloon appears in the notification area (the box on the lower right of the screen, where the clock sits) telling you “Stay current with automatic updates/Click here to learn how to keep your computer up-to-date automatically with important downloads from Windows Update.” Understanding Windows Update Windows XP has many reasons to be so insistent in its desire to phone home and update itself. Windows Update helps you do the following:

 -  Avoid lockups and dodge other weird Windows gremlins by retrieving and installing the latest versions of various Windows programs, particularly drivers.

Drivers are computer programs that make specific parts of your computer work. You have a driver for your keyboard, mouse, modem, printer, USB port, camera, and on and on. Drivers are notorious for causing grief: In my experience, if Windows locks up on you, you have at least a 50/50 chance that a driver did the dirty work.

 -  Keep up with the latest security patches. Windows 98/ME had its share of security problems, but Windows XP introduced an entire genre of viruses, worms, and attack methods that the guys in black hats have only begun to exploit.  

-  Find more help. Microsoft continually refines (and in some cases improves) its Help system. Windows Update ensures that you have the latest Help files installed and ready to go the next time you dive into the Help and Support Center. All of this benefit comes at no price: There’s no charge (although you do have to be connected to the Internet); you needn’t register your copy of Windows to take advantage of Windows Update; and no information about your machine is sent to Microsoft when you use it, aside from the obvious catalog of Windows components necessary for Update to do its job. Setting up automatic updates Here’s how to start working with automatic update:

1. If you want to change your Windows Update settings, you have to be an Administrator. If you’re running Windows XP Home (and using anything other than a Guest account), chances are very good that you are already an Administrator, and you don’t have to worry about it. If you’re running Windows XP Professional, you probably aren’t an Administrator, unless you’ve convinced your company’s network administrators to induct you into the club.

2. Start the Windows Update Wizard by clicking the “Stay current with automatic updates” balloon.

3. Tell Windows whether you want to have updates applied automatically or whether you want to look over the update candidates before (and after!) they’re applied to your machine. I strongly recommend that you tell Windows that you want to review changes to your system before they’re applied. Why? Because Microsoft has a long history of releasing updates that don’t quite work right. In rare instances, you’ll want to download and install an update immediately if a major virus or worm starts making its way across the Internet, for example, and your machine is in its path. In most cases, though, you can afford to wait a week or two before changing major components on your machine, which gives you time to hear loud screams from other users.

4. Click Finish. Windows connects to the Internet, following your instructions to look for the latest updates. If any updates are found, an icon appears in your notification area (near the clock). Choose Start -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> System and look at the Automatic Updates tab to change the update approach at any time. Performing the update Unless you turn off Windows Update completely, each time you log on to the Internet, Windows checks to see whether any new versions of Windows files, drivers, Help files, and so on are available specifically for your computer. If new versions are available and you’ve told Windows to notify you and let you select updates, you see an icon in the notification area (near the clock) with a balloon message that says, “New updates are available from Windows Update. Click here to review these items and begin downloading.” During the automatic updating process, you may be asked (several times) whether you want to allow Windows to download and install certain Windows components that handle the updating itself. It’s a classic chicken-and-egg situation: You need these components in order to do the updating, but Windows can’t automatically pull them down unless you give your permission. Say OK when asked about installing the components, if you want automatic update to work, uh, automatically. Here’s how the automatic update works, if you chose to review updates:

1. Choose Start -> Help and Support, and under the Pick a Task heading, click Keep Your Computer Up-To-Date with Windows Update.

2. Click Scan for Updates. Windows compares its database of available updates to the components installed on your machine and tells you what’s available. You can bypass Steps 1 and 2 by simply going to the Windows Update Web site, www.windowsupdate.Microsoft.com. If you click on the balloon in the notification area that says “New updates are available from Windows Update. Click here to review these items and begin downloading,” you end up in Step 3. The final result is the same.

3. Click Review and Install Updates. You see a list of available updates. If you don’t want to install a particular update, click Remove. If you want to install an optional add-on, click Add. Don’t worry. Any Windows XP updates that you choose to Remove from the automatic updating machinery can be resurrected at a later date.

4. Windows downloads and installs the software you’ve selected. You may be required to Accept a licensing agreement. You’ll probably be required to restart your computer. But in the end, the updates almost always go smoothly. Installing old updates Like bad pennies that won’t go away, Windows XP continues to bug er, I mean bother you about old updates that you’ve declined: The old updates appear on the Pick Updates to Install list for a long time. Follow these steps to banish certain updates, so that they never darken your door again:

1. Bring up the Windows Update screen. (Choose Start -> Help and Support, and under the Pick a Task heading, click Keep Your Computer Up-To-Date with Windows Update.)

2. Click Personalize Windows Update.

3. Select the Display the Option to Hide Individual Updates check box. Doing so puts a check box next to every offered update, which effectively hides the update from all further searches on your machine.

4. If you change your mind and want Windows to show you all the pending updates, choose Start -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> System. Then, on the Automatic Updates tab, click Restore Declined Updates.