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How To Update Windows Manually or Automatically

5 Jul

Struggling To Figure Out How To Update Windows Software? Here We Look At Both Automatic And Manual Update Options That Will Make Windows Updates Easier.

Automatic updates are included in Windows XP and later versions as standard. These updates come direct from Microsoft and each one is marked as Important, Recommended or Optional and here we look at all the different elements so that you can update Windows easily.

Types of Windows Update Settings

There are a range of different Windows update settings to choose from in any version of Windows. The different types of settings that one can enable on their computer include:

Automatic – this setting is ideal for beginners or novice Windows users as well as those who do not need to interact with updates/important fixes that are installed on their machine.
Download Updates for me, but let me choose when to install them – this setting has a prompt mechanism, where it allows Windows to download all updates from Microsoft, but waits until the user wants to install them.
Notify me but don’t automatically download or install them – This is where the user receives a message notifying them that updates are available. The user can choose to download and install the updates, which is particularly beneficial when monitoring safety. Manual updates are particularly good for those who use bespoke software were updates may interfere and affect the smooth running of their systems.
Turn off Automatic Updates – This setting disables all updates making the user’s only recourse to manually install updates from Microsoft’s Update Web Site.

As most of the updates include important changes to a range of Windows-based operations and programs, as well as vulnerabilities, it is important to regularly update Windows. For this reason Microsoft, computer experts and specialized websites like PC World will recommend keeping informed on updates or even turning on Automatic Updates.

Turning on Automatic Updates

The quickest way to turn on automatic updates if you are using Classic View is to:

Click the Start Menu and choose settings;
Select Control Panel;
Double click on Automatic Updates; and
Make sure the Automatic (recommended) ratio button is selected. From here you can set when and what time you would like automatic updates to install on your machine.

If you are in Category View you will need to do the following to enable automatic updates:

Click the Start Menu and choose settings;
Select Control Panel;
Click Security Center;
Under the section “Manage security settings for” click Automatic Updates; and
Make sure the Automatic (recommended) ratio button is selected. From here you can set when and what time you would like automatic updates to install on your machine.

One of the main reasons people may not want to set their computer to Automatic Updates is because in some cases it will need to reboot after downloading updates. But the Microsoft Update team has written a comprehensive outline of why this happens and how it can be altered to suit your needs.

With these things in mind, updating Windows should become a quicker, hassle-free process for anyone. If not, there are always independent software updaters that may help you get exactly what you want from your computer and your software.