How To Install New Updates On Windows.

We know, updating your PC is a hassle–but it’s important. New security flaws are discovered on a regular basis, and most companies are pretty good about about issuing fixes for those flaws as they crop up.

Plugging those holes, however, depends largely upon you making sure things are properly updated.

If you’re using Windows 8 or 10, Windows Update is a little more aggressive than it used to be. You no longer have the easy option of selecting which updates to download and install like you did in Windows 7. Though you can take some measures to prevent updates, Windows pretty much just does it automatically. Still, it’s important to be aware of what’s getting updated and also how to update things that fall outside the Windows Update purview, like third-party apps and some hardware drivers. And if you’re still using Windows 7, you need to make sure you’re taking the right steps to keep things up to date.

In addition to fixing security flaws, updates also come in the form of bug fixes and new features, both of which are also nice to have. We’re going to be talking about how to keep three major aspects of your PC up to date:

• Windows. Windows Update has grown more insistent over the years in keeping itself up to date. In Windows 10, security updates are downloaded and installed automatically. You don’t really get a choice in the matter. And that’s largely a good thing. Too many people just never bothered to keep up to date with security updates, and insecure PCs don’t just create a problem for the person who owns them. An unsecure PC connected to the Internet can become a problem for everyone. You do still have a little control over when other, non-security updates are installed, though.
• Third-Party Apps. Keeping third-party apps up to date is nearly as important as keeping Windows itself updated. Unfortunately, how updates get installed is up to the people making those apps. Fortunately, there are some tools out there that can help you make the process a bit easier.
• Hardware Drivers. By and large, keeping hardware drivers up to date is less a security issue than one of functionality. New driver updates tend to add bug and stability fixes or, in the case of things like video card drivers, better performance and functionality with newer games and apps.

Keeping Windows and your third-party apps up to date is arguably the most important action you can take to help keep your PC, and by extension you, safe. So let’s get to it.

Keep Windows Up to Date

First and foremost, you should ensure Windows is always kept up to date with the latest bug fixes and security patches. This is a bit different in Windows 7 than in later versions, so we’ll cover both here.

In Windows 8 and 10

Windows Update is now a lot more streamlined than it was in Windows 7. To access it, just hit Start, type “windows update” and then click the result.

The Windows Update window is pretty sparse compared to what it used to be, but is still useful for finding out the status of updates and configuring a few options. Since Windows downloads and installs updates automatically, you’re most likely to see a basic screen letting you know that your device is up to date and the last time updates were checked. If you want to check for updates immediately, you can click the “Check for updates” button and Windows will let you know if it finds anything. Even if you don’t bother checking updates manually, any updates that are available will be downloaded and installed sooner rather than later.

If there are available updates that have not yet been downloaded or installed, they’ll show up on the Windows Update screen. If you’d like to see more information about the available updates, just click the “Details” link. The details page shows you pretty much the same information about each update that the main screen shows, but does add the status of each update so you can see whether it’s waiting to be downloaded or has been downloaded but is waiting for installation.