500 Hour Test of Tomorrow's Windows "Vista"

Windows Update

The importance of the Windows Update function has just kept increasing over the last few years. Ever since the introduction of viruses such as Sasser that took advantage of Windows security holes, it has been essential for users to keep their operating systems up to date. As the Sasser virus was making its rounds, a patch to repair the security hole had already been available for a month. The virus was able to spread so fast and far only because a majority of users still hadn't updated their systems.

Only from the update software: browser-based updates don't work any more.

That said, users don't have to rely solely on automatic update downloads. The Windows Update program also permits users to start a manual search for new updates. Likewise, users can manually select individual components that they choose to download and install. Forced installations don't exist, except in the case of updates to the Windows Update function itself.

Next, you must determine if any updates are available. The Windows Update function can do this automatically, or you can check for updates yourself.