How to keep your Windows computer up-to-date (311047)

SUMMARY

Install All Windows Critical Updates

Windows Update is the online extension of Windows that helps you to keep your computer up-to-date. Use Windows Update to choose updates for your computer's operating system, software, and hardware. New content is added to the site regularly, so you can always get the most recent updates and fixes to protect your computer and keep it running smoothly. To use the Windows Update site to install all critical updates for your computer, follow these steps:

1. Connect to the Internet, and then open Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Windows Update.
3. On the Welcome to Windows Update page, click the Scan for updates link.
   
   A check is run to determine the updates that are available for your computer. After the check is complete, a tailored selection of critical updates that apply only to the items on your computer is ready to install. A list of categories is also displayed with the number of updates that are available in each category noted in parentheses. It is recommended that you install all of the updates from the "Critical Updates and Service Packs" section.
4. To install all available critical updates and service packs, click the Review and install updates link.
   
   A list of selected updated is displayed.
5. Click Install Now. If any of the selected updates are exclusive items that must be installed separately from other updates, then click OK to install the exclusive item. In this case, you must repeat these steps after you install the exclusive item in order to install additional critical updates.
6. After you read the license agreement, click Accept.
   
   Depending on the updates that you install, you may need to complete installation wizards for product updates, such as updates for Microsoft Internet Explorer. Select the settings that you want to use, and then click Next to complete the wizard.
   
   Note You may have to restart your computer after you install critical updates. If you install multiple updates at the same time, you can decrease the number of times that you have to restart the computer.

Note You can also use the Automatic Updates feature to install critical updates. With Automatic Updates, you no longer have to visit the Windows Update Web site to scan for critical updates; Windows delivers them directly to your computer. Automatic Updates recognizes when you are online and uses your Internet connection to search for downloads from the Windows Update Web site. An icon appears in the notification area of the Windows taskbar each time new updates are available. You can specify how and when you want Windows to update your computer. For example, you can set up Windows to automatically download and install updates on a schedule that you specify. Or you can have Windows notify you whenever it finds updates that are available for your computer and then download the updates in the background. This permits you to continue working uninterrupted. After the download is completed, an icon appears in the notification area with a message that the updates are ready to be installed. When you click the icon or message, you can install the new updates in a few simple steps. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Install All Office Updates

1. Connect to the Internet, and then open Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Windows Update.
3. On the Welcome to Windows Update page, click the Office Update link.
4. Click the Scan my computer to find Office updates I need link.
   
   A check is run to determine which updates are available for your Office products. After the check is complete, a tailored selection of updates that apply only to the Office items on your computer is displayed.
5. To install individual updates, click to select the check boxes next to the updates that you want. You can run multiple updates. If any of the selected updates is an exclusive item that must be installed separately from other updates, you receive a message that indicates which update needs to be installed separately.
6. Click Start Installation.
7. Verify the information for the download, and then click Install Now.
8. You will be prompted if you need access to your Office product CD or network installation source. Click Continue.
9. After you read the license agreement, click Accept.
   
   Note You may have to restart your computer after you install updates. If you install multiple updates at the same time, you can decrease the number of times that you have to restart the computer.

Download Windows Updates

Administrators can download updates from the Microsoft Download Center or the Windows Update Catalog to deploy to multiple computers. If you want to obtain updates to install later on one or more than one computer, use either the following Web sites.

Windows Update Catalog

For more informationabout how to download updates from the Windows Update Catalog, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft Download Center

For more informationabout how to download files from the Microsoft Download Center, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Install and Run Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA)

You can use Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) to centrally scan Windows-based computers for common security misconfigurations and to generate individual security reports for each computer that it scans.

For more information about how to obtain and use MBSA, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Install Multiple Windows Updates or Hotfixes with Only One Reboot

Administrators and IT professionals can install multiple Windows updates or hotfixes with only one reboot. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: