6.3 How to run windows system update

You can set windows to automatically check for new updates. If you do this, check back with it every so often to make sure that you get the less critical updates as well to keep your system up to date.
Windows is a very powerful operating system that is made up of millions of lines of programming code. 

This complexity gives spyware, viruses, and hackers lots of opportunities to break into your computer.  In order to eliminate these opportunities, Microsoft periodically releases fixes to the Windows program.  You can get these fixes for free by doing the following: 

1.  Click the “Start” button, then “Control Panel.”

2.  Find “System” in the list of programs in the right panel and double-click it.  Then the “System Properties” window will open.  You may also have an icon on the left side of your screen that says “Windows Update.” You can click on that, or the “Automatic Updates” icon in the list of programs.

3.   If you choose the “System Properties” icon, click the “Automatic Updates” tab.  The Automatic Updates settings appear.

4.  Check the box next to the paragraph that starts with, “Keep my computer up to date.”  When you check the box, the options in the “Settings” group become available. 

5.   In the “Settings” panel at the bottom of the window, choose how you want Windows to download and install fixes as they become available. 

6.   Click the “OK” button.  The System window closes. 

Windows is now ready to automatically find and install updates according to the settings that you chose.

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