Keep your operating system updated

The aim of the five security measures presented on Secure home PC: to secure your home PC from internet threats coming through your DSL connection and ultimately to limit the time you (or a willing IT savvy friend) devote to fixing your PC.

One of the proposed measures was to keep your operating system updated. Microsoft uses the expression “stay current with automatic updates” to refer to the updating process for Windows, Office and other Microsoft applications. As most home PCs run Windows XP as their operating system, this article focuses on how to configure and use “Automatic Updates” in Windows XP using DSL to connect to the internet.

Firstly, start up “Automatic Update” (these two words should appear in the Control Panel).

Secondly, double click the “Automatic Update” icon. It is advisable that you decide when the updating process should start, rather than letting it take place automatically. To achieve this, check the option “Notify me but don’t automatically download and install them”. An alternative way of doing this is by going to the Windows Update website (http://update.microsoft.com) and selecting the “Express” option. Choose a time when you are not going to need to use the PC for anything else as the updating process can take a long time, especially if you do not update your PC frequently or if your internet connection is slow.

Thirdly, your PC will undergo the updating process in the background. It consists of three steps:

1. Checking which updates are required.
2. Downloading the updates (a window with a list of updates to download will appear).
3. Installing the updates.

SOME TIPS TO SAVE TIME:
As always, make a backup of your data before updating your PC by saving important files onto CD or a USB memory drive.

If you need to reduce the time your PC spends updating, only download security updates.

Check the screen of your PC every now and then as some of the steps require your input (e.g. the selection of updates to install and the acceptance of some end-user licence agreements).

You may also have to restart your PC in order to complete the installation process. Once the updating process has finished, check whether it was successful by clicking "Review your update history”.

The bad news is that, while updating your PC is necessary, it alone is not sufficient to protect your PC. The good news is that the experience you gain will help you when you have to respond to the pop-up windows that will inevitably appear (and that we have not even mentioned in this article) and that subsequent updates will generally take less time.