Programmers continually find and fix PC and software bugs and make these patches available as free Microsoftupdates. While it is important to keep up with Microsoftupdates, there are precautions that should be taken to keep updating the computer from leading to errors later on.

Getting Updates for Microsoft

Computers require updates because the bugs or problems have been found in software or operating systems.  Sometimes these updates include security patches to “loopholes” that were being exploited by virus creators.

It is important to keep computers and software up to date in order to protect them from known viruses, errors, and malware.  To find out whether the computer is up to date, search for Microsoftupdates on the Microsoft site and use the update scanning tool to determine what updates are missing from the PC.

Most Windows machines will display a message notifying the user that the latest Microsoftupdates are available for download.  If for some reason this function has been disabled, the user can turn on the Automatic Update option.  Under Control Panel, find the System section and click on the Automatic Updates tab to choose a schedule.

Avoid Problems While Updating your Computer

Make sure no other programs are running on the PC before beginning to install updates.  If many new updates are available for the computer, it is advisable to download the most critical updates first and proceed to the lesser ones.  It may only be possible to download a few at a time or per session.

Update or install wizards will guide the computer through these updates.  Make sure to reboot the computer if specified, as the updates will not be recognized or fully installed without this step.

If your computer had problems receiving Microsoftupdates in the past, turn off virus protection software until the updating process has completed.  (But remember to turn them back on once the updates are finished.)  Do not use any programs while the updates are installing; this may pull the computer in too many directions at once and produce errors.

Clean Up After Microsoftupdates

Any time a computer is updated, new entries are made in its Windows registry.  Unfortunately, entries pertaining to old programs and pre-updated versions of software are not erased from the registry automatically as part of the update.  As the amount of data in the registry grows, the computer is prone to file errors, freezes, blue screen errors, and other issues.

The final step to updating the computer is to learn about cleaning your registry after installing Microsoftupdates.  This will help avoid problems caused by obsolete registry entries.  Never go into your registry without doing research first.  This could result in buying a brand new hard drive.