If you want to perform a Windows update it is quite easy. Microsoft has made updating Windows very easy. Although each operating system has a different method for updating Windows, they are all fairly similar. This article will concentrate on the various ways to update Windows XP and most people can use the same basic principles to update their own operating system, whether they are using an older version of Windows such as 2000, NT or Windows 98, or the more common Windows Vista and Windows 7 Operating Systems.

Your first option is updating is to allow the computer to automatically select updates and install them in the background. This is quite easy to do and involves you simply clicking on the gold shield icon that is in your taskbar. Your taskbar is located in the lower right hand corner of your screen, and you may need to click the arrow to expand it if you don’t see the gold shield.

You may notice that there is a red shield as well, but this is for the Windows firewall. Click the icon and a box will come up that will allow you to create settings for Windows to update on its own.

The first box that you will see is very simple. It asks you when you want Windows to update. You can choose to update daily, or on a particular day of the week, updating weekly. You will also be asked the set the time for the update. By default it is set to 3:00AM because most people are asleep during that time of the day and the update will not interfere with their normal computer use. If you want to set other options you can click the button at the bottom that says ‘More Options’ and a window will open that will allow you to work with more advanced settings.

If you go to the next Window you will be able to set the same time and day update that was offered on the previous screen, but there are additional options as well such as allowing your computer to download updates but letting you install them manually so that you can weed out unwanted updates. You can also choose to allow the computer to let you know when updates are available, but you will have to download and install them automatically. The last option is to turn off automatic updates completely but this is not recommended for anyone except advanced users.

If you want you can click the link on the bottom to go to the Microsoft website to learn more about the updates or to manually find specific updates that you want and download and install them yourself. When you arrive on the website a box will pop up asking you to install the windows update application which will be able to find out which components your computer lacks.

You can choose to install this, and it works in much the same way as the Windows update tool on your desktop. There is also a new program offered called Microsoft Update if you prefer to use that.