Updating the Microsoft Windows Operating System
Configuring Automatic Updates
The “Automatic Update” feature is available for the Windows 2000 and
Windows XP operating systems. This does not apply to Windows 95 or
Windows 98 systems. In many cases this has already been set up on
MDUSD computers. It is recommended that each employee check their own system to ensure that updates
are set correctly.
The instructions below are basic and adapted from those on the Microsoft web site. If you wish for an
extensive set of instructions, go to www.microsoft.com and search for “KB327838”.
If you need to identify which operating system your computer is using, please do the following:
Click on Start – Control Panel – System.
Look for the name of the operating system.
Windows 2000:
1. Click on Start - Control Panel, double-click Automatic Updates.
2. You will see three options, but TIS highly recommends that you choose the third option and
set it to update every day at a time when your computer is usually turned on:
Automatically download the updates, and install them on the schedule that I
specify. When critical updates are detected, Automatic Updates automatically
downloads these updates in the background while you are connected to the Internet.
After the download is complete, Automatic Updates waits until the scheduled day and
time to install the updates. On the scheduled day and time, users receive the following
message that has a 5-minute countdown timer:
Windows is ready to begin installing the updates available for your computer.
Do you want Windows to install the updates now?
(Windows will restart your computer if no action is taken within 5:00 minutes)
Windows XP:
1. Click on Start - Control Panel, and then double-click System.
2. Click the Automatic Updates tab, and then click to select the Keep my computer up to
date. With this setting enabled, Windows Update software may be automatically
updated prior to applying any other updates.
3. You will see three options, but TIS highly recommends that you choose the third option and
set it to update every day at a time when your computer is usually turned on:
Automatically download the updates, and install them on the schedule that I
specify. If you click this setting, click to select the day and time for scheduled updates
to occur. After you set this option, Windows recognizes when you are online and uses
your Internet connection to find updates on the Windows Update Web site that apply
to your computer. Updates are downloaded automatically in the background, and you
are not notified or interrupted during this process. An icon appears in the notification
area of your Taskbar when the updates are being downloaded. You can point to the
icon to view the download status. To pause (or resume) the download, right-click the
icon, and then click Pause (or Resume). When the download is complete, another
message appears in the status area so you can review the updates that are
scheduled for installation. If you choose not to install at that time, Windows starts the
installation on your set schedule.
Updating Manually
This method may be used at any time for any operating system, but is the only method available for Windows 95
or Windows 98.
1. Use your web browser to go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. Click on “Scan for Updates”. You
will wait a short time while your system is checked.
2. If there are one or more necessary updates checked, then click on “Start Installation”. Necessary
updates are ones labeled, “Critical Updates and Service Packs”. Generally, it is unnecessary and
even at times inadvisable to allow non-critical updates.