Question about automatic Microsoft updates ?

How can I find out if my computer is receiving automatic Microsoft updates through Windows? To my knowledge I have never personally downloaded any updates, which I gather now from reading posts on MG that I should be doing this. I just read somewhere that my computer could already be set up to receive the updates on its own, but now I don't know how to figure out if it is or not.

 

START> Control Panel > Automatic Updates.

 

If I go to START and then Control Panel it says :

Pick a Catagory :

Apperance and Themes
Network and Internet Connections
Add or Remove Programs
Sound, Speech, and Audio Devices
Preformance and Maintenance
Printers and Other Hardware
User Accounts
Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options
Accessibility Options
Security Center

I don't see Automatic Updates. Does that mean my computer is not setup for it, or is it listed under one of these catagories ? I have looked but I don't see it.

 

OK...you have your menu set in Category View is all.

Go START> Control Panel> Performance and Maintenance> See basic information about your computer, then click the Automatic Updates tab in the window that pops up.

 

Got it. Thanks. It says my computer is set up to automatically download recommended updates and install them everyday at 3:00AM.

 

That's good...that's the default. Mostly it automatically installs what it downloads and you don't need to do anything. Some times you will see a yellow shield icon in the bottom right taskbar. If you hover your mouse over this it will pop up a message telling you if any action is required manually by you, so that is worth just keeping an eye out for

 

People like me should probally not have computers Thanks for telling me this. That yellow sheild icon is there right now actually. I have no idea when it got there, I don't remember seeing it before. I will definitely keep a look out for it from now on.

 

All I can say is ....confused confused confused

 

I don't think it's working right. Maybe it's because my computer has been running soooo slow this last week. I clicked on the sheild and it said it was updating, but it's been there for about an hour and 20 min and the progress bar at the bottom shows nothing. ? So I'm guessing it's not working right. It shouldn't take that long should it ?

 

http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/default.aspx

My preference is to use Windows Update and Office Update, links listed above. Prefer doing it manually. Check Windows Update weekly, and Office Update monthly, unless I am aware of updates being released. Have one machine set to Automatic Updates, it is the only one with Internet Explorer 7 on it. You will need to download Active X controls to use these sites, and Microsoft Update is no exception

 

That all depends when you last ran it, how out of date your computer is, how big the files are it is downloading and your download speed. For example, if you are still runnning XP SP1 and have only a dial up connection, it will take a very long time to download the SP2 update....a VERY VERY long time. Let it run overnight if you can....

 

Oh. My computer is 2 1/2 years old, and I do only have dial up so I guess it will take a long time. Especailly with how slow my computer has been running recently. Actually taking that into consideration it could take a week or more to update . It just took about 2 minutes for just this page to come up.
Also, I don't know if I'm still running XP SP1 because I don't even know what it is.

My only other question is, do I have to be signed on overnight for the update to download ?
Just wondering because my husband hates when I tie up the phone line for so long.

 

To see if you have XP SP2 running go Start> Control Panel> Add remove programs and scroll down to see if Windows XP SP2 program is listed. If it isn;t you would need to leave dial-up connected for as along as it takes to download the update, and yes, this could mean as long as overnight, as it is a very big download.

 

I guess I don't have it. The only thing I see that says anything about Windows is : Windows Installer 3.1 (KB893803)

So I guess I will be signed on all night tonight downloading SP2 (and perhaps all day tommorrow as well with my slow computer )

Thanks for all the help.