Help with Windows updates

My computer has not had any Windows updates since purchase. I went to the Windows update site and it found 23 critical & service packs. Is it alright to update all at once? even if some seem to be related to software that I don't use or have.

 

Download all critical updates and driver upates at once. You may have to turn Windows Update on to receive Service Pack 2. As for the software updates, you can pick and choose the ones you want there. It won't hurt to get them all as well.

 

Not sure what version of Windows you are using but in general it is best to update in the order the updates were issued in case one update relies on another already being installed. But if you select all the updates at once I think it loads them in the correct order. Anyone disagree?

 

You may not want to do the drivers at this point in time. If something goes wrong it will be harder to troubleshoot. The drivers can be updated later from the vendors site.

 

I agree with this. I've ran into many issues installing drivers found on windows update.

 

The installation is hung up. The download of files completed but the installation did not finish. The installation window "Windows update is installing the updates on your computer. Please wait..." The status bar for download completed. But the install progress bar is full but never completed. I looked at the installation history on the Update webpage and it lists the 23 as failed to update. I ran another scan and it shows six more critical updates for my pc. I still have the IE window with the install box open. I'm a little afraid to cancel. Registry changes were made through spy sweeper - I forgot to shut that program off but I did allow the changes. If I reboot will Windows work at all?
I am using 98SE - I forgot to mention that earlier.

 

Since you have never updated the machine since you purchased it the install would be huge. I know on a Win98 machine I have, the installs seem like they hang. I leave it run overnight.

 

I will let it run but should the Installation History already have Failed by all of the updates that I had selected?

 

The update may fail sometimes because of the sheer size of the update. Try selecting a few files at a time. Of course this will cause you to reboot several times.