Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
It's critical that you install updates to your computer's operating system
(and to the programs that run on it) to ensure that all the most recent
patches are applied.
Software manufacturers can distribute a patch as a single update to a
program or as a group of updates to several programs. Periodically,
Microsoft groups several patches together and produces a package
called a service pack . A service pack contains all the patches released
either since the product was launched or since the last service pack was
released. To determine whether any service packs have been installed on
your Windows computer, open the Control Panel and select the System
and Security option. Then click System to see the current status of your
operating system. (See Figure 11.8.)
service pack A collection of patches, released
in a single package.
Figure.11 8 Windows 7 running with Service Pack 1.
To make it easier for you to keep your system up to date, Microsoft offers the
Windows Update tool. To access it, open the Control Panel, click System
and Security, and choose Windows Update. As shown in Figure 11.9, you
can click on the links to choose from the following options:
Windows Update A feature in Windows that
automatically downloads and installs updates
to Windows and optionally to some Microsoft
applications.
Check for Updates: Select this option to perform an immediate
check for new updates.
Change Settings: Choose this option to specify how and when
updates are installed.
View Update History: To see when updates were installed, select
this option.
Restore Hidden Updates: This option enables you to install
updates that you have chosen not to install previously.
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