HOW TO UPDATE A MICROSOFT WINDOWS EDITIONS

If you are running Microsoft Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or a later version of Microsoft Windows, you are eligible to update Microsoft Windows, and in some cases, your computer hardware with the latest drivers through Microsoft's update site. To perform this update, follow the below steps.

Note: Users on a corporate network or running an illegal copy of Microsoft Windows may be unable to perform Microsoft Updates. If you are on a corporate network, contact your administrator if you are concerned about updating your computer. If you are running an illegal copy of Microsoft Windows, we recommend you purchase Microsoft Windows.

Visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com, clicking on this link will open a new window for you. For this page to work you must view it in Internet Explorer.
On the Microsoft Windows Update page, select the option Scan for updates. If prompted to install a plug-in, click Yes. Not installing this plug-in will prevent you from scanning for updates.
Because this feature must query your computer, Microsoft will gather information from your computer allowing the software to know what it needs to update. There are several urban legends about Microsoft recording all the programs installed on your computer and detecting illegal software, copying the programs on your computer, and copying all your private information. These are all not true. Unless otherwise stated in Microsoft's Privacy statement, Microsoft collects your operating system version, Product Key, Internet Explorer version, Version numbers of other programs Microsoft provides updates for, ID numbers of the hardware devices installed in the computer, and region and language settings.
After Windows Update has completed scanning you should be able to view the available updates for your computer. It is highly recommended that you first update all critical updates and service packs that are available. In some cases you may be only able to do a few critical updates or service pack updates each time.
Although Microsoft does provide some driver updates for hardware devices, it is important to realize that they will not have all the latest drivers. You may wish to consider updating the drivers directly from your computer manufacturer. See the computer drivers page for a listing of computer hardware manufacturers and a link to their drivers page.
Note: Whenever you are prompted to reboot the computer, reboot the computer. This is a very important step and in some cases may be required several times before you have completed all the Windows updates. After the computer has rebooted, make sure to visit the Windows update page again to make sure all the files you need are downloaded.

Microsoft Windows XP and later users