How To Update Windows

Updating Windows protects you from malware and keeps your hardware running well. In this article, I will show you the best way to update everything.

Introduction

When you use Windows, you will need to spend a fair amount of time updating it. While it does some updates on its own, these updates are irregular. Consistency is king when it comes to knowing your device is safe. Malware and scams are prevalent these days. You must be proactive to prevent bad things from happening.

Updating the Operating System

The Windows updates system will generally handle operating system updates. However, it does not always work smoothly. Updates will get stuck and just refuse to install. You will have to apply some manual intervention when this happens. That is why it is important to know how to update your system. If it is not updated regularly, malware will get in and you will be vulnerable to scams. 

To update your operating system manually, search updates from your start menu. You should see something called Windows updates. Click on this and hit search for updates. If it finds something, it will generally install it on its own. It does not always install on its own, though. So, it is good to keep an eye on things to make sure everything went as expected. To recap:

• Select start button
• Type in updates
• Select Windows Updates
• Click search or install

Updating Your Hardware

Updating the hardware attached to your computer is also important. Examples of hardware can include printers, scanners, and webcams. Without regular updates, these devices will eventually stop working. To check their status and do it manually, search device manager from the start menu. Click on device manager after it shows up. You will see devices listed that are physically connected to your computer. You can just right click on them and select update. There are many other entries under the device manager but you can usually leave them along unless you know what they are.

• Select start button
• Type in device manager
• Select device manager
• Find your device, such as a printer
• Right click on printer or other device and select update

Updating the Apps

Updating apps is more of a pain for inexperienced users. This is understandable. It is done in a variety of ways. It really depends on the app. Some apps can be updated by going through their menu system. Others, you just have to go to their website and download a new binary. This should go to your downloads folder. You will run that file and follow their instructions.

My favorite way to update apps is through a package management system. Package management systems are normal in Linux distributions. They need to be in Windows systems too. In the next section, I discuss one of these package systems.

Chocolatey Package Management 

Chocolatey has been around for a while now.If you are inexperienced, I would recommend one of the above methods first. It is certainly easy to learn, though. It was created for the easy installation and updating of apps on Windows. It works much like package management on Linux. Go to https://chocolatey.org/install and follow the instructions. I recommend using Powershell as your shell. Set it to non-restrictive. Then, just run the command they give you in the codeblock. Use the copy button to send it to your clipboard and paste it into your Powershell window and hit enter.

After it is installed, you can do things like:

choco install firefox

choco install googlechrome

choco upgrade firefox

choco upgrade all

choco uninstall googlechrome

So, you can see how much more convenient that is. With a simple command, you can install or update any app. I do recommend trying this for yourself.

Conclusion

In this guide, we talked about updating the various components of your computer. They are each important. Doing these tasks are important in preventing malware and scams that cost you money. Lastly, we talked about package management and how to get started using it on Windows.