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Updating Microsoft Windows.
Microsoft Windows Update
If you are running Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or even and earlier version of 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. Be aware that even thought updates have been available since the release of Windows 98, that Microsoft no longer supports Widows 98, Windows Millennium or Windows XP, so updates for these may no longer be available.

Note: Corporate network users and people 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 a valid, licensed copy of 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 Check 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. As 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.

• Microsoft does provide some driver updates for hardware devices, it is important to realise that they will not have all the latest drivers for all of your hardware. You may wish to consider updating the drivers directly from your computer manufacturer or the component manufacturer, e.g.. Intel, ASUS, AMD, etc.

Note: Whenever you are prompted to reboot the computer, ensure that you do reboot it as this is an important step in the updating process. In some cases several reboots may be required before the process is completed. Once the process is complete you can check the Windows update page again to ensure all the files have been downloaded & updated.

If you are unable to run Windows Update page
Some possible reasons :-

• Not using Microsoft Microsoft Internet Explorer, it may be viewable through Firefox or Chrome but really requires IE.

• If you are on a Corporate Network, your administrators may have disabled this feature. If this is the case, you should receive a message indicating that the Windows Update feature has been disabled.

• Delete your Internet History through Tools.. Options.

• If you are using an illegal copy of Microsoft Windows it will not update.

Important Points to do before updating

• Disable any Anti-Virus protection program you have running, just for the time of updating. This is important as they often try to block the updates.
• (Ensure that you restart the program after the update is complete.)
• Disable any disk software utilities or performance tools running on the computer. These also can create blocking issues with updates
• It is best to allow the updates unhindered, so do not use the computer while it is updating. This is less of an issue with Windows 7.
• Clear your Internet Explorer History and Cache - through Tools... Options.
• If you are encountering problems after installing driver updates, we recommend you try updating the drivers from the relevant hardware manufacturer instead of through Microsoft.

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