How to do a Windows Update: XP

Step 1: Get to the Windows Update Page. in Internet Explorer (blue "e" icon), click on "Tools" and choose "Windows Update" from the menu.

Step 2: You will see a page similar to this image below. Click on "Scan for Updates" (see green arrow).

Step 3: You will see a window like this image below while Windows Microsoft scans to see what updates you need on your computer. The percentage will count up as Microsoft scans. You need do nothing at this point but wait.

Step 4: Look at the image below. You will see in this example that Microsoft found three critical updates to download. Look in the left-hand column where it says, "Critical Updates and Service Packs (3)."

If there is a "0" (zero) in the parentheses, then you do not need to do any Critical Updates. You have done them all for now. You can go to somewhere else on the Internet. Check every once in a while to see if Microsoft has come up with more updates for you. Look down at the icons near your clock once in a while throughout the weeks. Sometime, there may be a little earth symbol down by your clock (lower right-hand corner of your screen) that will pop up. That is a symbol that tells you that you need to come back to the Windows Update page and install some critical updates again. Lately, Microsoft has been adding critical updates (patches to their software to keep out the latest worms) quite often. If you did your updates last week, you may still have to do some more this week.

If you have a number in the parenthesis after "Critical Updates and Service Packs" (three in this example), that means you need to install that many of them. Click on "Review and install updates" (see yellow arrow in image below).

Step 5: This instruction is important to you if Microsoft found that you had some critical updates to install and you hit the "Review and install updates" link like in Step 4 above. The red arrow in the image below points to the same area we looked at in Step 4. Here, it tells you how many updates you will have to do right now.

Click on the "Install Now" button (see purple arrow). You will likely see a window that is an agreement. Accept the agreement. This is a free service from Microsoft. There might possibly be another window that tells you that Windows can only install one critical update or service pack at a time. It means you'll have to come back to this Windows Update page (start at Step 1 again) after your computer reboots, and keep coming back to Step 1 until there's a zero in the parentheses after the "Critical Updates and Service Packs" line.

After installing the update(s), you may or may not have a window that asks to reboot your machine. Your machine may automatically reboot. Either way, it is okay to go ahead and reboot. Have it do so. After your machine comes back on, come back to the Internet and start again at Step 1 to see if you installed all the "Critical Updates and Service Packs" you needed to install. As soon as you have a zero in the parentheses, you can congratulate yourself on completely updating your machine.