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How To Update Windows.

It’s very important to keep your version of Windows up to date. Many of the updates that your computer receives are security updates.

Security updates close loopholes in the operating system that could allow hackers or malware to run on your machine.

How To Update Windows 10 And Windows 11.

Although Windows 10 and Windows 11 are pretty good at keeping themselves updated, you should check occasionally that you’ve got all the latest updates available to your computer.

To manually check for Windows updates, click the Start button and then type “windows update

Left-click Check for Updates (System Settings), which will be at the top of the search results.

Searching for Windows Update in Windows 10
Searching for Windows Update in Windows 10.
Searching for Windows Update in Windows 11.
Searching for Windows Update in Windows 10.

Laptop Users.

If you’re using a laptop, are any PC with a battery, plug it into the wall socket. Windows updates can take some time and will drain the battery.

Although most of the time, if your battery does go dead, Windows will recover and pick up from where it left off during the update. That’s most of the time.

At other times it won’t. Something will go wrong with the update and then it’s just luck as to whether you can get your computer back up and running quickly.

Don’t leave it to chance. Plug it in.

On the Windows Update screen, it might tell you that it is, in fact, already up to date. You can’t trust that it is. Always click the Check For Updates button.

If, after re-checking, Windows still insists that it’s up to date, you’re done here.

Checking for updates - Windows 10.
Windows 10 claiming to be up to date. Check it anyway.
Checking for updates - Windows 11.
Windows 11 will often do the same thing. And again, check it anyway.

Windows Updates Available.

After checking for updates, you might see a whole list of them appear. Most of the updates will automatically begin downloading and installing.

You might also see a separate update that’s labelled as an Optional Update. Your best bet here is to allow all the automatic updates to finish installing before you try to install the optional updates.

Windows 10 updates downloading. Optional Updates marked.
Leave the optional updates for now.
Windows 11 updates downloading.
Optional updates for Windows 11 are displayed on another screen.

Optional Updates.

Let the automatic updates finish installing properly before running any of the optional updates that you may be offered.

Updating Windows is very complicated and it’s much better to keep things as simple as possible. You’ll avoid any possible conflicts between the updates.

Restart Required.

Some updates will require a restart to complete installing. Click the Restart Now button.

Do the restart before you try to install the optional updates.

Restart Now button indicated.
Click the Restart Now button to finish installing the new updates.

Optional Updates For Windows 10.

After restarting your computer, go back into Windows Updates and click the Download And Install link for the Optional Updates.

When it’s finished, you’ll probably need to restart your computer again.

Download and install optional updates highlighted in Windows 10
Windows 10.

Optional Updates For Windows 11.

To find the optional updates for Windows 11, you’ll need to click through a couple of extra screens.

On the Windows Update screen –

  1. Scroll down and click on Advanced Options.
  2. Then click Optional Updates
  3. And finally select the updates and click the Download and Install button.
Advanced Options button highlighted in Windows 11.
Scroll down and click the Advanced Options button.
Optional Updates highlighted in Windows 11.
Click Optional Updates.
Optional updates selected and Download button marked.
Select and download the updates.

Driver Updates.

That should take care of all the Windows updates, but there maybe more. Driver updates are often hidden behind the “View optional updates” link.

To find any driver updates for Windows 11, you’ll again need to click through Advanced Options > Optional Updates > Driver Updates.

Generally speaking I’d advise you to take the offered driver updates. Select them all and then click the Download and Install button.

Driver updates highlighted in Windows 10.
Windows 10.
Driver updates highlighted in Windows 11.
Windows 11.

Windows Update Drivers.

Windows update used to be very poor when it came to driver updates for your computer. That’s changed now. Most hardware manufacturers keep Microsoft fully aware of their required drivers.

This PC Can’t Run Windows 11.

If you’re updating a Windows 10 computer, you may well be seeing either the option to update to Windows 11 or this message, “This PC doesn’t currently meet the minimum system requirements to run Windows 11”.

Many older Windows 10 computers don’t meet the minimum requirements to run Windows 11.

If this is your computer, then I really wouldn’t worry about it. Windows 10 is perfectly good and can do everything that Windows 11 can do.

You can safely ignore the notice.

Windows 10 PC can't update to Windows 11.
Oops. You’re computer can’t run Windows 11.

Related Posts.

Although there are never any guarantees, there are ways to get Windows 11 installed on a Windows 10 PC that doesn’t meet the requirements. If you would really like to try, then here are a few At Home Computer guides that may help.

How To Upgrade To Windows 11 On Unsupported Hardware.

How To Install Windows Without A Microsoft Account.

How To Setup A Windows 11 Virtual Machine On VirtualBox.

Summary.

The vast majority of Windows Updates are bug fixes and security updates. These help to keep your computer running smoothly and close vulnerabilities in the Windows operating system.

At Home Computer Course.

Computer with arrow pointing toward a safe. Text reads "What are the different types of PC backup?".
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Backing Up. The Ultimate Protection Against Malware.

Being up to date and having a decent anti virus is all well and good, but they can fail you. Back up your computer now.

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