| CyberDefenseGuide A How-To Guide To Internet Security and Windows Repair |
| Internet Security | Windows Repair |
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| Windows Update |
Updating Windows is probably the best thing you can do to improve your pc's security.
Most malware uses vulnerabilities in Windows systems that haven't been updated.
A fresh installation of a Windows operating system contains hundreds of vulnerabilities and needs to be immediately updated before it is safe to browse
the internet. If you haven't yet followed the advice under Leaktests and installed and configured a Firewall then your pc can be attacked even
if you don't switch on a browser, and even if you update Windows fully.
Support from Microsoft for Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) will end on July 13, 2010.
To continue receiving automatic updates for Windows XP, make sure you’re running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3).
Support for Windows Vista without any service packs ended on April 13, 2010.
To receive automatic updates for Windows Vista, you must be running Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2).
To update your Windows version with the latest security vulnerability patches you can Update Manually by visiting Microsoft's Windows Update
page, or you can Update Automatically by switching on the Automatic Updates service under Start/Control Panel/Security Center.
Since it is a security risk to spend any time online with an out of date version of Windows, I recommend downloading the Service Packs
you need and install them in order while disconnected from the internet.
The most important element of Windows Update is the update of Internet Explorer 6 to Internet Explorer 7.
Most ID theft and hacking is carried out on users of Internet Explorer 6 because it has several widely known vulnerabilities.
If you are still using IE6 then I recommend using the Mozilla Firefox browser to download the service packs you need.
When IE7 is installed you can safely visit the Windows Update page and decide whether you want to install the optional update Internet Explorer 8
However, many people are still waiting to see what new vulnerabilities there are in IE8 before they update from IE7.
Before updating Windows make a new Restore Point and Backup your important files and folders in case anything goes wrong.
The latest Service Pack versions of Windows are as follows:
Windows XP Service Pack 3
Windows Vista Service Pack 2
Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
Windows 7 none as yet
Update Using Service Packs
If you haven't updated Windows since you purchased your pc, or for a long time, then Automatic Updates and manually updating will be very long
and tortuous. To save time you can download updates as a Service Pack containing hundreds of individual update files.
Check your Service Pack number by rightclicking My Computer (either from the desktop or from the Start menu) and select Properties, under
System or Windows Edition it will list Service Pack 1, 1a, SP1 beta, 2 or 3. If it also says 64-bit Operating System then Vista users need to
download the 64bit service pack. (64bit XP does not use a different service pack to normal 32bit XP).
You should download and install all the service packs you need one after the other until you have the latest one.
If you have Windows XP and no Service Pack is listed you should download Service Pack 1a from this DOWNLOAD (1.9mb)
If you have Windows XP and Service Pack 1 or 1a you should download and install Service Pack 2 from this DOWNLOAD (266mb)
If you have Windows XP and Service Pack 2 you should download and install Service Pack 3 from this DOWNLOAD (314mb)
If you have Windows Vista 32bit and no Service Pack is listed you should download Service Pack 1 from this DOWNLOAD (434mb)
or if your language preference is not listed you can get an all language version from this DOWNLOAD (544mb)
If you have Windows Vista 32bit and Service Pack 1 (SP1) you should download Service Pack 2 from this DOWNLOAD (348mb)
or if your language preference is not listed you can get an all language version from this DOWNLOAD (475mb)
If you have Windows Vista 32bit and Service Pack 1 beta (SP1 beta) you should first uninstall it.
Click Start/Control Panel/Programs and Features/View installed updates, look for "Service Pack for Windows (KB936330)" and uninstall it.
Then download and install Service Packs 1 then 2 from the above links.
If you have Windows Vista 64bit and no Service Pack is listed you should download Service Pack 1 from this DOWNLOAD (726mb)
or if your language preference is not listed you can get an all language version from this DOWNLOAD (873mb)
If you have Windows Vista 64bit and Service Pack 1 (SP1) you should download Service Pack 2 from this DOWNLOAD (577mb)
or if your language preference is not listed you can get an all language version from this DOWNLOAD (745mb)
If you have Windows Vista 64bit and have problems installing any service packs you can try this System Update Readiness Tool DOWNLOAD (145mb)
If you have Windows 2000 and Service Pack 1, 2 or 3 you should download Service Pack 4 from this DOWNLOAD (129mb)
If you cannot install any of the downloads you may be using a Limited Account which does not have Administrator privileges.
Restart your pc and select your administrator account if available. See User Accounts for more information.
These Service Packs include updates for every Windows program whether it is installed on your pc or not. This is useful in case you ever activate a
service you haven't used before since it will not require immediate updating. If you are low on disk space you should update manually as you will only
receive updates for the Windows services that are currently installed and the total download size will be much smaller -however it will still take a lot longer
than a service pack installation for Windows Update to complete the update process.
Update Automatically
To switch Automatic Updates on go to Start/Control Panel/Security Center. Click Turn on Automatic Updates.
If nothing happens or you cannot open Security Center then if you have Windows XP try running Windows XP Updates On.bat
If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 try running Windows Vista 7 Updates On.bat.
If you still cannot get Automatic Updates to switch on then malware may be controlling your pc.
Go to Antivirus for help with this serious problem. Make sure you update Windows as soon as it becomes available.
The default setting for the Automatic Updates service is Automatic - updates to Windows are downloaded and installed when they become available
from Microsoft. However sometimes malware can switch it off. If you haven't had a popup message recently telling you 'new updates have been
downloaded and installed' then Automatic Updates is probably switched off.
Update Manually
To update Windows manually, run Internet Explorer and visit their Windows Update webpage at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
or under Tools click Windows Update. You can also open the webpage from Start/All Programs/Windows Update but for this to work you may
need Internet Explorer running already. You can only use the Internet Explorer browser to do this as there is some level of integration of the browser
and Windows itself.
For Windows Update to work, you also need to add the following addresses to your Trusted Sites list.
Go to Tools/Internet Options/Security/Trusted Sites/Sites and add these addresses to the list:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com (required, but not listed)
http://*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
http://*.windowsupdate.com
If you are stuck on a page telling you about ActiveX and trusted sites and you have added all these sites to the list then restart your pc and try again.
If Windows Update still doesn't work try the Microsoft Update page instead at
http://www.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us
You can also run it from Start/All Programs/Microsoft Update.
Go to Tools/Internet Options/Security/Trusted Sites/Sites and add these addresses to the list:
http://update.microsoft.com
https://update.microsoft.com
http://*.update.microsoft.com
https://*.update.microsoft.com
http://download.windowsupdate.com
Once the Windows or Microsoft Update page has loaded properly, click Express to download everything or click Custom if you want to be able to
stop certain updates from downloading. Microsoft then scans your pc for any Windows software that needs updating to the new version, it lists updates
available and asks you to confirm whether you want to download and install them. If you get an error message it is likely you need to switch on one
or more Windows services required by Windows Update. Run the appropriate bat file below and refresh your browser.
If you have Windows XP run Windows XP Updates On.bat
If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 run Windows Vista 7 Updates On.bat.
If this solves the problem you can begin downloading updates.
If you have any Microsoft software packages like Office and Outlook etc then you should run Microsoft Update instead of Windows Update.
The update process will then check for updates to these programs.
Installing Updates
Once you have downloaded all the updates it will automatically start installing them, if any of them fail then you may want to cancel the installation at this stage.
It is common for certain updates to fail installing properly due to the Automatic Updates service simultaneously trying to install the same updates.
To prevent this happening you can try setting Automatic Updates to 'Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them' (see below).
If an update says it has failed to install, restart the pc and then switch your pc off to let updates install.
You may need to run Windows Update to download the failed updates again.
In most cases the best approach is to set Automatic Updates to download updates but not install them automatically, only when you switch off your pc.
Go to Start/Control Panel/Security Center/Manage security settings for Automatic Updates and select Download updates for me,
but let me choose when to install them. Now Windows Update will download updates as soon as they are available and when you switch your pc
off it will install them and then switch the pc off. This way you can avoid the performance problems and errors while updates are installed but stay updated
with Windows updates the same day they are released.
If you have lots of updates to install then you may have to restart and switch off your pc several times to complete the process.
Vista and Windows 7 users with problems updating Windows can try installing the System Update Readiness Tool.
Scroll down to the downloads section and pick the correct one for your system.
Updates can fail to install if your Windows Installer and Background Intelligent Transfer services switch off unexpectedly.
Run Windows MSI Installer On.bat and BITS On.bat and try to install updates again.
You may have to run these before every single update installation.
If you still have updates failing to install, click Review your update history, click on the error icon for the update that failed, in the popup window copy
the whole error code and paste it (e.g. Error code: 6x064) into the search bar of the Microsoft Support site at http://support.microsoft.com
Once you have installed all the updates you will need to do another scan on the Windows/Microsoft Update page because further updates may be
available, especially if you are one or more service packs out of date. Keep running Windows Update until you are offered no more updates.
Then either switch on Automatic Updates or do a manual update once per week. Microsoft usually release at least one new update each week.
It is important to note that if you want to get a small performance boost by switching off Automatic Updates, it doesn't actually switch off.
If you go to Start/Control Panel/Security Center/Manage..Automatic Updates and select Turn off Automatic Updates, the update service
won't download updates automatically BUT the four Windows programs that handle the update process remain active. This is so you can still use
the Microsoft website to do a manual update. To save on memory usage you can switch these programs off by using the appropriate bat file below.
If you have Windows XP run Windows XP Updates Off.bat
If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 run Windows Vista 7 Updates Off.bat.
Sometimes an update can do more harm than good, due to unforseen conflicts with existing software and configurations.
Professional businesses try out all newly available Windows updates on test systems before they roll out the update to their company's computers.
Therefore it is recommended to at least make a new restore point before downloading updates in case your pc develops problems after installing them.
If after an update you cannot start your computer, try using a previous restore point.
Tap F8 after you switch your pc on until the Windows Advanced Options Menu appears and select Last Known Good Configuration.
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