Windows Inside & Out · Updates, Drivers & Restore Points · Lesson 1 of 5

Windows Update, Deeper

Learn the kinds of updates and take charge of when they install.

Your update control panel

You already know updates keep your computer safe. Now let's look at how they work and how you can steer them.

Windows Update is the part of Settings that downloads and installs fixes from Microsoft. Open it from Start, then Settings, then Windows Update.

Windows gets two main kinds of updates.

• A quality update is a monthly bundle of security fixes and bug fixes. Most arrive on the second Tuesday of each month. They are small and install quickly.
• A feature update is a bigger yearly upgrade with new tools and changes. Its name shows the year and the half of the year, such as 24H2 for the second half of 2024. It takes longer and needs a restart.

Many updates finish with a restart, meaning the computer turns off and back on. A surprise restart in the middle of your work is annoying. That is where active hours help. Active hours are the times of day you usually use the computer. Windows tries not to restart for updates during them.

Open Advanced options on the Windows Update page. Under Active hours, you can let Windows guess from your habits, or set the times yourself. For example, 8 AM to 10 PM.

This doesn't stop updates. It only moves the restart to a time you are away. Save your work before you leave, just in case.

On a Mac, updates live in System Settings, then General, then Software Update.

On the practice computer, open Advanced options and set your active hours. Then try the other steps in the list. We explain them next.

Pause, history and optional extras

Sometimes you need a computer to stay steady for a while, like during a big school project. Windows lets you pause updates. On the Windows Update page, choose a length, such as one week. Most home PCs can pause for up to five weeks.

Pausing has a real cost. While updates are paused, your computer misses security fixes. Criminals look for computers that are behind. When the pause ends, Windows installs everything that is waiting before you can pause again. So pause only when you have a reason, and keep it short.

Update history is a list of every update your computer has installed, with dates. You'll find it on the Windows Update page. Each update has a code that starts with KB, short for knowledge base, such as KB5040000. That code is useful when something breaks, because you can look it up and see what changed.

Optional updates live under Advanced options. They are extras that Windows doesn't install on its own. Often they are driver updates for a printer, touchpad or other part. A driver is a small program that lets Windows talk to a piece of hardware.

You don't need to install optional updates just because they are there. Microsoft suggests them mainly when you have a specific problem one of them might fix.

Think of pausing as a short break, not a way to skip updates.