Updating your windows operating system is of utmost importance in order to get optimal performance from your PC. There are different ways of keeping your Windows 7 updated at all times, the easiest way is by keeping the Automatic Update option on.

With this option activated, you won’t have to worry about installing the latest and critical updates for Windows 7 manually. To check whether the automatic update option is on, follow the steps set out below:

1. Click “Start” button
2. In the search box, type “update“
3. In the list of search results, click “windows update“
4. The window that opens tells you the status of Windows update. If the automatic update option is not on, follow the steps given below to activate the option

• In the left panel, click Change Settings
• Under Important updates, choose the option “install updates automatically (recommended)” to turn on automatic update

You can also specify the day of the week and the time when you want Windows 7 to check and download updates. Always select a time window when you will not be using Internet, as the update process may affect your browsing speed to some extent.

Other Windows update options you have are:

• Download updates but let me choose whether to install them
• Check for updates but let me choose when to download and install them
• Never check for update (not recommended)

Types of windows updates and what do they mean

Microsoft distinguishes operating system updates into three categories – Important updates, recommended updates and optional updates

• Important updates – you need to always download and install all important updates
• Recommended updates– you can choose to install or ignore installation of these update. These updates are targeted to improve the performance of your system
• Optional updates– you can choose to ignore these updates

When you choose to keep the automatic update option on, Windows 7 will download and install all important and recommended updates automatically. Optional updates, on the other hand, are not downloaded and installed automatically.

Windows 7 drivers update

Windows also provides Driver Updates for various devices. You should always keep the device drivers updated to get optimal performance from devices attached to your computer.

The Windows Operating System updates and drivers update are provided to improve performance and user experience. Therefore, you should always ensure the operating system is updated at all times. Having said that, sometimes Windows may not be able to locate the latest Driver of a particular device. In these cases, downloading a driver update tool is often very helpful.

How to get Free Driver Updates for Windows 7

Drivers are important for the proper functioning of your system. In the event of missing or corrupted software Drivers, some components may not behave erratically or not work at all. Software Drivers are necessary for all aspects of your computer’s operation from sound to wifi to printing. If you are experiencing issues with your PC, the problem may be out-of-date or missing device Drivers. Device manufacturers release Driver updates regularly to enhance the performance of their devices. It is important to keep your Devices updated with the latest Drivers available.

Windows 7 features a “Windows update” utility that updates Drivers for devices in the system. Generally, the device manufacturer presents the buyer with a Driver CD that has Drivers required for the effective functioning of the device. If you don’t have the Driver CD, you can always use the Windows Update utility to update Drivers in Windows 7.

If you want to update all your device Drivers, and automatically keep Drivers updated, then you can choose a driver update tool.

Let’s take a look at steps to update Drivers for Windows 7 using Windows Update

1. Click on Start button
2. Click on Windows Update
3. In the left pane, click Check for updates

Windows tell you about available updates and which updates are important, recommended, or optional. Sometime you may not find a particular Driver update in the list. In this situation, you can update the Driver for each hardware component or device manually or use the Driver Update Tool mentioned above.

Updating Drivers manually in Windows 7

1. Click on the Start button
2. Click Device Manager
3. Locate the device in the list for which you want to update Driver
4. Select the device and right-click on it
5. Click update driver software
6. You are presented with two options – “Search automatically for updated driver software” and “Browse my computer for updated software“
7. If you select first option (Search automatically for updated driver software), your computer will search for any available Driver update and present you with an option to install the update, if it finds any
8. If you choose the second option (Browse my computer for updated software), you are required to manually download the Driver update from device manufacturer’s website and install the Driver update yourself.

You will be required to follow the above given steps for every device and hardware component to update the Drivers. This is why updating Drivers manually can be quite a cumbersome task.

An easy way around this is using a driver update tool (a tool which automates the Driver update process for Windows 7 and other Operating Systems). The Driver program scans your system for obsolete, corrupted and missing Drivers and presents you with an option to update all Drivers for Windows 7.

If you are unsure of whether the problems is with your Drivers, you can use driver update tool to run a free Drivers Scan of your PC.