Windows 10 Bible

Chapter 8Automatic Updates

IN THIS CHAPTER

1. Understanding automatic updates
2. Activating automatic updates
3. Configuring automatic updates
4. Using Data Execution Prevention (DEP)

Internet security is a never-ending cat-and-mouse game between the security experts and the hackers who seem to have endless amounts of time to search for new ways to exploit the basic programmability of PCs. Every time the good guys find a way to patch some security hole that the bad guys have learned to exploit, the bad guys find two more holes to exploit.

Windows 10 is the most secure Windows version ever, by a long shot. But no computer is 100 percent secure because people can always find a way to turn something good into something bad. So, in addition to the security features discussed in the preceding chapters, you need to keep your computer up to date with security patches as they become available.

Windows Update in Windows 10 builds on one of the most essential components in the OS engine: its self-healing and self-patching ability. An operating system can never be defect-free, and when a defect is discovered that must be “fixed” quickly, Windows Update kicks in. In Windows 10, Microsoft has installed the technology that may once and for all end the idea of an “upgrade.” That's what Windows Update and this chapter are all about.

Understanding Automatic Updates

Many people are afraid of Windows Update — they're afraid that the updates will break something on their system that they can't fix. ...