You go on a coffee or cigarette break. By the time you get back to your desk, you realize that your computer has automatically rebooted itself to install the latest updates. Consequently, you have lost parts of your work because of such pesky things! In cases like this, you can\u2019t help but wonder whether software updates are necessary. And frankly, we all have the same question: Are they really essential to our PC\u2019s longevity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plain and simple answer is yes. Software updates are made for good reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a software’s development, the program goes through strict quality checks until the software vendor is satisfied with their product\u2019s functionality. However, these rounds of rigorous tests don\u2019t always guarantee a flawless or stable output. By the time the company publicly releases their software, end-users will come across issues and report them back to the software vendor for repair. To fix those reported errors, the company then makes patches and releases them as software updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a way, updates are released to protect the interest and ensure total customer satisfaction for the users. That\u2019s on the surface level. A deeper reason behind constant updates is that the software vendor is protecting their users from all sorts of cyber-attacks, especially when they\u2019re releasing scheduled security updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Often called a \u201cService Pack\u201d or a \u201cPatch\u201d, software updates contain product enhancements and internal fixes in general. Specifically, they contain the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What most people don\u2019t know is that most operating system (OS) and software updates are used to patch any vulnerabilities in the program\u2019s security. Ignoring or refusing such updates can have serious consequences to the equipment because cyber criminals often exploit security lapses in programs to spread dangerous malware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While 90% of updates cover security concerns, the other 10% is reserved for improving a program\u2019s or OS\u2019 stability and performance. Often, these patches are distributed when there are glaring errors and bugs found in the software that may be affecting their customers’ user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, it goes without saying that updating your PC is important in extending your machine\u2019s life. Working with an outdated computer is like living in a decaying house that neither has locks nor doors – you\u2019re practically inviting intruders to come in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In other words, ignoring critical updates is making your system susceptible to malicious threats and dooming it to a lifetime of poor performance. To think that all you ever had to do to avoid these unfortunate consequences was to click \u2018OK\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best and easiest way to manage updates is to let the program\/OS do it for you. Indeed, most software\/OS can be configured to automatically download and install patches, though programs like Adobe Flash Player or Java don\u2019t share this feature. Even so, critical updates for the said software can be activated in the system tray where they\u2019re usually hidden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To automatically set a schedule for updates in Windows<\/strong>, here are the steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, for Macs<\/strong>, you can do a similar setup. For your Mac to update automatically so you won\u2019t have to check them yourself, here are the steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We may hate to admit it, but most of us ignore those pop-up messages and icons that notify us that a software update is available. While we find them disruptive and irrelevant, the truth is that they\u2019re essential to making our computer stay in tip-top shape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You go on a coffee or cigarette break. By the time you get back to your desk, you realize that your computer has automatically rebooted itself to install the latest updates. Consequently, you have lost parts of your work because of such pesky things! In cases like this, you can\u2019t help but wonder whether software updates are necessary. And frankly, we all have the same question: Are they really essential to our PC\u2019s longevity? The plain and simple answer is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17594],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n