Patching your operating system is another way of saying keeping your system up to date.
You have many different programs on your computer, from application and programs like Microsoft Word to Drivers which help your software and operating system talk to the hardware installed on it and the operating system itself.
A lot of this software needs to stay up to date, like your antivirus program. As new updates are needed your antivirus provider will send updates or patches over the internet to make sure your product is up to date and protecting you.
Your operating system such as Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 or OsX if you are using a Mac will do the exact same thing, making sure your operating system is always up to date by sending you updates to protect you from vulnerabilities and to make amendments to your system since you purchased it.
What is an Operating System
Your operating system is pretty much the most important part of your computer and whether you know it or not it is the software you use the most on your computer. I like to think of the operating system (Windows 7,8 etc) as the environment on your system in which you navigate to access your data like photos and programs like Internet Explorer.
You probably don’t speak computer language, so your operating system does it for you helping you to communicate with the computer and helps you manage things like memory, hardware, software and your computer processors.
What should I keep updated?
There are probably many programs which want to stay updated on your computer and unless you are a computer programmers it is probably a good idea to stay up to date with all the programs on your computer.
A lot of people don’t want to update everything on their computer and wonder what are the most important things to keep updated.
For me personally I think it is most important to keep your operating system up to date so it runs better and patches any vulnerabilities and also keep your antivirus program up to date to protected from the latest identified threats, viruses etc.
Can updates cause crashes
It is not so much the update which can cause the crash as much as there might be something running on your system in the background, or hardware failing during the period you do your update.
Updates have already been tried and tested most of the time in a lab somewhere and would be counterproductive to release if they are not working.
If you have a virus on your computer already before performing an update, sometimes it can crash your system of program you are trying to update so it is very important you keep your antivirus always up to date.
Create a System Restore Point
The Windows Operating Systems have a very handy utility built into them called system restore.
Running this before you do any major works on your computer can be beneficial incase something bad happens you might be able to restore to an earlier part in time.
Most major operating system updates and computers can be setup to schedule automatic restore points, so if somethings happens and you forget to make a restore point you still might be able to go back and recover.
