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Download updates… Windows Update downloads all patches in the background and then, when complete, tells you about them. You have the option at that point to install or not install.

Notify me… or Check for updates… Windows Update simply flashes a dialog box that tells you updates are available, but does not download anything until you say go. This is the best option for users of portable computers. You can download files when it’s convenient for you, such as when you’re home rather than traveling on business.

Turn off Automatic Updates or Never check for updates (not recommended) This does precisely what is advertised. You get neither automatic patches nor notification that patches are available. Only use this option on a system that does not or cannot connect to the Internet. If you’re online, your computer needs to be patched!

When Windows Update works the way Microsoft wants it to work, it scans the Microsoft Web site periodically, downloads important patches as they appear, and then installs them on your computer. If you opted for the download-but-don’t-install option, Windows Update simply notifies you when updates are downloaded and ready to install (Figure 17-3).

Figure 17-3 Windows Update balloon message

Windows Vista gives you the option—enabled by default—to have Windows Update include recommended updates along with important updates when it downloads or notifies you about their availability. If you’ve got a decent Internet connection, this can be a useful tool for keeping your drivers and such updated.

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NOTE Microsoft offers the Microsoft Update tool (Windows XP) and the System Update Readiness Tool (Vista/7) to help you determine if your system is ready to update to a newer version of Windows. You can obtain this tool from the Microsoft Web site.

Temporary File Management with Disk Cleanup

You should run the Disk Cleanup utility regularly to make sure you’ve cleared out the junk files that accumulate from daily use. All that late-night Web surfing doesn’t just use up time; it also uses up disk space, leaving behind hundreds of temporary Internet files. Those, and other bits and pieces (such as those “deleted” files still hanging around in your Recycle Bin) can add up to a lot of wasted disk space if you don’t periodically clean them out.

You can reach this tool through the Start menu (Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools), or you can open My Computer or Computer, right-click the drive you want to clean up, and select Properties. Right there in the middle of the General tab, you’ll find the Disk Cleanup button.

When you click the Disk Cleanup button, the application firsts calculates the space you can free up and then displays the Disk Cleanup dialog box, which tells you how much disk space it can free up—the total amount possible as well as the amount you’ll get from each category of files it checks. Vista adds an extra feature when you click the Disk Cleanup button, asking if you wish to clean up all the files on the computer or just your files. In Figure 17-4, the list of files to delete only has a few categories checked, and the actual amount of disk space to be gained by allowing Disk Cleanup to delete these files is much smaller than the estimate. As you select and deselect choices, watch this value change.

Figure 17-4 Disk Cleanup dialog box

If you scroll down through the list, you will see a choice to compress old files. What do you know, Disk Cleanup does more than just delete files? In fact, this file compression trick is where Disk Cleanup really, uh, cleans up. This is one of the few choices where you will gain the most space. The other big heavyweight category is Temporary Internet Files, which Disk Cleanup will delete. Try Disk Cleanup on a computer that gets hours of Internet use every day and you’ll be pleased with the results.

Registry Maintenance

Your Registry is a huge database that Windows updates every time you add a new application