Questions about stuff that require updates

[heatman323]

Hi, so it's been a while since I last updated anything manually, I'm not sure if my laptop updates some of the stuff automatically cause back then when I had problems running Guild Wars 2 it turned out that I just needed to update a graphic driver I think? I'm not sure as I'm not really familiar with most of the tech and update related stuff. But now I'm planning on playing Final Fantasy XIV : A Realm Reborn which I hear is a bit more advanced than GW2 in terms of system requirements, and would like to optimize everything I can. I've always heard and read about updating drivers, graphic cards and maybe lots more and would like to ask what are these things that I need to update or if they update automatically and I needn't bother anymore? It's been roughly a year since I last updated anything manually. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help out.

 

[gregrocker]

Enable Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3) then run Check for Windows Updates and install all Important and Optional Updates, repeat after reboot. Set Updates to Automatic.

If you are running the Lenovo factory preinstall then its a grossly inferior install. Most tech enthusiasts would not run such an install but instead Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. Everything that works best with Win7 is in the tutorial.

Until then I'd Clean Up Factory Bloatware.

You can also Optimize Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums

 

[heatman323]

Oh okay. I think I'm running the factory pre install which I'm assuming is some average stuff that comes with buying a laptop cause I haven't really modified or changed anything other than what I think was just one update a year ago, though I'm still not sure. Is there a way to check if I am? Oh and after doing the Clean Reinstall should I go for Clean Up Factory Bloatware and Optimize then finish with the Automatically Delivered drivers or is there something that I should do first before the other or a recommended pattern? Thanks too for taking the time to help out!

 

[gregrocker]

In that case just follow the steps in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

Everything needed to get and keep a perfect install is in the blue link.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

An excellent program that will help keep up with updates is Secunia PSI. It runs weekly scans of your programs in the background to see if anything needs updating and can be set to either attempt to automatically update programs or allow you to decide whether to manually update or not (I prefer the latter).