Post-Installation Updates and Product Activation

Once you are done with the Windows XP Professional installation, you can keep your operating

system up-to-date through post-installation updates. Product activation is Microsoft’s way

of reducing software piracy.

Unless you have a corporate license for Windows XP Professional, you will need to perform

post-installation activation. This can be done online or through a telephone call. After Windows

XP is installed, you will be prompted to activate the product. There is a 30-day grace period

when you will be able to use the operating system without activation. After the grace period expires,

you will not be able to successfully log on to the computer without activation if you restart

or log out of the computer. When the grace period runs out, the Product Activation Wizard will

automatically start; it will walk you through the activation process.

Post-Installation Updates

You can perform post-installation updates of Windows XP Professional through Windows

Update. Windows Update is a utility that connects to Microsoft’s website and checks to ensure

that you have the most up-to-date version of XP Professional files. To access Windows Update, confirm that your computer is connected to the Internet and access Start _ Help and Support.

From the Help and Support dialog box, select Windows Update. Your computer will be

scanned, and a list of suggested downloads will be customized and listed for you to select from.

Some of the common update categories include:

_ Critical updates and Service Packs

_ Windows XP updates

_ Drivers

Windows Service Packs

Service Packs are updates to the Windows XP operating system that include bug fixes and product

enhancements. Some of the options that might be included in Service Packs are security fixes

or updated versions of software, such as Internet Explorer.

You can download Service Packs from Microsoft.com or you can pay for a CD of the Service

Pack to be mailed to you. Before you install a Service Pack, you should read the Release Note

that is provided for each Service Pack on Microsoft’s website.