YOU CAN VISIT THE WINDOWS CATALOG, WHICH REPLACED THE WINDOWS CORPO...

3. You can visit the Windows Catalog, which replaced the Windows CorporateUpdate Web site, at https://traloihay.net. Byworking through the options and selecting your operating system and type ofdownloads you are looking for, you can find almost all updates, patches, andhotfixes in one location.

Analyzing Your Computers

Armed with your basic understanding of the types of updates that are available forWindows 2000,Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, the first step you need to under-take to get your computers up to date (and thus more secure) is to determine their currentstate. Analyzing your computers can be a very simple task or a difficult one, depending onthe size and complexity of your network. If you are responsible for only five computers andthey are all located in the same place, your job will be very easy. If you are responsible forseveral hundred (or thousand) computers spread out over several geographically distantlocations, your job is not going to be so easy.The method you choose to analyze yourcomputers will thus depend largely on these factors:

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How many computers are you responsible for updating?

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Where are your computers located?

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What type of network connectivity do you have between locations?

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Do you have knowledgeable help available to you at all your locations?Let’s take a look at some of the methods available to analyze your computers, bothmanually and via automated methods.

Visiting Windows Update

The Windows Update Web site can be a great asset to you if the number of computers tobe managed is relatively low—perhaps five or fewer. Since Windows Update requires you tophysically be in front of each computer in order to analyze and download the requiredupdates, this method can be both time and bandwidth intensive.Windows Update, however,could be your best option if the number of computers to be updated is few or if a group ofcomputers are not connected to the company network and thus cannot be analyzed via anyother method.Using Windows Update to analyze a computer for required updates is extremelysimple, as outlined in Exercise 8.06.