1. Click on your Start menu button in the lower left hand corner of your screen

2. When the Start Menu appears, click on the Control Panel icon.

3. Look for the Security Center icon in the Control Panel and double-click on it.

4. When the Security Center appears, look for the Automatic Updates section.  If it looks like this:

then your PC is configured to accept Automatic Updates.

 

However, if the Automatic updates looks like this:

or like this:

then you should click on the button labeled "Turn On Automatic Updates".  This will set up your PC to accept and apply critical system updates as they are released.

 

If you do not see the Automatic Updates box at all, it is likely that a security suite such as those from Norton or McAfee is installed on the PC and has replaced the Security Center with its own system.  You can still check the Automatic Updates setting from here by clicking on the Automatic Updates icon:

You should see the Automatic Updates dialog as shown here:

If the "Automatic (recommended)" circle is not selected, then click in that circle and then click OK.  Automatic Updates will now be configured to get updates for you.