How to Update a Drupal Module

This is a modified snippet from the discussion at: http://drupal.org/node/672472

1. download new module(s) (do not overwrite the out of date module(s) on your site)
2. make a backup of your database
3. backup old module folder(s) from site
4. log in as an administrator (user 1 preferrably)
   1. if you can't login as user 1, you will need to set the $update_free_access variable to true in your settings.php file
5. set site status to 'Off-line'
6. delete old module folder(s) from site
7. upload new module folder(s) to site
8. run /update.php
9. if no errors, set site status to 'Online'
   1. if you were not able to run update.php as user 1, then you need to set the $update_free_access variable back to false in your settings.php file

(Note: The steps above can also be used to update a module to a dev version.)

A better way...

drush pm-update

If the module you are updating is available on drupal.org, then you should really check out Drush, it will save you SO much time.