Updating the Status date in Project Information does nothing by itself, nor in my opinion, do you want it to.

Show the Tracking table. Apply an actual start date if the task has started. If the task is complete, apply an actual finish date. If the task has been started but not complete, enter actual duration. Look at remaining duration and update it if it does not match the estimated time to complete from your resources.

To get information about fields - hover over the column heading. In Project 2010 -- press F1, in Project 2007 or earlier, click the hyperlink to the help topic.