UWEC Windows Operating System Update Notifications
Microsoft releases major Updates for Windows and makes them available within Software Center for users to install. Running Updates through Software Center is the preferred method for Updates.
New major Windows versions (i.e. Windows 11 26H2) are released each fall by Microsoft but UWEC LTS blocks the initial release until compatibility testing has been completed and release bugs have been addressed. Usually this would happen with 30 days of the release of the release of the major update, at which piont the upgrade will be released and required for all campus Windows computers
UW System Administrative Procedure 1042.A requires security vulnerability and patch management processes for all UW systems. While this can be disruptive to users, these processes are required to protect UWEC owned computer systems and data.
Installation of Major Windows Feature Updates
- If you search your start menu for Software Center and open it, we can check the status of any available OS updates
2. Once Software center is open, go to the Updates section. Updates will be listed here as available to install if they have not yet reached the "forced install" deadline
3. Click on the listed update and click blue "Install" button if you would like to force the update to run before the "required" deadline. Please note that Windows Feature Updates can take several hours to install and may slow down your computer during install.
4. Once the update finishes you can manually restart the computer by clicking the blue "Restart" button. If you take no action at this point the Windows device will restart during our nightly "maintenance hours" between midnight and 6am. Once the computer reboots it will complete the second part of the feature update install. This can take 30-90 minutes to finish.
Installation of Non-Feature Updates
- Other Microsoft Products (Microsoft Office, .NET Updates, Antivirus Updates) can also be listed in the Updates section of Software Center. You can manually run these using the same process listed in the previous section If you do not manually install the updates, they will install once they reach our "required" monthly deadline. Reboots will occur during the nightly "maintenance hours" of midnight to 6am.
