Software Updates, Patches, and Maintenance Windows
To deploy software, updates, and patches to Windows computers while minimizing disruption to users, the university has established maintenance windows every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning from 1:00-6:00 a.m. During this time, centrally managed Windows computers are powered on, have their software versions and security settings compared to approved campus standards, and updated and restarted as necessary.
It is a good practice to save your work and Shut down your computer at the end of your workday, especially Mondays-Wednesdays. We will remotely power them back on during the maintenance windows to update software, install patches and upgrades, and restart your computer. In some cases you may be prompted to restart your computer when you begin work the next day so the update process can complete and for your computer to function optimally. The most common reasons for this are:
1) a desktop computer is asleep (power save mode), usually due to a person locking their computer when they leave the office for the day instead of shutting it down; or
2) a laptop computer is stored away for occasional use (e.g., presentations) and not on the network or plugged into power
To alleviate disruption and the ensuing frustration, please save your work and shut down your computer at the end of each workday and make sure laptops are connected to power and have network connectivity. Although maintenance can happen during any of the maintenance windows, we usually only use the 3rd Wednesday of every month so connecting laptops on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at a minimum is satisfactory.
Working Remotely
When working remotely with a university-owned Windows computer, your computer is not connected to our centralized Windows management system (Microsoft Endpoint Manager) so it does not get necessary updates and patches. Please connect to VPN for an hour or two once per week so your computer stays updated . If your computer does not get updated, your computer's security and data are at risk.