How to manage system updates on managed staff PCs

Security patches and feature updates will be offered by Software Centre, Microsoft Office apps and Dell Command Update for your managed staff desktop or laptop

System updates are essential to desktop security, can fix functional or reliability problems, and maintain compatibility with other systems. You will be prompted when updates are available, and can configure "active hours" during which your PC will not restart to complete update installation.

This page covers updates relating to the following messages that you might see on your managed staff PC:

  • Software changes are required - shown as a toaster notification in the Windows system tray
  • UPDATES AVAILABLE: Updates for Office are ready to be installed - shown in a yellow bar at the top of your MS Office apps
  • DellCommandUpdate | # updates are ready to install - shown as a toaster notification in the Windows system tray

Most updates will install in the background with very little impact on performance.

Feature updates for Windows and some firmware updates are more significant and can take a few hours to install, will impact performance, and require one or more restarts to complete.

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Three prompts may be used to notify you that updates are ready to be installed. You can choose to install them at a convenient time over the next few days, or leave them to install automatically (you can see when this will happen by opening the Software Centre app and looking in the Updates section).

Windows updates via Software Centre

A notification titled Software changes are required will pop up on your desktop when Windows updates are available. Click on the notification and follow the prompts to update.

Microsoft Office updates

Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) may display a yellow alert reading "UPDATES AVAILABLE: Updates for Office are ready to be installed, but first we need to close some apps". Make sure you have saved your work in all applications, then select Update now to install the updates.

Firmware and driver updates via Dell Command Update

A notification titled Dell Command Update will pop up on your desktop when firmware or driver updates are available. Select Install and follow the prompts to update.

Warning: Your PC may appear unresponsive while firmware updates are installed

Some firmware updates can make your PC appear to turn off and do nothing at all for up to 15 minutes. Please leave your PC plugged into power and do not attempt to restart / reset it for a full 15 minutes. If nothing has been visible on screen after 15 minutes then please contact our service desk for assistance.

 

The following steps can be used at any time to check for and apply outstanding updates for Windows, and for firmware and drivers.

Windows updates

  1. Start Software Centre (press Windows  , type software centre and press Enter)
  2. Select Updates and wait a few seconds while your PC checks for updates
  3. Click Install on individual entries, or Install All to apply updates
  4. Your PC will prompt you to reboot if necessary, and will reboot automatically outside of active hours
  5. When updates are required or a reboot is pending the system power options will change to Update and Shutdown and Update and Restart

Firmware and driver updates

  1. Start Dell Command Update (press Windows  , type dell command and press Enter)
  2. Select Check and wait a few seconds while your PC checks for updates
  3. Select the updates to install, then select Install
  4. Follow the prompts to complete the installation and reboot if necessary

Warning: Your PC may appear unresponsive while firmware updates are installed

Some firmware updates can make your PC appear to turn off and do nothing at all for up to 15 minutes. Please leave your PC plugged into power and do not attempt to restart / reset it for a full 15 minutes. If nothing has been visible on screen after 15 minutes then please contact our service desk for assistance.

 

Feature updates are effectively upgraded versions of Windows 10. You can check which version you are using at any time as follows:

  1. Press Windows  , type about and press Enter to open the Settings > About window
  2. Scroll down to the Windows specifications section
  3. The Version field confirms which feature update you are running

If you need to check which hotfix updates have been installed since the most recent feature release you can use this procedure.

  1. Select Start  , type cmd, press Enter
  2. In the command prompt window that opens, type wmic qfe get hotfixid | sort and press Enter

You can specify "active hours" during which Windows will not restart to complete update installation:

  1. Start Software Centre (press Windows  , type software centre and press Enter)
  2. Select Options
  3. Under Work information, specify the times and days during which your PC should not restart
  4. Under Computer Maintenance, select the option to Automatically install or uninstall required software and restart the computer only outside of the specified business hours
  5. Close Software Centre

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