Following are Information Technology's maintenance schedules for the UWSP network and other services. Scheduled software and security updates are posted to UWSP's Employee and Student Campus Announcements.
In rare cases, an update may require immediate action by IT and must be applied outside of a published maintenance schedule. Unscheduled updates are posted to Campus Announcements whenever possible. Always review the day's Campus Announcements.
IT Maintenance Schedules and Installation Instructions
Updates can frequently force a reboot or at minimum slow your computer performance during the install process. To minimize potential disruption to campus, Information Technology schedules security and software updates to install Tuesdays at 1:00 A.M. on the following monthly schedule.
- 2nd Tuesday: Drivers.
- 3rd Tuesday: Computer BIOS. BIOS Updates may force your computer to restart anywhere from 1 to 4 times.
- 4th Tuesday: 1st Party (Microsoft/Apple).
- 5th/1st Tuesday.: 3rd Party Software.
Each Monday when you are done with work (or if taking time off for vacation, etc),
- Leave your computer turned on.
- Lock or sign out.
Laptops only:
On Tuesday at 1:00 A.M. updates will run, including any necessary restarts. When you sign in again your computer should be updated.
Important: During the update window if your computer is not on, updates cannot run. If updates are not able to run and the update window has passed, all available updates will download almost immediately the next time your computer connects to the UWSP network.
See the following instructions on how to manually install available updates before the Tuesday maintenance window. Watch Thursday Campus Announcements for information about available updates.
Driver updates are scheduled to install the 2nd Tuesday of the month after 1:00 A.M.
To manually run scheduled Driver updates:
- In Windows Search, search for Software Center.
- Select the Software Center app.
- On the Software Center's left menu select the Applications tab.
At the right, new available updates will display the text, "New" and appear at the top of the Applications list.
- Select the update you want to install.
- Click Install.
You can now lock and walk away from your computer allowing your selected update to complete.
Why are drivers Important? Drivers act as the software bridge between operating system and hardware devices (such as printers, graphics cards, Wi-Fi adapters, webcams, Driver updates often contain fixes for known security flaws to prevent attackers from gaining elevated privileges to bypass security controls. Driver updates may also be made available to fix certain bugs that may be causing system crashes (Blue Screens), application errors, and/or device malfunctions you may be experiencing. A manufacturer may also provide updates that affect performance for things like wireless reliability, battery life on laptops, storage and disk performance, and graphics rendering and video performance.
BIOS updates are scheduled to install on the 3nd Tuesday of the month after 1:00 A.M. This ensure adequate time for installations and accompanying restarts to complete. As long as you ensure adequate time for installations and restarts you can manually install these updates prior to the scheduled maintenance window during a time more convenient to you.
To manually run scheduled Bios updates:
- In Windows Search, search for Software Center.
- Select the Software Center app.
- On the Software Center's left menu select the Applications tab.
At the right, new available updates will display the text, "New" and appear at the top of the Applications list.
To install one update,
- Select the update you want to install.
- Click Install.
You can now lock and walk away from your computer allowing your selected update to complete.
To install multiple updates,
- At the right below Search click, "Switch to multi-select mode."
- Place a check to the left of each update to to install.
- At the right below Search, click Install Selected.
You can now lock and walk away from your computer allowing selected updates to complete.
Why is the BIOS Important? The
BIOS (or more current, UEFI) acts as the bridge between your computer's hardware and operating system. Because the BIOS operates below the operating system, a hacker can compromise a BIOS to potentially gain deep control over a device making it difficult to detect or remove. BIOS updates often include new microcode and security fixes to mitigate these threats. Manufacturers release BIOS updates to fix bugs that can cause issues such as system crashes, to support components such as new CPUs and RAM modules, or to optimize power management features like battery life and charging issues.
1st party security updates are scheduled to install the 4th Tuesday of the month after 1:00 A.M. Security updates will force your computer to restart.
To manually run updates:
- In Windows Search, search for Software Center.
- Select the Software Center app.
- On the Software Center's left menu select the Applications tab.
At the right, new available updates will display the text, "New" and appear at the top of the Applications list.
- Select the update you want to install.
- Click Install.
You can now lock and walk away from your computer allowing your selected update to complete.
What is 1st party software? First-party software is software made by the company that owns and develops the platform it runs on. For example, Office 365, Teams, Edge, and the Windows platform were developed by Microsoft. Apple developed the MacOS platform and first-party software such as Safari, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, etc.
3rd party software updates are scheduled to install the 1st or 5th Tuesday of the month after 1:00 A.M. Software updates may force your computer to restart.
To manually run updates:
- In Windows Search, search for Software Center.
- Select the Software Center app.
- On the Software Center's left menu select the Applications tab.
At the right, new available updates will display the text, "New" and appear at the top of the Applications list.
- Select the update you want to install.
- Click Install.
You can now lock and walk away from your computer allowing your selected update to complete.
What is 3rd party software? Third-party software is any software that is created by a company or developer that is not the manufacturer of the actual computer/device or the developer of the device operating system. Examples of 3rd party software can include Adobe products, ArcGIS, AutoDesk, SPSS, and Zoom.
Wednesday mornings 4:00 - 7:00 A.M.
This is the maintenance window for the UWSP network. You may be unable to log in or access network resources as maintenance is performed.
(recommended) Restart your machine Wednesday mornings after 7:00 A.M. to establish a clean connection to campus network resources.
Wednesday mornings 12:01 A.M. - 7:00 A.M.
Print servers may be down for brief periods during the print service maintenance window.
Daily update maintenance window 11:30 P.M. through 7:30 A.M.
Software and security updates for supported applications available with the Standard Campus Load, and applications installed through the Software Center, may occur during this update window.
If your computer is not connected to the UWSP network during the published update time frame, any available updates will download almost immediately the next time your computer connects to the UWSP network.
Thursday mornings 5:00 - 7:00 A.M.
During this time you may be unable to log in.