Audience: Franklin University staff and faculty with a computer that is owned by Franklin University.
Disclaimer: The results and functionality of the following article only apply to the audience listed above.
Topics
- Why Is My Computer Being Upgraded to Windows 11?
- When Is My Computer Being Upgraded to Windows 11?
- The Importance of Regular Computer Restarts
- Before the Upgrade to Windows 11
- During the Upgrade to Windows 11
- After the Upgrade to Windows 11
- Errors During Installation
Why Is My Computer Being Upgraded to Windows 11?
The IT department is upgrading all staff and faculty computers from Windows 10 to Windows 11. The Windows 10 operating system will no longer be supported by Microsoft starting in October 2025.
When Is My Computer Being Upgraded to Windows 11?
Some computers have been upgraded already through the regular laptop replacement strategy. For all other computers, this upgrade will take place very soon.
The Importance of Regular Computer Restarts
A crucial step in preparing for this process is regular computer restarts. Regular computer restarts are vital for the upgrade process to complete. Such restarts are also necessary to ensure that your computer stays up to date and is compliant with critical security measures.
If you have not restarted your computer recently, a series of restarts may be necessary before the Windows 11 update can be installed, allowing the computer to catch up on dependent updates that precede the Windows 11 update.
- Important: To clarify, a restart of your computer is not the same as shutting down the computer and powering it back on. Instead, a restart is a complete cycling of the computer resources, which shutting down and then powering back on is not.
In the near future, computers that are not regularly restarted will undergo forced restarts. To avoid being interrupted by forced restarts, it is best practice to complete a computer restart weekly (minimum), or more frequently.
Before the Upgrade to Windows 11
The upgrade of an operating system is more complex than what you might experience with standard software or application upgrades. Therefore, your experience may vary compared to others.
After completing regular computer restarts:
1. Clear up 60 GB of space. If your computer hard drive doesn't have 60 GB of space, the update will fail. To help with clearing up space, you can allow OneDrive files that are not used regularly to only remain in the cloud, freeing up your hard drive space. For more information, please click here. If you continue to have less than 60 GB of space on your hard drive after cleaning up OneDrive files, please contact the Help Desk for assistance.
2. Leave your computer on VPN during working hours.
3. Apply any outstanding software updates from Software Center and notify the Help Desk if you encounter any errors. You can find Software Center by typing-to-search for it in the start menu (picture below). In Software Center, open the Updates tab to see if any update can be applied or if a restart of the computer is needed.
During the Upgrade to Windows 11
1. You will get an email when your computer’s operating system upgrade is advertised (allowing your computer to start downloading the update).
2. If prompted for installation, or when the update is found in Software Center (see above), please allow the installation. As the computer installs much of the update, you will be able to continue to work on your computer.
3. Computer Restart: At least one restart (potentially more) will be required to finish the installation process. During the restart (the final restart if multiple are required), it may take up to 15 minutes for the restart to complete.
- If you encounter any errors with this installation, a restart is the first troubleshooting step.
After the Upgrade to Windows 11
1. You will know that the upgrade to Windows 11 is complete with the start menu and search bar for Windows is moved to the middle of the task bar (as opposed to on the lefthand side in Windows 10).
2. Sign into OneDrive and other Office applications. The process may log you out of OneDrive. Please re-open OneDrive and sign in if prompted. Additionally, please open Outlook and Word to verify if those Microsoft Office applications need signing-in as well.
3. Restore Desktop Background. The process may also wipe out your desktop background (a.k.a. wallpaper). To restore your desktop background, open the start menu and type-to-search choose your desktop background.
Errors During Installation
If you run into any errors at any point along the upgrade process, the first step is to try a computer restart. However, if a restart of your computer does not resolve an installation error message, please contact the Help Desk. We can jump into a screen sharing session with you to work through errors.
Wish to log a request with the Help Desk? Use your Franklin University username and password to login: Log A Request