Research shows Windows updates tin can take six hours to complete

Devices running Windows 10 and 11 can take up to 8 hours to fully download and apply software updates, according to a new report from Microsoft.

Senior Reporter, Computerworld |

Editor'southward note: An before version of this story said some devices demand up to eight hours of time connected to the internet to update; the story has been revised based on updated information from Microsoft.

Windows devices that aren't connected to the internet for upward to six hours at a fourth dimension are "very unlikely" to successfully update fully and properly, a recent Microsoft investigation revealed.

Microsoft program manager David Guyer wrote in a recent blog post that devices demand a minimum of two continuous connected hours, and six total connected hours to install "quality and feature updates."

"This allows for a successful download and background installations that are able to restart or resume once a device is active and connected," Guyer wrote.

Virtually a week after the blog was first posted, Guyer answered some pointed questions in a comment thread, explaining that the majority of updates — from start to cease — can take less than an hr.

"The six 'full continued hours' (not eight) I cited in this postal service are based on studies that include devices that are infrequently used, often just online for a few minutes beyond multiple hours, have intermittent connectivity, and are often running on battery power," Guyer wrote. "Some parts of the update process can restart where they left off, like the downloads. Others demand to restart from the get-go if the device shuts downwards. So these are both taken into account in the criteria."

The trouble with long updates, Microsoft claimed, is most prevalent on devices running Windows ten; those systems require essentially larger updates than Windows xi. Microsoft reduced the size of updates for Windows 11 by forty% through pinch technology, "thereby cutting time and bandwidth requirements for updates," a Microsoft software engineer and programme manager wrote in an October 2021 blog post.

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How devices with Bereft update connectivity show up in the Windows Expedited update study in Intune.

Microsoft, Guyer wrote, has invested in a significant attempt to understand why some Windows devices are still not always fully up to date.

Nearly one-half of Windows ten devices that are no longer running a serviced build don't spend enough time online for the updates to exist downloaded and installed. That number drops to 25% of Windows 10 devices that are on a serviced build but have security updates more than than 60 days out of date, co-ordinate to Microsoft.

One problem is end users power downward their systems at the stop of their workday, eliminating the possibility of updates overnight. "Print upon [users] the importance of keeping their devices connected so their devices can stay protected and they tin can stay productive," Guyer said.

When investigating the event, Microsoft establish "insufficient update connectivity," or the amount of time and bandwidth needed to update hardware completely during the six hours of connected time. "If a device has bereft update connectivity, so investigating other update issues is complicated considering the low update connectivity tin can create new issues that go away once at that place's enough connectivity," Guyer wrote.

The lesser line, however, is that Windows updates are large, and fifty-fifty breaking the updates into smaller segments and spacing them out so they don't accept place all at once withal requires the machine to be on a long fourth dimension; then, once the update is fully downloaded, the PC notwithstanding has to incorporate the software in background mode to take minimal bear upon on the machine operation.

The updating result for Microsoft has been a problem for years; it'due south not something new with Windows 10.

"Microsoft volition have a tough time moving across this scenario, but they are trying to do so with each new OS, and getting amend at it, but still have a ways to become," said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates.

The fundamental trouble is that the manner Microsoft has structured Windows and the update procedure essentially requires a very large function of the OS to be updated whenever in that location is a new version, co-ordinate to Gold.

"Other OSes, specially some of the mobile ones…, have figured out how to exercise a componentized approach to updating just the portions of the code necessary," Gold wrote in an electronic mail response to Computerworld. "Microsoft is trying to move in this direction likewise, and Windows 11 does do better at this. Simply the fundamental compages of Windows makes it hard to move fully to a less crushing process, given that much of the existing lawmaking and platform is used in new versions of the Os."

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A failure report filtered to the Insufficient Update Connectivity alert, which shows devices with Insufficient update connectivity.

If Microsoft tried to give Os updates the priority they need to complete quickly, information technology would basically take over a automobile's CPU, leading to sluggish performance for all applications on the system.

To accost the result, Microsoft settled on fractional downloads, performing i, waiting a chip, and so downloading some more, Gold said.

"Basically, they are throttling back so every bit not to overly touch on functioning…, and then equally not to totally trash the user working on the machine," Aureate said.

Other OSes accept similar problems, merely to a much lesser extent. For case, Apple's macOS is built on a Linux kernel that'south much more than segmented than Windows. And so updates to the arrangement aren't commonly as large, unless a user is upgrading to a totally new version of macOS.

"But, that's non to say that the updating process on Macs is a cakewalk either," Gold said. "It nonetheless takes compute resource to download and make upgrades. Information technology's just a little easier on the system and user than Windows."

Co-ordinate to Microsoft, some other issue affecting updates is power management. Some power settings and related policies put a device into a deep sleep or hibernation too rapidly, which can prevent updates from occurring outside active hours.

Microsoft provides recommendations on how to make sure updates are washed, including power settings that let devices to stay current with security updates. It admins using Group Policy Objects to manage policies can use the settings in the Windows security baselines, bachelor as part of the Security Compliance Toolkit, to configure power settings.

Companies might also want to consider filtering out devices that do not accept the minimum update connectivity. The reasoning is that those devices are not "update good for you," and changing policies or targeting them with more updates volition not help until they meet the minimum Update Connectivity measurement required for success.

Admins can check which devices have Insufficient update connectivity using Microsoft Intune. Once there, navigate to Devices > Monitor and select either the Feature update failures or Windows Expedited update failures written report.

Senior Reporter Lucas Mearian covers Windows, Futurity of Work issues, mobile, Apple tree in the enterprise, and healthcare IT.

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