IT Services regularly updates the operating systems and applications on Tarleton computers. Learn more about the maintenance schedule for these updates.
Windows computers
IT Services maintains software agents on Tarleton Windows computers to continuously monitor the health and security of operating systems and applications. Software manufacturers routinely release security updates to address known vulnerabilities. To minimize disruption to academic instruction and faculty/staff productivity, a maintenance window has been established for the installation of updates and completion of any related computer reboots.
The maintenance window for Windows computers in offices
- Saturday evening (Sunday morning) - Midnight to 6am
- Wednesday evening (Thursday morning) - Midnight to 6 am
The maintenance window for Windows computers in labs and classrooms
macOS computers
IT Services maintains software agents on Tarleton macOS computers to continuously monitor the health and security of operating systems and applications. Software manufacturers routinely release security updates to address known vulnerabilities. To minimize disruption to academic instruction and faculty and staff productivity, a maintenance window has been established for the installation of updates and completion of any related computer reboots.
The maintenance window for macOS computers in offices
Due to challenges in distributing security updates to MacBooks that are often powered off during the daily maintenance window, an additional method is used for those devices that have fallen behind on updates. Although most macOS computers are updated without any action required of the end-user, it is occasionally necessary to alert macOS users about missing updates and to request user remediation.
Under certain conditions, macOS users may see a popup similar to this screenshot:
If you encounter this window, you have two options:
- Click the Defer button (bottom right corner) and pick another time to be prompted.
- Click the blue Update Now button (upper right) to open Self Service. This will download and install the required security update.
The number of "Days Remaining to Update" is displayed in the update window. When there are no days remaining to update, this update window cannot be dismissed and no additional deferrals are possible. Under these circumstances, the Update Now option is required.
The update process can take an hour or more depending on your network connection speed. The computer will reboot to finish the installation process
At any time during the maintenance window, your computer may reboot without warning. Please save your work often. Due to the auto-save feature, the use of
OneDrive is strongly encouraged.