Windows 11 in-place upgrade instructions for Academic Support Units at the University of Waterloo

Windows 10 64-bit systems will be upgraded to Windows 11 64-bit in Academic Support Units (timeline to be determined. IST will send email to IT contacts in ASUs when available). The upgrade will not re-image any workstations, install or uninstall applications.

Important Notes:

• It is recommended that you select when to do the upgrade to avoid any possible interruption to your work.

• A wired connection on campus is fastest but wireless on campus or wired/wireless off-campus connected to the VPN will work.

• The upgrade itself once started does not require user intervention (unless there isn’t enough disk space).

• If you receive a message that there is not enough free space for the upgrade see Freeing up hard drive space in Windows 10

Instructions

• Ensure the computer can run Windows 11: Consult with your IST Account Rep or run C:\Tools\Win11CompatibilityCheck.exe as an administrator

• Connect to the campus wired network (recommended), Eduroam, or the VPN if working from home

• Choose a ~40-60 minute (on campus, wired network) to up to 2.5 hours (wireless) window to do the upgrade

• Ensure that your computer is connected to a power source

• Close all applications

• Open Software Center (navigate to the Start menu, and select Software Center)

Open

• In Software Centre, select Operating Systems on the right and then select Windows 11 x64 23H2 Upgrade – Production X6

Open

• Select Install, click Install to confirm

• Leave your computer connected to the network and power source for the duration of the upgrade, your computer may restart a few times

• You should then see the Installation Progress: 

• Once the Upgrade and final restart is complete, you can log in as you normally would

• After log in, you may see a message, “Applying user settings … “ 

• To connect to VPN (before or after log in), you may need to re-configure it, see Connecting to campus VPN

• Dell Command Update may open when you log in for the first time. It is recommended that you open it and select ‘Check for Updates’ - install any updates available

• If you get a message ‘Can’t connect to this network’ when trying to connect to Eduroam, right-click and select ‘Forget’ Eduroam , Windows should then detect it and connect successfully.

Related articles

• Outlook for Mac - mailbox delegate access

• Eduroam certificate verification

• Getting Started with Jira Service Management

• Quiz reports

• Attempts in Progress