Some computers in the office can’t be updated any more.
One runs a machine on the floor, or an accounting program that only works on the old Windows, or it’s a good computer that says it can’t run Windows 11. It still starts every morning and does the job.
That part is handled: the computer works. The boundary is that Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, so security updates no longer arrive for it by default. Each affected computer needs one decision: replace it, extend its updates, or contain it.
List them first
- On each computer, right-click Start, choose Settings, then System, then About. Under Windows specifications, read the Edition and Version. The device name is at the top of the same page.
- Open Windows Update and look for an offer to upgrade to Windows 11. Microsoft says eligible computers show one there.
- Write one line per computer: its name, what it does, who uses it, its Windows version, and what stops it being replaced, such as a program or a machine it controls.
- Count the lines. A list of three is a different decision from a list of 14.
What extended updates are, and who they’re for
Microsoft’s consumer extended-updates program for Windows 10 runs to October 12, 2027. Microsoft’s page states that it “can’t be used in commercial scenarios,” and its end-of-support page says it excludes devices managed by an organization. A business computer isn’t covered by it.
Organizations buy a separate paid program through volume licensing, per device, by the year, for up to three years. It delivers critical and important security updates only. It brings no new features and no general technical support, and the computer must be running Windows 10 version 22H2.
Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows 10 keep receiving security updates until October 10, 2028. Those updates are for the apps, not for Windows underneath them.
To see whether one computer is enrolled, open an elevated Command Prompt and run slmgr.vbs /dlv. Microsoft says the output shows the name of the extended-updates program and a License Status of Licensed.
Dates in this area have changed before. Read the dates on Microsoft’s own pages on the day you decide, not on a summary of them.
If a computer can’t be replaced yet
Antivirus on its own doesn’t change the picture. Microsoft compares it to a lock on a door whose frame may be weak.
- Keep it off email and web browsing. Use a different computer for those.
- Give it the fewest connections to the rest of the network that its job needs, and nothing it doesn’t.
- Remove shared sign-ins. Each person who uses it signs in as themselves.
- Keep a tested backup of whatever it holds.
- Put a replacement date and one named owner on its line in the list.
The three choices side by side
The first question for each line is what depends on that exact version. The answer is often a program, a driver, or a machine, and the vendor of that item is the one who can say whether a newer Windows is supported.
- Replace. The clearest choice when the computer is old and nothing depends on the old version. Ask first whether the program or machine on it has a version for Windows 11.
- Extend. Paid updates for the organization, for a computer that has to stay on Windows 10 for a defined time. It buys time, not a different operating system, and Microsoft sells it a year at a time.
- Contain. The choice for a computer that can neither be replaced nor extended yet, such as the one attached to equipment. It stays, with limits, until a date.
What a scan shows here
A scan reads the Windows version and update state it can see, and counts the computers by version and date. It can’t tell whether a computer is enrolled in extended updates. That answer comes from the licensing check above or from your administrator’s records.
We look at the list with you. A person reads the result and gives you a dated list, computer by computer, of what is current and what isn’t.
Each computer on the list needs a decision and a date, and a computer with both is one you’re managing rather than waiting on.
Related
Sources
- Microsoft Support: Windows 10 support has ended on October 14, 2025
- Microsoft: Windows 10 Extended Security Updates
- Microsoft: End of support for Windows 10
- Microsoft Learn: Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for Windows 10
- Microsoft Learn: Enable Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU)
- Microsoft Support: Which version of Windows operating system am I running?
Get answers about the computer you’re worried about.
The Reveal Scan shows every problem it finds, with no charge and no credit card needed. Step-by-step instructions for fixing them are in the detailed report, which is paid, and you’ll see its price before you buy. It reads one Windows computer at a time and can’t see a mailbox.
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Written by Craig Peterson, 35+ years successfully running IT and security for businesses. Last reviewed October 27, 2026.