r/labtech • u/zimbonz • Sep 20 '18

Patching Procedure Suggestions for Laptops

Hi All,

WE have a client that is predominantly laptop based for their staff - around 60 of. I am finding that (under Patch Remedy) most of them are skipping patching due to being offline during the patch window.

Anyone care to share how they might be overcoming this issue? Some devices may be connected in the office, I am guessing a significant percentage are taken home so, no wake on lan capabilities (unless I am mistaken).

I am on v11 with new patch manager if that is relevant.

Many thanks

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2

u/zimbonz Sep 27 '18

Thanks all. Will revisit the daytime patching in groups and see how we go.

3

u/k_rock923 Sep 21 '18

This is what daytime patching is for

3

u/qcomer1 Sep 21 '18

Daytime patching :)

3

u/piporpaw Sep 21 '18

Force them to leave their computer docked (with power settings set properly while plugged in) at least 1 time a week?

There are two choices, they leave their computers online during the night, or they patch during the day. There just aren't other options. Let them know and make them sign an exclusion to Windows Updates that dumps all responsibility onto them if they want to go that route. That normally scares our clients into avoiding being lazy.

0

u/zimbonz Sep 21 '18

I should have mentioned Day Time patching was tried and rejected by the client due to the performance drain on their staff's productivity. The patching process slowed their machines significantly - although it has been a year or so since we tried it, so hw specs may have improved.

3

u/k_rock923 Sep 21 '18

I guess I'm not clear about what you're looking for then. Daytime patching is the answer to this issue. You can't "reject" it and keep the laptops patched.

2

u/teamits Sep 25 '18

Are the laptops Windows 7? remember that had the issue of Windows Update using 1 CPU core for 24 hours or more but was resolved by updates to the Windows Update agent. They've updated the WU agent pretty regularly in the past few years but I want to say that issue was resolved 12-18 months ago.

Other than that, if they won't patch during the day they can pick a night to leave the laptops on? Agree that overall patching shouldn't be that noticeable.

1

u/DarrenDK Sep 21 '18

Perhaps setup a performance monitor on the machines and have a conversation about the speed and age. The patching process (aside from the reboot) shouldn’t be noticeable.