Updates

There are various ways to keep your operating system and programs up-to-date:

• Updating the entire image
• Updating individual programs
• Integrated operating system updates

The Windows 7/10 operating system has its own update mechanism, the Windows Update Service. To prevent changes being made inadvertently to the system, the Windows Update Service is disabled in the images provided by Beckhoff. Windows updates can still be downloaded from Microsoft and installed manually. If the Windows Update Service is enabled, the updates are procured from the Microsoft Windows Update Server with the standard settings. Communication with the server takes place via an encrypted and signed connection. The updates procured are signed with an official certificate from Microsoft so that their authenticity can be checked.

Engineering computers should be kept up-to-date with updates. This can be more difficult for computers in industrial environments. For example, if a write filter is used, updates installed without further measures are discarded upon reboot. To avoid this, the following procedure is recommended:

After this procedure, intensive tests by the operator are required to ensure that the system is functioning properly.
Beckhoff devices are delivered with half-yearly updated and tested images that contain compatible Windows updates.

These images can be requested through Beckhoff Service for Windows 7 / 10. The serial number of the device is required for this.

See also:

• https://www.beckhoff.de/default.asp?industrial_pc/bst.htm