Can a Standard User Upgrade to Windows 11?

Question

I've been told that they can, but I want to verify. I have a Windows 2012 R2 Domain with Windows 10 clients. All of my users are "Standard Users" on their client computers. I want to know if they have permission to use Windows Update to install Windows 11. I don't want Windows 11 installed at this time since we have some programs (I currently know of one) which may not run and I don't have time to deal with any questions or other problems which may arise.

How can I prevent the installation?

Thanks.

Answer 1

If the user has permission to update Windows through Windows update, they will likely have permission to update to Windows 11.

You can block either via Group Policy or Registry edit.

Create a .reg file with the following contents and run it on each system.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"TargetReleaseVersion"=dword:00000001
"ProductVersion"="Windows 10"
"TargetReleaseVersionInfo"="21H2"

Answer 2

Thank you for your response. I will be sure to do that.