WSUS displays all Windows 11 clients as Windows 10 Enterprise

Windows[German]Quick question for the WSUS administrators under my blog readers who may already have Windows 11 clients integrated in WSUS. Right now there is some confusion about managing Windows 11 clients in WSUS. There are reports that all clients with Windows 11 will show up in WSUS as Windows 10 (Enterprise). Then the clients cannot be provided with update via WSUS.


Advertising

WSUS shows Windows 11 clients as Windows 10

German blog reader Tobias B. contacted me on Facebook in a private message and described his observation under WSUS as follows:

I have a small query regarding Windows 11 and WSUS. I noticed that in WSUS all Windows 11 clients are displayed as Windows 10 Enterprise.

I mean at the release of Windows 10 this was similar. Have you heard anything if MS is working on a solution or is there already one? Unfortunately I haven't found much about this topic on the web yet.

Microsoft has published a support article in October 2021, according to which Windows 11 is supported in WSUS. But according to the above post, this doesn't quite seem to work.

Mentions in the web

In the Techcommunity there is a post Server 2022 WSUS shows Windows 11 clients as Windows 10, in which the thread starter complains about the incorrect display of Windows 11 clients under Windows Server 2022.

Server 2022 WSUS shows Windows 11 clients as Windows 10

Title; See attached image I did as a test since our production WSUS is still on Server 2019.

Windows 11 sticks out by build number so it's not an Earth-shattering ordeal, but still. Any chance of this being accounted for via future updates to Server 2022? (or downlevel for those not on the bleeding edge)  Microsoft had to know this was coming, right?

Windows 11-Client in WSUS
Windows 11-Client in WSUS, Click to zoom

There you will find the comment that Windows 11 does not store the product name correctly in the registry. Here is the comment in question, dated October 21, 2021:


Advertising

Looks like it's Windows 11 at fault and not WSUS, which is simply relaying the "ProductName" value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion. This is currently "Windows 10 [edition]" on Windows 11, even the latest Insider builds. Change the string & check into WSUS, and that's what will show up.
A search on the registry shows Windows 11 littered with "Windows 10" references. Great attention to detail there guys.

This reminds me of my post Windows 10 V1909: WSUS bug prevents correct display of build number from February 2021, where something similar was addressed. However, the above thread referred to Windows Server 2022, while searching I came across the postWSUS not show client OS Windows 11 correctly in the Microsoft Q&A. Also aboddi86-0005 confirms the incorrect registry entry there. In the thread someone writes that the Web Account Manager (WAM) does not support the correct Windows 11 naming until January 2022. 

The problem with this story: If Windows 11 clients are incorrectly detected in WSUS, updates cannot be distributed via WSUS. This is also explicitly addressed in the thread. Although the blog reader mentioned above wrote, that his Windows 11 clients are receiving updates. Any of you with the same observations? Is there any expanded information on this topic?

Similar articles:
Windows 10 V1909: WSUS bug prevents correct display of build number
Windows 10, the WSUS and the SSU+LCU detection chaos
Windows 10: Changes and strange behavior with driver updates via WSUS
Changes and ambiguities in driver updates via WSUS; is Windows 10 bypassing Updates via WSUS?
Windows 10 21H1: For business users available via WU and WSUS


Cookies helps to fund this blog: Cookie settings
Advertising


##1

This entry was posted in Windows and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to WSUS displays all Windows 11 clients as Windows 10 Enterprise

  1. AVsr says:

    It's just an esthetic issue ; in fact, Windows 11 clients downloads properly the Windows 11 updates

    • ABC says:

      yes, this issue concerns only Windows 10 computers upgraded to Windows 11, in the client registry base, we still see "Windows 10" even after the upgrade.

  2. John Coutlee says:

    On our domain, Windows 11 Pro clients show up as Windows 10 Pro in WSUS and they do not receive updates from WSUS. Even after changing the registry key, they still show as Windows 10 Pro in WSUS.

  3. paice says:

    All our client are identified as Windows 10 enterprise (as they are Windows 11 enterprise) the key in the registry is containing the false info.
    Anyway, the updates are downloading and installing, so for us it's just a cosmetic problem, but having a right display will be a better thing

  4. Advertising

  5. AVsr says:

    WAM is not for Web Account Manager but for WSUS Automated Maintenance, a third-party application

    Still no news from Microsoft on this topic :(

  6. Dave says:

    1 year later – still an issue ….

Leave a Reply to AVsr Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *