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maintenance

README.md

Windows Maintenance Scripts

Automated update scripts for Chocolatey, Winget, and Windows Update with restore point support.

Scripts

Script Purpose
system-updates.ps1 Full update automation with state export
Install-SystemUpdatesTask.ps1 Register system-updates.ps1 as a recurring scheduled task

Quick Start

# Copy config template
Copy-Item config.example.json config.json

# Dry-run first
.\system-updates.ps1 -WhatIf

# Run updates
.\system-updates.ps1

Usage

system-updates.ps1

.\system-updates.ps1                       # Update everything
.\system-updates.ps1 -SkipWinget           # Skip Winget packages
.\system-updates.ps1 -SkipChocolatey       # Skip Chocolatey packages
.\system-updates.ps1 -SkipWindowsUpdate    # Skip Windows Update
.\system-updates.ps1 -SkipRestorePoint     # Skip restore point creation
.\system-updates.ps1 -AutoReboot           # Reboot after updates
.\system-updates.ps1 -WhatIf               # Dry-run mode
.\system-updates.ps1 -ConfigFile "C:\path\to\config.json"

Configuration

Create config.json from template:

Copy-Item config.example.json config.json
Option Default Description
AutoReboot false Reboot after updates
LogRetentionDays 30 Days to keep logs
SkipWindowsUpdate false Skip Windows Update
SkipChocolatey false Skip Chocolatey packages
SkipWinget false Skip Winget packages
SkipRestorePoint false Skip restore point creation

Scheduled Updates

Recommended: Install-SystemUpdatesTask.ps1

# From an elevated pwsh, in this directory:
.\Install-SystemUpdatesTask.ps1                                       # Sunday 10:00, current user, no auto-reboot
.\Install-SystemUpdatesTask.ps1 -DayOfWeek Saturday -Time 06:30 -Force # Replace existing task with new schedule
.\Install-SystemUpdatesTask.ps1 -AutoReboot -Force                    # Reboot when updates require it
.\Install-SystemUpdatesTask.ps1 -SystemAccount -Force                 # Run as SYSTEM (see note below)

The installer registers a task with laptop-friendly defaults: runs as the current user with RunLevel=Highest (no UAC prompt), weekly on the chosen day/time, StartWhenAvailable so a missed window catches up, and allows starting/continuing on battery.

Why not SYSTEM?

winget upgrade --all running under the SYSTEM account misses user-scope packages -- a documented limitation of winget. For a dev environment toolkit, the current user with elevated rights is the right default. Use -SystemAccount only for headless server scenarios where no user is interactively logged in.

Alternative: XML import

For GUI-based installs, see examples/weekly-updates-task.xml and examples/README.md. The XML requires manual placeholder replacement before import.

Log Files

<toolkit-root>/logs/
├── system-updates_YYYY-MM-DD.log           # Main log
├── transcript_system-updates_*.log         # Detailed transcript
└── pre-update-state_*.json                 # Package snapshots

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
Chocolatey not installed See chocolatey.org/install
Winget not in PATH Install App Installer from Microsoft Store
PSWindowsUpdate fails Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force
Permission denied Run PowerShell 7+ as Administrator

Use Get-Help .\system-updates.ps1 -Full for detailed parameter info.

Prerequisites

  • PowerShell 7.0+
  • Administrator privileges
  • Chocolatey and/or Winget (optional)

Last Updated: 2026-05-15