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Microsoft quietly moved the end of free Windows 10 security updates for home PCs from October 13, 2026 to October 12, 2027, so any countdown pop-up telling an Austin household that its computer stops being safe next Tuesday is either out of date or a scam.
That date change matters this week because a lot of Austin living rooms still have a Windows 10 machine in them. StatCounter's United States numbers for June 2026 put Windows 10 on roughly one in five desktop Windows PCs, and the October 13 date is what most of those owners wrote on the calendar a year ago. Here is what actually changed, how to check whether your PC is covered, how to enroll if it is not, and how to tell Microsoft's real notices from the fake ones that always show up around a deadline.
Two things did not change. ESU is security-only: no new features and no technical support. And Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, Outlook) on Windows 10 keep their own security updates through October 10, 2028, a separate clock.
Open Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. One of three things is there:
If Windows Update shows a red "Your version of Windows has reached the end of support" banner on a PC that IS enrolled, do not panic. Microsoft confirmed on its Windows 10 health dashboard that this message was displayed in error on Pro, Education and Enterprise editions after the October 2025 update, and that enrolled PCs kept receiving updates the whole time. A cloud-delivered fix clears it after the PC is online and restarted.
What you need: Windows 10 version 22H2 (Home, Pro, Pro Education or Pro for Workstations), a Microsoft account, and administrator rights on the PC.
Ten minutes, no software to download, nothing to call. If a page or a caller says enrollment costs more than $30, involves a download, or needs remote access to your PC, it is not Microsoft.
Every operating-system deadline produces the same scam, and this one has a bonus: the date most people remember is now wrong, so a pop-up that says "Windows 10 support has ended, your PC is at risk, call now" sounds plausible. Which?, the UK consumer group, flagged this exact pattern last fall: browser pop-ups that claim your device is compromised and must be upgraded through a phone number, plus ads and texts offering a free Windows 11 "hack." Texas has been here before. The Texas Attorney General sued a tech-support operation in 2017 for pop-ups designed to look like Microsoft warnings about viruses that did not exist, and later returned more than $150,000 to the Texans who paid.
The tells, in order of how often we see them:
If someone already let a caller in: disconnect the PC from Wi-Fi, change the Microsoft account password from a different device, call the bank if a card number was read out, and have the PC checked before trusting it again. Our scam protection and cleanup service handles the aftermath more often than we would like.
If the PC qualifies, yes, and the upgrade is free. Windows 11 needs a 64-bit processor on Microsoft's supported list (Intel 8th generation or newer, AMD Ryzen 2000 or newer, as a rule), TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, 4 GB of memory and 64 GB of storage. Microsoft's free PC Health Check app gives a yes or no in a minute, and names the reason for a no. The common no on a 2018 to 2020 PC is TPM 2.0 being turned off in the firmware rather than missing; that is a five-minute change in the BIOS setup screen, and we do it as part of a software and performance tune-up.
Back the PC up before you upgrade. The one time an upgrade fails is the one time it matters. An external drive plus a cloud copy is the standard we set on every data backup visit.
ESU is the answer for one more year, and it is a good answer. A PC that was fast enough last week is fast enough this week. Use the extra year to plan the replacement on your schedule rather than a scammer's. Two alternatives worth knowing: ChromeOS Flex and a beginner-friendly Linux both run well on older hardware for browsing, email and video.
Do not put a computer in the trash or the blue cart. Wipe it first: Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Reset this PC > Remove everything, then choose the option to clean the drive fully (it takes longer, and that is the point). Then Austin Resource Recovery's Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center takes computers, monitors and printers from Austin residents at no charge, by appointment at austintexas.gov/dropoff; the city's on-demand bulk pickup will also collect electronics from the curb if you have several. A PC that still works can go to a reuse organization listed in the city's Austin Reuse Directory instead.
The consumer program is for personal PCs. A work laptop managed by an employer sits on the commercial ESU program, whose first year still ends October 13, 2026, and whose second year costs the company double. If your employer's IT department has been quiet, ask them before Tuesday; if you run your own business from a Windows 10 desktop, the consumer enrollment above is open to you as long as the PC is not joined to a company domain.
The short version: the Windows 10 deadline moved a year, enrollment is free and takes ten minutes, and the only thing that expires on October 13 is the scammers' calendar. If you would like a technician to enroll the household's PCs, check Windows 11 eligibility and set up the backup in one visit, book a visit or call 512.554.4790.
Photo: LeonaardoG via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
