Windows 10 is nearing it's October 2025 end of support date. In response, VIU’s IT Department will be upgrading our fleet of Windows 10 devices to Windows 11. The first phase will take place over this summer. Most of our student facing devices and some older employee devices will be in this batch. As well, all newly issued Windows devices will come with Windows 11.
This page will provide you with some quick tips and insight into the differences between Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Log on
One change that you may notice right away when logging in is that you will be asked for an email address at login rather than a user name.
To log on to upgraded Windows 11 computers you will now need to use your VIU Email address for your username. Your password will be the same one you have used before. Your email address is not case sensitive, so you can enter it with or without capitalization. VIU's naming conventions for Student and Staff email addresses are laid out below:
- Students: If you aren’t sure of your email address you can verify it by logging in to your student record or contacting the Registration department. Your email will typically follow the format of firstname.lastname@my.viu.ca. Example: Alex Doe’s student email address for logon to a Windows 11 computer would be alex.doe@my.viu.ca
- Staff: The email address required will be the same @viu.ca email address you use for your day to day. Example: Charlie Bryce’s staff email address for logon to a Windows 11 computer would be charlie.bryce@viu.ca
Personalization
- Browser Settings:
Unlike on Windows 10 workstations your saved passwords and favorites will no longer follow you when you move between computers. If you have any important saved passwords, favorites, or other browser settings we strongly recommend you log on on a Windows 10 computer now and create a personal account for use in whatever browser you prefer to handle your cloud storage and syncing of your passwords, favorites, and preferences.
- Where are my files? (Students only)
(Note: this step is for VIU Students only. VIU employee file storage is not affected by the move to Windows 11.) Looking for files that were on your Desktop or in My documents? With the move to Onedrive these files will no longer automatically show up on your Desktop or in your My Documents folder. You will need to move them from your U: drive to your Onedrive. You can find your files in your U drive by doing the following:
- Open File Explorer using the folder icon shown in the Task Bar at the bottom of your screen, indicated by the red box in the image below:
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Click on This PC in the list on the left of the window.
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Under Network Locations in the middle of the window, click on the U: option. This will typically have your student number shown.
- The files that were in your Desktop or My Documents folders on a Windows 10 student workstation will be in the corresponding Desktop or Documents folders in your U: drive.
OneDrive Integration:
Windows 11 workstations will automatically sign you in to your @my.viu.ca provided Onedrive for cloud storage. We recommend you familiarize yourself with the use of Onedrive and Teams to get the most out of the tools available to you with your student account. Onedrive and Teams offer robust file management and collaboration. They will also give you more options for file recovery, reducing the risk of losing your work.
The links provided below will take you to VIU's OneDrive and Teams learning resources: