On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Microsoft sends the final monthly security update for a release of Windows 10 that dates to 2016. It is a long-term release, made for devices that typically do one job, and some commercial video recorders were built on it.
So some recorders are Windows computers in a recorder’s case. Others run something else, such as embedded Linux or a different release of Windows, and October 13, 2026 does not apply to them. Each has support terms of its own. Which kind sits in your building is something to check. Sometimes a sticker on the unit answers it, and sometimes it takes a technician.
A Windows-based recorder is a legitimate design with a known software life. This post covers what changes when that life ends, who can extend it, and the questions that tell you where your building stands.
The short version. Tuesday, October 13, 2026, is a video recorder end of support date for one group of recorders: those built on the 2016 long-term release of Windows 10. Microsoft sends that release its final monthly security update that day. Microsoft’s wording for an operating system past its date is that it “may still work,” without the regular updates. Paid extended security updates exist, and for the edition found on recorders, Microsoft says they are available only through the device’s manufacturer. Manufacturers' published guidance differs, so the fix depends on the recorder. Find out what each recorder runs, take that to your security company, get the manufacturer’s answer in writing, and ask the same question about any server on Windows Server 2016, which reaches its own date on January 12, 2027.
What a Video Recorder End of Support Date Means
In February 2026, Microsoft published, and has since updated, a notice covering three Windows products first released in 2016. Two of them share October 13, 2026: Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise 2016 LTSB. LTSB stands for long-term servicing branch, Microsoft’s earlier name for its long-term release. The IoT edition is the one device makers license to preinstall on equipment they sell, and it is the Windows 10 edition that manufacturer documents show on recorders. The third product is Windows Server 2016, on January 12, 2027.
The notice says devices on these products “will receive a final monthly security update on these dates.” It continues: “After that, these devices will no longer receive Windows security updates, non-security updates, bug fixes, technical support, or online technical content updates.”
Each item on that list is something Microsoft sends or provides. Whether the machine keeps working is a separate matter, and Microsoft’s lifecycle page speaks to it for operating systems in general: “The OS may still work with programs and hardware after the sale or support of the operating system has been discontinued.” It goes on to say the possibility increases that new programs and hardware will not perform well on an older operating system. Nothing in the notice says a recorder stops on October 13, 2026. What stops is Microsoft’s regular updates and support.
There is a reason some recorders were built this way. Microsoft makes its long-term releases for special-purpose devices and describes them like this: “These devices typically do a single important task and don’t need feature updates as frequently as other devices in the organization.” A recorder does one task, all day. What comes with the design is a software life with published dates.
One clarification, because the names are close. The Windows 10 on office desktops reached its own end of support on October 14, 2025. That was a different edition with a different date. An IT provider can have every desk in the building squared away for the 2025 date, and the recorder’s date is still a separate question.
The Support Clock Started in 2016
Microsoft publishes two dates for this release. Support started on August 2, 2016. It ends on October 13, 2026. That is a little more than ten years, end to end, and both dates belong to the software. The day a recorder was built, sold, or installed moves neither one. One of Microsoft’s lifecycle tables displays the end a day later, as October 14, 2026. The notice and the release history both say October 13, 2026, and that is the date I am using.
So the share of that span a building has had depends on when the recorder was bought. Manufacturer datasheets dated in early 2021 list recorders on Windows Server 2016 and on a Windows 10 long-term release. A unit bought in 2021 on the 2016 release would have had about five years of the span.
How to Find Out What Your Recorder Runs
You can start without logging in to anything. Two things identify a recorder on this release.
The first is the Windows license sticker, called a Certificate of Authenticity. One manufacturer’s support page tells owners to check it and lists the license names it may show, including Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB 2016. If the sticker is on the outside of the unit where you can read it, read it. If it is out of view, leave the unit closed. I do not recommend that owners open up a recorder. If needed, a technician can come out and work with the manufacturer’s support team to get the information.
The second is the About screen in the Windows settings, which a technician can open. On this release it shows version 1607 and OS build 14393. Windows Server 2016 shows the same version and build, so ask for the edition name along with the numbers. The About screen may name the edition Enterprise even on a unit licensed as IoT, and the license decides where extended updates come from. The sticker, or the manufacturer, tells you which license the unit carries.
Other recorders run something else. Most of the recorders my company has installed over the last few years run Linux. One manufacturer’s datasheets for two of its recorder lines list embedded Linux as the operating system. The support page with the sticker instructions also lists other long-term releases of Windows: newer ones, with end dates from 2029 to 2034, and an older one from 2015 whose date passed on October 14, 2025. For a recorder on any of those, October 13, 2026 does not apply. Ask when support for its software ends, and write that date down. On the cloud-managed systems my company sells, we can usually get a report of which version of Linux a recorder is running. When support for that version ends is a question for the manufacturer.
A security company does not always have the Windows version on file for every recorder or server. If you read yours off the sticker, send it along. Once they have it, they can lay out your options. The short way to get the rest is to send your security company four questions:
- What does each of our recorders run? If the edition, the version, the build, and the license name on the Windows sticker are not on file, can a technician get them?
- For any recorder on the 2016 release of Windows 10, what does the manufacturer offer for our model: an upgrade to a newer release, paid extended security updates, or a replacement? Can we have that answer in writing?
- For each option, what happens to our recorded video and our settings, and how long is the recorder out of service?
- Does any server for our cameras or doors run Windows Server 2016?
Extended Updates Exist, and Microsoft Points to the Manufacturer
October 13, 2026 is the end of the updates that come with the product. After it, updates continue to exist as a paid product. Microsoft calls them Extended Security Updates. Its notice says they can be purchased for up to three years, that they are critical and important security updates only, and that the program does not extend technical support. Microsoft’s own recommendation in the notice, for the IoT edition, is to move devices to a newer long-term release as soon as possible.
Who sells them depends on the edition. For the Enterprise edition, Microsoft names Volume Licensing or a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider. For the IoT edition, the notice says: “Extended Security Updates for Windows IoT Enterprise LTSB 2016 are only available through IoT original equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Please contact your device manufacturer for pricing and availability.”
Read that from the owner’s chair. For a recorder carrying the IoT license, Microsoft names one channel, and it is the company that built the recorder. Taken at its word, your IT provider cannot buy them through its own channels for that unit. The request goes to the manufacturer, and I would send it through your security company.
Microsoft’s notice establishes that the channel exists. Whether your recorder’s manufacturer sells through it, for your model, is the question to ask. Ask it in writing.
Manufacturers have published guidance of their own, and it does not all point the same way. One manufacturer’s upgrade guide, dated June 2023, lists a kit, with its own part number, that moves certain recorder models from the 2016 release of Windows 10 to a 2021 release. Another’s support bulletin, updated in September 2025, says in-place upgrades are not supported and tells owners of systems on the 2016 release to schedule a hardware refresh. Both were written before Microsoft’s February 2026 notice, and each is that manufacturer’s decision about its own product. So the fix depends on whose name is on the recorder and which model it is.
There is one more reason to ask before any work starts. That upgrade guide warns that all data on the recorder’s operating system drive is deleted during the upgrade, and it recommends backing up critical video before proceeding. Where your recorded video sits is a question about your unit. If you are holding video for a claim or a case, tell whoever is handling it before any work starts, and get it exported the way I laid out in the video evidence post.
Whose Job Each Part Is, and Who May Ask
In the camera cybersecurity post, I marked each camera risk with whose job it was: the security company, the IT provider, or the owner. The end of support for a recorder’s software sorts the same way.
The recorder’s software path: your security company and the manufacturer. Identifying what each recorder runs, asking the manufacturer what it offers for your model, and laying the options out for you is security work. That lane includes my company. If you can tell us which version of Windows a recorder runs, we can give you options. If you cannot, we can send a technician, who can work with the manufacturer’s support team to get it.
How the recorder can be reached: your IT provider. Whether the recorder can be reached from the internet, and whether it shares a network with your office computers, is network work. I am not your IT company. Hand them two questions. Does this recorder accept connections from the internet, directly or through a vendor’s cloud service? What else is on its network, and what can it reach?
The decision and the record: you. Someone chooses among the options and writes the choice down: what the recorder runs, what the manufacturer said, what you decided, who approved it, and when you will look at it again.
A gap can open between those three. A Windows-based recorder is security equipment and a Windows computer at once. An IT provider could reasonably figure the security company has it, because it is a recorder. A security company could reasonably figure IT has it, because it is Windows. And Microsoft sends the extended update question to a third company, the manufacturer. Each of those assumptions is fair. Put together, they can leave the date with no name beside it until the owner assigns one.
The written record has a second use, because someone may ask for it.
If you take card payments, PCI DSS, in version 4.0.1, has a requirement, numbered 12.3.4, on this subject. I am paraphrasing, because the standard sits behind a license agreement. The hardware and software in use get reviewed at least once every 12 months. The review covers whether each still receives security fixes from its vendor and whether the vendor has announced end-of-life plans. And there is a documented plan, approved by senior management, to remediate technology that is outdated. The requirement was a best practice until March 31, 2025, and mandatory after that date. A recorder can fall inside the standard’s scope when it is in the cardholder data environment, has unrestricted connectivity to it, or could affect its security. The standard’s scoping section includes physical security systems among its examples and mentions badge access and CCTV. Whether your recorder falls inside that scope is a question for whoever handles your card compliance.
January 12, 2027: Ask the Same Question About the Server
The third product in Microsoft’s notice is Windows Server 2016. Microsoft’s Windows Server blog states its date in one line: “extended support for Windows Server 2016 will end on January 12, 2027.”
Server 2016 appears in two kinds of security system documents. Manufacturer documents list it, or its storage edition, as the factory operating system on some recorder models. And the supported-system lists for several on-premises access control server programs include it, alongside newer server releases.
Those lists show what the software supports. What is installed in your building is a separate fact, so treat it as a question: does any server behind our doors or cameras run Windows Server 2016, and if so, what is the plan before January 12, 2027?
Microsoft sells Extended Security Updates for Server 2016 too, for up to three years. Its documentation ties them to the Standard and Datacenter editions, to Software Assurance or an equivalent server subscription, and to Microsoft’s Azure Arc service. Whether the license that came with a recorder or a server appliance qualifies is a question for the manufacturer.
When the Answer Is Not a New Recorder
Two answers to the four questions can keep the recorder you have.
Your recorder is not on the 2016 release. Then October 13, 2026 does not apply to it. Write down what it does run and when that software’s support ends. If that date has already passed, the same questions apply to it.
The manufacturer has a supported path that keeps your hardware. An upgrade kit or extended updates are still a purchase, and they keep the recorder you already own in service.
If a replacement is already in your 2027 budget, check its timing against the end of support for the recorder’s software, and write that down too.
In the camera cybersecurity post, I wrote that equipment its manufacturer has stopped supporting should be replaced. That holds, and it is a rule about the manufacturer’s support. October 13, 2026 is Microsoft’s date for the operating system, and the recorder’s manufacturer may still have a supported path. If it does, you have choices. If it does not, replacement goes on the plan with a date beside it.
In my experience, when a recorder runs a version of Windows that has reached its end, the upgrade option is normally a new recorder. The four answers tell you whether yours is an exception. I would get them before approving a purchase on the strength of a date.
Questions for the Next Recorder
If the answers do lead to a new recorder, ask about software support on the day you buy, while the answers can still shape the purchase.
- What software does this recorder run, and who publishes its updates?
- What is the support end date for that software, in writing, as of the day we buy?
- Who installs the updates, and how: the manufacturer, our security company, our IT provider, or our staff?
- When that date arrives, what is the manufacturer’s path: an update on the same hardware, or a new unit?
- What happens to our recorded video when the old recorder comes out?
The answers differ from product to product, so I am giving you questions to ask. A new recorder is also a separate decision from new cameras. I covered what carries over, and the three designs that get called cloud, in the cloud video post.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my video recorder stop recording on October 13, 2026?
Nothing in Microsoft’s notice says a recorder stops on that date. The notice describes an end to regular updates and support for the 2016 long-term release of Windows 10, and Microsoft’s lifecycle page says an operating system “may still work” after support ends. What changes is the updates behind it. A recorder on other software has support terms of its own.
How do I know if my video recorder runs Windows?
Start with the Windows license sticker, if it is on the outside of the unit where you can read it. Two things identify the 2016 long-term release of Windows 10: the license name on that sticker, and version 1607, OS build 14393, on the About screen. If you cannot read the sticker, leave the unit closed and ask your security company to send a technician. Other recorders run different software with support terms of their own, so ask when that support ends.
Do I have to replace a recorder that runs the 2016 release of Windows 10?
That depends on the manufacturer and the model. Microsoft says paid Extended Security Updates for the IoT edition are available only through the device’s manufacturer, for up to three years. Published manufacturer guidance differs: one lists an upgrade kit to a newer Windows release, and another says to schedule a hardware refresh. Get your manufacturer’s answer in writing before you decide.
Is this the same Windows 10 end of support that applied to office computers?
It is a separate date. The Windows 10 on office desktops reached end of support on October 14, 2025. October 13, 2026 belongs to a long-term release from 2016, made for special-purpose devices, that some video recorders were built on. A building can have every desktop handled for the 2025 date and still have a recorder on the 2016 release.
Does the Windows Server 2016 end of support affect my security system?
It can. Microsoft says extended support for Windows Server 2016 ends on January 12, 2027. Manufacturer documents list Server 2016 on some recorder models, and several on-premises access control server programs list it as a supported system. Those lists show what the software supports, so find out which release your own servers run, and take that to your security company.
Start With the First Question
Start with the first question on the list: what does each of our recorders run? Read the sticker if you can. If the answer is something other than the 2016 release of Windows 10, October 13, 2026 does not apply to that recorder. Ask when its software’s support ends, and write that down. If it is the 2016 release, you have the rest of the list, three jobs to assign, and a plan to put on paper.
If you can tell us which version of Windows your recorder or server runs, we can give you options. If you cannot tell, or you have other questions about your recorder or the server behind your doors, call us at 678-924-7480 or email service@verifiedsecurity.com.
Current as of October 2026. We review this post annually.
Scott Hightower founded Verified Security in 2007 and has spent nearly two decades designing, installing, and servicing commercial security systems across metro Atlanta. Verified Security is an authorized Honeywell security provider and specializes in access control, video surveillance, intrusion, and fire alarm systems. Reach Scott’s team at 678-924-7480.
