It’s Time to Upgrade Those Older Windows 10 Workstations…
If your dental practice runs Dentrix and you have workstations still on Windows 10, you are approaching a hard deadline that affects both your software access and your HIPAA compliance standing. Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 in October 2025. Henry Schein One has confirmed that after June 30, 2026, Dentrix will no longer support new installations on Windows 10. The two deadlines together create a compliance gap that most dental offices in Northern Virginia aren’t prepared for.
This isn’t a software preference issue. It’s an operational and regulatory one. Need urgent help? Contact NOVA Computer Solutions. We’ve supported dental practices exclusively in Northern VA for over 25 years.
Here is what’s happening, what it means for your practice, and what needs to happen before that deadline passes.
Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. From that point forward, no new security patches, vulnerability fixes, or bug corrections are being released for the operating system. Every day that passes, the list of known, unpatched vulnerabilities on Windows 10 grows longer. There is no remediation path from Microsoft.
Henry Schein One then drew their own line: after June 30, 2026, they will not support new Dentrix installations on Windows 10. Any workstation still on Windows 10 that needs a Dentrix reinstall after that date will either require an OS upgrade first or will be left without a supported path forward.
For a practice that relies on Dentrix for scheduling, charting, billing, and imaging, a workstation that cannot run a supported version of the software is a significant operational problem.
The Dentrix 2026 System Requirements document, published by Henry Schein One in April 2026, confirms this explicitly. The only supported workstation operating systems going forward are Windows 10 and Windows 11, with the clear caveat that Windows 10 support ends June 30, 2026. If you need help navigating your software options or planning a transition, NOVA’s dental software support team has managed Dentrix environments across hundreds of practices.
HIPAA’s Security Rule requires covered entities to protect electronic protected health information (ePHI) using reasonable and appropriate technical safeguards. Running practice management software on an end-of-life operating system with known, unpatched vulnerabilities is inconsistent with that standard.
Every Dentrix workstation in your office handles ePHI: patient records, treatment history, insurance information, clinical notes, and in many cases, digital imaging files. When the operating system on that workstation is no longer receiving security patches, those patient records sit on hardware that is actively accumulating security gaps that will never be closed.
This is not a theoretical risk. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which enforces HIPAA, has cited failure to implement technical safeguards and failure to manage system vulnerabilities in enforcement actions against dental practices. An end-of-life OS is a documented vulnerability. The fact that it appears on a workstation running your practice management system is material to any breach investigation or compliance audit.
Dental practices that continue running Dentrix on Windows 10 after June 30 aren’t just running unsupported software. They’re maintaining a documented HIPAA compliance gap on every workstation that has not been upgraded.
Beyond the operating system change, Henry Schein One’s 2026 requirements set a higher hardware floor than many older dental workstations meet. Understanding the full picture helps practices plan the scope of what an upgrade actually involves.
For workstations, the 2026 minimums are:
For servers, the requirements are more demanding: 16 GB RAM, 60 GB free space on SSD or NVMe, 4 or more cores at 2.4 GHz, and a supported version of Windows Server (2016 through 2025, with 2019 or later recommended for new deployments). Terminal Services and Citrix configurations are explicitly not supported.
One important note on Windows 11 Home: while it’s technically supported by Dentrix, Home edition does not allow domain installations. This limits network security options in ways that are likely incompatible with a well-managed dental IT environment. Windows 11 Pro is the correct choice for any practice running a domain.
This is where many practices underestimate the scope of the project. Upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is free from a software licensing standpoint on qualifying hardware. The problem is that not all workstations qualify.
Windows 11 requires a CPU with TPM 2.0 support and Secure Boot capability. Machines purchased before 2019 often lack these features and cannot be upgraded to Windows 11, regardless of how much memory or storage they have. For those workstations, the only path to a supported Dentrix configuration after June 30 is hardware replacement.
A dental practice with five workstations might discover that two can be upgraded in place, two need new hardware entirely, and one needs a RAM or storage upgrade before it meets the 2026 minimums. That determination requires a workstation-by-workstation audit before any planning can begin.
NOVA’s team handles dental practice computer setup and workstation deployment as a core part of what we do – ensuring every machine is configured correctly for Dentrix before it goes into production use.
Practices that wait until after June to start this process are taking on real risk. Hardware procurement and deployment across multiple machines takes time, and lead times on equipment are not always predictable.
One aspect that often surprises dental offices: installing Dentrix fresh on a new Windows 11 workstation doesn’t automatically restore workstation-specific settings. Appointment book views, operatory layouts, provider allocations, billing configurations, ledger colors, and toolbar arrangements are all workstation-specific and will need to be reconfigured on each new machine or migrated deliberately.
For a front desk that has spent years refining how their appointment book looks and functions, or a clinician who has configured their perio charting templates to match their workflow, this is not a trivial step. Getting workstations configured correctly before they go live prevents the disruption of staff trying to work through an unfamiliar setup during patient hours.
An IT team managing this transition should be capturing and documenting workstation configurations before the old machines are retired, and testing the Dentrix environment on each new workstation before it goes into production use. NOVA’s remote IT support team can handle Dentrix reinstallation, workstation configuration, and post-migration testing without requiring an on-site visit in most cases.
Deadlines like this one are exactly what NOVA’s Partner Manager model is designed to handle before they become urgent.
Every NOVA client is assigned a dedicated Partner Manager whose job is not to close tickets, but to understand your practice at a business level and make sure you are never surprised by an IT problem that should have been anticipated. That means tracking software vendor announcements, operating system lifecycle timelines, and hardware refresh cycles on your behalf, and bringing that information to you in your regular planning meetings, not the week before a deadline.
The Dentrix Windows 10 cutoff was on NOVA’s radar well before Henry Schein One published the 2026 system requirements. Practices with a Partner Manager already had their workstation inventory reviewed, their upgrade eligibility assessed, and a sequenced plan in place. The June 30 deadline is a project milestone for them, not a scramble.
That is the difference between a ticket desk and a technology partner. A ticket desk fixes what is broken. A Partner Manager prevents the breaking altogether.
If you’re managing this transition without that kind of proactive relationship in place, you are already behind the curve. Learn more about how NOVA’s dental IT account management and Partner Manager model works.
The immediate priority is understanding exactly what you are working with. That means auditing every workstation and your server against the 2026 Dentrix requirements and the Windows 11 hardware compatibility checklist.
On each workstation, right-click Start, go to System, and check the Windows edition and version under Windows Specifications. Then verify whether that machine’s CPU supports TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. Your IT provider should be able to run this audit across all machines and give you a clear picture of what needs to happen and in what order.
From there, the work breaks into three categories:
Each category has a different cost profile and timeline. Server requirements should be evaluated at the same time. If your Dentrix server is running Windows Server 2016, is on traditional hard drives rather than SSD or NVMe, or is undersized for your current workstation count, this is the right time to address that as well.
NOVA Computer Solutions has worked with dental practices for over 25 years, and Dentrix support is a core part of what our team does every day. If you are not certain which of your workstations meet the Dentrix 2026 requirements, or if you already know an upgrade is overdue, we can assess the scope, prioritize the work, and manage the transition without disrupting your patient schedule.
Contact NOVA Computer Solutions to schedule a workstation assessment. Call (703) 499-8760 or fill out the form to the right to get started. We’ll respond quickly and help you decide what’s next.
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