Updating Anaconda's root Python to newer minor version on Windows does nothing

Question

I have an Anaconda (not miniconda) Python 2.7 install on Windows. I would like to update the version of Python installed to the latest minor version (2.7.9), which I see is available in the channels that conda is configured to use. However, typing conda update python basically says:

# All requested packages already installed.
# packages in environment at C:\Anaconda:
#
python                    2.7.5                         2

How does one update to another minor version of Python on Windows? I guess that since conda is written in Python and Windows does not let you overwrite or delete open files, that might be slightly difficult to do on Windows... But is it possible?

Answer 1

You are right that Windows won't let conda update Python in the root environment. The only option is to create a new environment with conda create. Otherwise, for now, you will have to reinstall Anaconda to update the root environment Python. We are working on a way to update Python in the root environment, but it isn't finished yet.