Microsoft halts security updates for certain AMD machines after Meltdown and Spectre patches cause issues

The **Meltdown and Spectre CPU vulnerabilities** have turned the computing world on its head these past few days. Chip designers and software developers have been working very hard to mitigate or patch these vulnerabilities, and for the most part, they’ve succeeded. The bulk of the reports indicate no issues with the current patches, though there are sporadic **reports of major performance hits** on certain Intel-powered workloads. [caption id=“attachment_4295343” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image: Reuters[/caption] Microsoft, which pushed out patches for Meltdown and Spectre within days of the issue going public, has now been forced to pause the rollout of the updates to certain AMD-powered machines. In the course of the update, it was discovered that machines with certain AMD processors were unable to boot after the update. When asked about why this wasn’t discovered in pre-testing, a Microsoft spokesperson has been quoted as saying that AMD’s documentation was at fault. The affected processors apparently did not “conform” to the provided documentation. To affected users, Microsoft has this to say:

Microsoft is working with AMD to resolve this issue and resume Windows OS security updates to the affected AMD devices via Windows Update and WSUS as soon as possible. If you have experienced an unbootable state or for more information see KB4073707. For AMD specific information please contact AMD.