A Microsoft Windows 7 update is bricking some PCs with ASUS motherboards

An update to Windows 7 might partially brick your ASUS-powered PC. The error is related to the way Secure Boot and UEFI is handled in Windows 7 and only affects certain ASUS motherboards. The security update, labelled KB3133977, is a recommended security update that will be installed on most PCs. Now Windows 7 itself doesn’t support Secure Boot, which protects your OS from tampering. The option is disabled by default for Windows 7-based PCs, but the update reportedly updates Windows 7 and confuses the firmware into believing that Secure Boot is supported. Since the feature is actually not supported, the PC will refuse to boot. Microsoft has partially washed their hands off the matter, telling The Register that “Asus shipped some main boards with their own implementation of a Secure Boot-like feature for Windows 7. Secure Boot is a feature introduced by Microsoft in Windows 8 and also supported by Windows 10. Prior to releasing the update, we worked closely with Asus to help them put support in place for their customers. For customers experiencing an issue after installing the update, we recommend they contact Asus.” ASUS has a solution to the problem and if you’re affected, suggests that you boot into your BIOS and disable the UEFI Secure Boot option. This can also be done by changing Windows OS mode to “Other OS” from within the BIOS. If you’re on Windows 10, you should be unaffected by this issue.