Microsoft has received several complaints from its customers who are using the AMD processor. As a response to these complaints, Microsoft started providing patch updates to protect against the Meltdown and Spectre security threats. However, as an outcome, customers discovered that the updates froze their machines.
In a note posted on the company’s support blog, Microsoft stated that efforts were in collaboration with AMD to ensure that the issue is resolved. They also mentioned that once this issue is resolved, they will resume the updates on Windows OS for all affected AMD devices.
Ever since the news broke, shares of AMD slid by 1.3% in pre-market U.S. trading. In previous weeks’ of trading, the stock price rose by 20% as investors had expected AMD chips to perform better than Intel. Intel, whose chips are exposed to risks from potential Meltdown and Spectre attacks, has been marred with controversy over its chip failures.
In a statement issued by Microsoft, they said, “To prevent AMD customers from getting into an unbootable state, Microsoft will temporarily pause sending the following Windows operating system updates to devices with impacted AMD processors at this time.”
Elaborating on the nature of the complaint, Microsoft said their AMD customers’ machines stopped loading the Start menu or the taskbar, even after installing security updates for the Windows operating systems.
When an investigation was completed, it was found that AMD chipsets were not adhering to the technical documentation the chipmaker had provided. This has caused a problem as Microsoft is not able to patch these affected machines.
The software giant commented in one of its blog posts stating that these patches caused the “blue screen error” on platforms such as Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7.
It is reported that Meltdown and Spectre are two major memory related defects. The result can be dangerous, as hackers can easily bypass the operating systems and other security protocols to steal valuable information such as passwords, encryption keys, and other data.
In a statement issued last week, AMD said the major difference between the design of its chips in comparison to its competitor Intel meant that the chips were carrying “zero risk” from Meltdown defects. The company also said that the specific Spectre bug flaw can be resolved if software vendors, such as Microsoft, provide regular updates to the software.
However, AMD was not available to comment to the media on the most recent development.
