Microsoft pulls security update that freezes PCs

Microsoft (Euronext: MSF.NX - news) said on Tuesday that it was suspending a security update after it was found to be freezing PCs.

In a support blog Microsoft said that machines running on AMD (Shenzhen: 002623.SZ - news) chipsets were not going to be protected against the Spectre vulnerability, which was disclosed last week.

The company 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."

It follows a revelation last week by security researchers of vulnerabilities affecting chips developed by Intel (Euronext: INCO.NX - news) , AMD, and ARM, which could leave memory and data vulnerable to theft.

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Microsoft said that it had received complaints from AMD customers about PCs freezing after applying the security update.

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After investigating the issue, the company found that some AMD chipsets actually did not conform to the technical documentation that AMD provided.

Microsoft said it was causing PCs to freeze or have blue screen errors on machines running the Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 operating systems.

Windows users are still encouraged to apply all security updates. Microsoft is no longer sending out the update which may freeze PCs.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Sky News: "We're working with AMD to resolve this issue and resume security updates to affected AMD devices via Windows Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). More information is available here .

"For information about AMD devices please contact AMD."