youtube video just released about a security flaw effecting intel processors starting as far back as 10 years ago...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=288&v=sJzLsyJmu9E

Apparently intel has purposely designed the intel kernel to bypass security checks to speed up proformance and has done this for more than 10 years..

This security check would / could prevent malice code from being executed.
They say MS is working on an update expected to be released within a week or 2, and once updated your intel system could become upto 30% slower.

Servers they say will be effected the most, but untill the update is applied, theres no way to know what processors will be effected and by how much..

Ideally it's best to wait and see what processors / systems are effected and by how much before deciding to update your intel process system........ you mite wanna look for an AMD system in the near future if your processor is high on the hit list.....

It's probably a really good time to disable win10 auto updates, or at least change the settings to a manual update process, ( apparently it's not possible to disable win10 updates completely )

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-stop-updates-installing-automatically-windows-10

I chose the registry method because i have win10 home witch doesn't include the gpedit.msc required to edit group polices method.

That's why I just keep with Windows 7 with updates turned off.

Same way bro... Even I don't like constant auto updates...

On one hand, I agree with you guys that automatic updates are annoying...

...but is it worth sacrificing your security for it? Considering that this particular flaw (Meltdown) can gain attackers total control over it, I'd update it and get it patched, even if there's a slight performance deficit.

The other flaw, Spectre, is the one I'd be more worried about. Since it affects pretty much EVERY processor made since the P54 Pentium (we're talking back to 1993 here), we should be considerate of the potential security issues that we may have in the future.

BTW, Hardware Unboxed (@tinsoldier 's video in the OP) has gone over it in more detail in his next video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qZksorJAuY

Welp boys & girls bad news for all win10 home users "For Windows 10 build 1607 Home edition, update is automatic and can’t be managed." for both 1607 and 1709 .

That said there is one method only that appears to work and that is to disable the windows update service..
The Problem here is this will stop all updates including security updates and ap updates etc.. which is probably a really bad idea.

I'm going to say now, probably best to allow the update to happen, and suffer what ever slowdown you get for the sake of security.

They say now that AMD isn't completely out of the woods.. soooo

PS I applied the registry fix, and checking my update history, a new update was auto-installed this morning anyway, so it doesn't work.. i'll be undoing the registry change real soon.

I also installed and used SiSoftwares's lite version which is a free benchmark software ( only the lite version ) so now once my system getd the new CPU patch i'll be able to test my system to see what slowdown has actually happened if any.

well windows updates are important, especially the security updates or your pc can get hacked pretty easily. Also it's intel who has released the important patch which is said to decrease system performance but it would make it safer. windows will have an update as well, so will certain web browsers and mobile platforms.

now that everyone knows about this, the updates are very crucial.



i completely dislike them as there is sometimes no way to skip them, but they allow you to do that now so get the updates they are important.

well this is sad news.. it seems that the update "Update for Windows KB4054022" was installed on my computer on dec/23rd/17 .

And it doesn't include an uninstall option.. i could probably do a system restore to go back before this update happened..


But at this point there's no point because MS will just install it again i'm sure...

So installing the SiSoftware was of no use...

So now i'll be uninstalling SiSoftware and the registry fix too...

OK this getting anoying again, apparently Update for Windows KB4054022 isnt the CPU fix update, but some other update that involves the "stack".. no mention of the cpu fix.. and why that video from unboxing even mentions KB4054022.....

I can only guess like every website podcast etc out there trys to be the first to announce things to the world maybe grabbing at straws and hopping to be the first... but from all the info i can find, only certain people with certain windows versions have the fix already, it maybe the MS insider program versions... us the gerneral population are still waiting till the  9th (second tuesday of the month called patch tuesday) for the normal windows patch updates to be sent out .

So it appears that the patch has already been rolled out to many servers (including Windows ones), and the performance impact before and after seems to be quite noticeable, especially if the host system is running on an SSD (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbhKUjPRk5Q for more).

Most noticeably, Epic's Fortnite game servers have jumped up quite a way with the CPU utilization since they deployed the Meltdown patch.

yup windows have rolled out the updates now this probably would throw a lot of video game optimization into the trash.

heres the latest info on this CPU issue i've found -

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4056892/windows-10-update-kb4056892
thats the win10 fix released jan/9/18

It's important to note that the fix also requires a BIOS update by your hardware manufacturer -

Heres the HP list ( very long ) that lists each model and if a fix is planned to be released for and a date of the expected release ( mine is listed as jan/19 ) -

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c05869091
Just scroll down or search for your HP model, if listed your device will be getting an update and a link to the softpaq when available.

If your computer model isn't on the list..... maybe it will be added at a later date.... or you're S**T out of luck cause it's to old....

If your not using HP then check with your hardware manufacturer on their support forums for any reference too "side-channel analysis or speculative execution" fix's.

And yet more on this issue

For your piece of mind, heres a CPU checker that tests your system for the vulnerabilities , if you have the windows update already, you see one shown as fixed, if you haven't got the BIOS update yet one will still be listed as vulnerable/

There is a blog by the security company that made this utility, it's a pretty good read if you want more info on this and hacking in general.

The Blog:
https://blog.ashampoo.com/en/2018-01-10/meltdown-and-spectre-the-great-processor-disaster

The  test Utility for win7 to win10 :
https://www.ashampoo.com/en/eur/pin/1304/sicherheitssoftware/Ashampoo-Spectre-Meltdown-CPU-Checker

Another issue has popped up for HP and i assume most other CPU BIOS updates..

According to HP, Intel says the original BIOS patch's may cause more blue screens and issues.

So HP has removed all sofpaq updates from their website until Intel release's a revised version of their CPU patch expected starting 25/01/18.

Soooo if you have already downloaded and applied the BIOS patch, you NEED to keep an eye out for a new revised one coming out.

I assume this issue applies to all BIOS patch's released so far for all CPU's.

This thread is a perfect reason as to why you don't cut corners in your products/services.

Hopefully Intel learns a very important leason through all this.

I checked the HP website again, they have finally released some of the BIOS updates now.

( look back at the first message's for the links if needed )

Got mine yesterday and installed, my computer seems to be OK so far, hasn't blown up or caught fire yet.. it's only been one day so far... sooo

Ran the test utility, it says all's well and i'm fully protected.