Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Microsoft's patch for the recently disclosed Meltdown and Spectre processor exploits was causing headaches on older AMD-based PCs. In particular, those running older AMD Athlon-based systems have reported (opens in new tab) that they are unable to boot their PCs past the Windows startup logo after applying the patch.
In response to the issue, Microsoft now says it has paused the patch rollout for PCs with affected processors. In a statement to The Verge, Microsoft said:
Microsoft has reports of customers with some AMD devices getting into an unbootable state after installing recent Windows operating system security updates. After investigating, Microsoft has determined that some AMD chipsets do not conform to the documentation previously provided to Microsoft to develop the Windows operating system mitigations to protect against the chipset vulnerabilities known as Spectre and Meltdown.
The problem is also now documented (opens in new tab) as a known issue with the update. Hopefully, a solution will be found sooner rather than later. If your machine is currently in an unbootable state, Microsoft recommends visiting its support site (opens in new tab) for more information.
How to check if your PC is protected from the Meltdown and Spectre exploits
