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'Recommended' Windows 7 Update Is Breaking PCs With ASUS Motherboards (betanews.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the upgrade-to-Windows-10 dept.

Microsoft has made a bizarre tweak to an update for Windows 7 that can prevent some systems from booting. The Windows 7 update KB3133977 was switched from 'Optional' to 'Recommended' and Microsoft knew ahead of time the update would cause problems for some users but decided to do nothing about it. The update fixes a problem that stops BitLocker encrypting drives because of service crashes in svhost.exe. The update only causes a problem with ASUS motherboards. Microsoft says, "After you install update 3133977 on a Windows 7 x64-based system that includes an ASUS-based main board, the system does not start, and it generates a Secure Boot error on the ASUS BIOS screen. This problem occurs because ASUS allowed the main board to enable the Secure Boot process even though Windows 7 does not support this feature." The update wasn't causing many issues while it was optional. But now that it's recommended, more users have downloaded the update, and more users have experienced problems with the update. ASUS has provided a solution to the problem. Microsoft has also provided a solution, but you might not like it. Their solution in a nutshell: update to Windows 10.

9 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. Another solution by NotInHere · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Install linux.

    1. Re:Another solution by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Pretty much where I'm moving right now. Given the crap they're pulling with Win10 I eventually had to do it anyway. This now gives me a pretty good reason to not postpone it any further.

      Most programs I need are either available for Linux or are platform independent. And everything else runs fine in a VM where it's not only trivial to revert to a former state if an update fucks it up, it's also nothing that needs to be connected to the internet or has to get any private information that it might leak.

      Good riddance. Sorry, MS. You managed to turn yourself from required to redundant and now finally to simply dangerous to my data. And that your "solution" to the problem is telling your users to migrate to a platform that not only breaks compatibility but is also less appealing is the icing on the cake. What about those that CANNOT migrate?

      You are aware that at my current position it is actually EASIER to migrate to Linux than to Win10?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. Simple question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Doesn't it appear like M$ is breaking Windows 7 and 8 to try to force "upgrades" to 10?

    1. Re:Simple question by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Doesn't it appear like M$ is breaking Windows 7 and 8 to try to force "upgrades" to 10?

      Not at all. It appears as though Microsoft is supporting Windows 7 fully and patching bugs like they always do.

      Now as to why ASUS motherboards didn't have an issue before this update that is a real interesting question, but since the solution is to disable a BIOS feature that was incompatible with Windows 7 in the first place the answer is no it doesn't appear like that at all.

    2. Re:Simple question by DaHat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Is it really bricking when a tweak of the bios is required to recover?

      --
      Help Brendan pay off his student loans
    3. Re:Simple question by Darinbob · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes and no. Most Windows users don't understand any of this. They just know that things stopped working and they have no where to turn. Many are more likely to buy a brand new computer than to find someone who can fix it in five minutes. And Microsoft knows this.

  3. A new twist on ransomware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So, Microsoft is now deliberately bricking computers, in an attempt to force Windows 10 onto them.

    Attention victim: We have locked your computer, and you won't be getting access to it anytime soon, unless you....what? No, we don't want bitcoins. We want you to install Windows 10. Give us your computer and nobody gets hurt. We swear we'll only spy on you a little.

    1. Re:A new twist on ransomware by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No, not at all. Asus BIOS code has a bug where it enables Secure Boot even if the OS doesn't support it. It didn't come to light until Microsoft fixed their bug.

      Microsoft pull a lot of shit, but this time it's not the case. The onus is on Asus to fix it, and they have.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  4. not really broken by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Having to change a BIOS setting that was wrong to begin with is not "bricking" anything.

    Making the full-disk encryption feature work as designed IS progress. The fact that now allows an incorrect-by-default BIOS setting to be enforced is unfortunate, but since it can simply be set to the correct value, trying to equate it to forcing Windows 10 or making a computer useless is ridiculous.