

SPECTRE MELTDOWN WINDOWS
It also provides a comprehensive list of Windows client and server resources to help keep your devices protected at home, at work, and across your enterprise. This article provides information and updates for a new class of silicon-based microarchitectural and speculative execution side-channel vulnerabilities that affect many modern processors and operating systems. Please check back here regularly for updates and new FAQ.
SPECTRE MELTDOWN HOW TO
Check out PCWorld’s guide to how to protect your PC against Meltdown and Spectre for the full rundown on the software, hardware, and operating system patches you need to know about.This article will be updated as additional information becomes available.
SPECTRE MELTDOWN UPDATE
When the update runs its course, your PC will reboot, and you’ll be able to use it normally, but now with those helpful Spectre exploit protections in place directly in your CPU firmware.įirmware updates are only a small part of the puzzle when it comes to keeping these nasty CPU exploits at bay.

Updating your BIOS should only take a few minutes, but be very careful to not to shut off your PC while it’s going on, even if you’ve backed up your data and have a spare Windows image handy. PCWorld’s guide on how to update your BIOS goes into much more depth on the details and considerations behind the process if you want more information. You don’t want those!įrom there, you’ll need to find your motherboard’s firmware update tool-sometimes called a flashing tool-and point it toward the BIOS update stashed on your flash drive. Earlier BIOS updates that include CPU microcode are a buggy version that Intel yanked before releasing a fresh round of fixes. Any Spectre-related motherboard BIOSes will be dated or later. Each should be listed with a version number and a release date. Most motherboard manufacturers list available BIOS versions in chronological order, with the newer updates at the top. Brad Chacos/IDGĬlean, descriptive BIOS update notes are always welcome. Keep poking around until you find the appropriate area.

You’re looking for the latest available BIOS for your motherboard, which some manufacturers hide in a support page, others hide in a dedicated “downloads” or “drivers and tools” tab, and yet others hide in a “downloads” or “drivers and tools” section of the support page. (For example, I’d want the AX370-Gaming 5 page on Gigabyte’s website for this PC.) The manufacturer’s page for it should appear near the top of the results that’s the link you want. With that information in hand, look for your motherboard’s model in your search engine of choice. Brad Chacos/IDGīIOS updates for the Gigabyte AX370-Gaming 5 are located in the downloads section of the board’s support tab. You’re looking for the “Computer brand name” entry, which lists your motherboard’s model ( Gigabyte AX370-Gaming 5 in the screenshot above). Details about the hardware then appear in the main pane. In the main HWInfo interface, click Motherboard in the left-hand navigation pane. (Click any image in this article to enlarge it.)Īfter installing and running HWInfo, close the system summary window that provides an overview of your key system specs. Where to find your motherboard model in HWInfo.
