There are enough reports of problems after installing these patches... that I've decided to not do these updates for a while... give Intel/MSFT time to "get it better". (My pending Windows Update has already pulled one file... hopefully to issue a corrected version later.) Though my systems remain vulnerable the same as they've been since before the discovery of these problems, that's likely still better than having my rigs borked by a no-good patch. Back-ups, as always. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...sing-trouble-as-realistic-attacks-get-closer/ FWIW...
Update.... MSFT has added back to my Windows Updates the file they had pulled. (Hopefully now fixed.) As a general rule, I don't install Windows Updates right away when first available. I wait about 10 days to see if there are problems reported by others. (If Widows Update is set to "automatically download and install updates", your rig is vulnerable to bad patches. I suggest changing update setting to "check for updates and let me choose whether or not to download and install". Give MSFT a little time to discover problems and fix so you don't end up hosing your machine.) In the case of current updates regarding Meltdown and Specter, I may wait 3 months or more. Playing that by ear for now. https://www.techarp.com/articles/intel-cpu-reboot-meltdown-spectre/ FWIW....
"Intel Says the Patch Designed to Fix Flawed Chips Is Faulty" http://fortune.com/2018/01/22/intel-corp-patching-faulty-chips/
"...Intel executive vice president Neil Shenoy said on Monday that the chip-maker has identified the source of some of the recent problems, so it is now recommended that users skip the available patches. From the blog post: We recommend that OEMs, cloud service providers, system manufacturers, software vendors and end users stop deployment of current versions, as they may introduce higher than expected reboots and other unpredictable system behavior. https://it.slashdot.org/story/18/01...it-may-introduce-higher-than-expected-reboots