Post by mslo79 on Jan 19, 2018 8:01:47 GMT
alpha128
Exactly, and with the sheer volume of PC's out there you can almost guarantee some peoples computers will end up being bricked from failed BIOS upgrades. but then again... I suspect a lot of people are not even aware of Spectre/Meltdown and likely will just continue to use their computers as usual not aware anything may be wrong so maybe PC bricking from failed BIOS updates will be kept to a bare minimum.
even after I updated Windows 10 to 16299.194 (or 16299.192 for most people who use newest version of Windows 10), which includes the Meltdown fix, it does not fix the Spectre flaw (at least according to... www.neowin.net/news/ashampoo-spectre-meltdown-cpu-checker-107 ) which appears needs a BIOS update to properly address if I understood things correctly because some of the people commenting on that article, who have two green check marks, have had a BIOS update.
but assuming they release BIOS updates for my computers then I likely won't have any problems there (assuming their BIOS updates are in good running order) because I have did it before in the past on my main PC and even the Laptop about a month ago (hell, even on some old original XBox consoles I got so they can boot unsigned code (basically makes them moded consoles that function like a mod chip is in them since it removes the original BIOS that comes with the console and puts on a hacked one that lets it run all of the fancy stuff), but those pretty much collect dust at this point in time but I have used those for years (pretty much 2004-2016) to play .avi video files on my TV through XBMC(XBox Media Center)) ).
but with that said... updating a BIOS always carries some risks like if it fails during the flashing process it could potentially brick the PC. plus, you already mentioned that some BIOS updates from Intel are causing random system reboots. but it makes me wonder if that could be a big problem for those who need to re-flash their BIOS to fix the reboot issue because if it acts up during the flashing process and reboots out of no where that seems like that could be a major problem if it bricks someones PC. so even when (or if(?)) my motherboard manufacturer releases a BIOS update for my system, I may hold off for a while before updating to help minimize the chance of any serious issues turning up.
also, another thing I always do when updating a BIOS on a computer to help minimize potential problems is reset the BIOS settings to their default settings, save to CMOS(basically save the settings you restored to the default state), power off PC and then power on and then proceed to BIOS update etc. then after that BIOS update is complete and the PC powers off, I then turn PC on and enter the BIOS and then select the option to reset the BIOS settings back to their default and then save them and power off the pc. then power it back on and adjust BIOS settings to your liking and save settings then reboot PC (or power off and back on) and then use your PC like usual. your done.
side note: I think my main PC's motherboard has BIOS write protection enabled by default (I would have to check to say for sure though) as I think it's a general safety precaution so nothing can attempt to write to the BIOS. but if that's on by default one would have to disable that setting first before updating the BIOS. either way, ill figure out all out once they release a BIOS update as it's been a while since i updated my BIOS. but it's pretty easy for me to update my BIOS on my main PC as I can do it through the BIOS itself (basically I just connect a USB thumb drive with the BIOS ROM file on it and it's pretty straight forward as it has a BIOS update section on the BIOS menus) as it's got one of those UEFI BIOS's and not the older style which may require DOS in some cases or WinFlash etc. I am pretty sure my HP laptop used WinFlash (basically updates BIOS from within Windows) when I updated it a month ago as I am pretty sure I did it on Windows 10 but if that worked, I would imagine Windows 7 will be that much less likely to act up.
but anyways, my main PC's motherboard had 11 BIOS updates on the ASUS motherboard page for it even though I probably have updated it a couple times or so because the newest one was May 2014 and I had that motherboard since May 2012. basically some of the updates added support for newer CPU's at that time even though it appears it's unlikely ill upgrade the CPU at this point simply because it's a older system so unless I can get a decent quad core CPU for near dirt cheap (as a quad core would give me a decent performance boost over my i3-2120 dual core(with hyper-threading so it appears as a quad core in Windows)) it's not worth the $$$ and I would be better off putting that $$$ towards a new system basically. but my next system... I may consider AMD this time around because the computer prior to my current main PC, which i built in March 2006, had a AMD CPU because those were faster than Intel on gaming at the time but it was about mid-2006 Intel came out with the Core-2-Duo CPU and regained the speed title and basically had it ever since to my knowledge but where AMD seems to be competitive, even though I think Intel still has the speed title in terms of raw speed from each core, is that they tend to offer more cores at a better price point etc. it's one of those things ill have to research once I get ready to build a new system which I likely won't be doing for at least another 2-3 years since my current system is still snappy enough for general use and plays the small amount of games I do play, well enough.
but I won't be too surprised if my main PC's motherboard see's a BIOS update, which has a i3-2120 CPU, but I am not expecting much from HP with the 10 year old laptop with the AMD CPU. but from what I can make out it looks like it's difficult for people to exploit the Spectre vulnerability and apparently the updates to Windows etc fixes the Meltdown vulnerability. but I guess we will find out more as time passes because I would assume once this info is released to the general public you know shady people are going to try to exploit it etc. but if it's difficult to exploit Spectre in general, like if you still need someone to run a file on their PC, then I am not that worried about it. but if you can leak sensitive info by just visiting a site than that would be a big problem there but that would sound more on the 'easy' side of things for people to exploit which is why I am guessing it's not that easy. but I am just speculating here a bit.
but anyways, ill stop babbling now
EDIT: I just noticed this program seems to be quicker at detecting whether your system is vulnerable to Spectre/Meltdown... www.grc.com/inspectre.htm ; plus, apparently it offers a 'disable' option (and can be re-enabled) on the protections to regain some speed. but obviously don't disable the protections for general usage as it would be a security risk. that's just there for special occasions where you might temporarily need the a speed boost etc.
Speaking of the average person, good luck trying to get all of them to update their firmware against Spectre. I'm more technically inclined than most, and the thought makes me nervous.
Exactly, and with the sheer volume of PC's out there you can almost guarantee some peoples computers will end up being bricked from failed BIOS upgrades. but then again... I suspect a lot of people are not even aware of Spectre/Meltdown and likely will just continue to use their computers as usual not aware anything may be wrong so maybe PC bricking from failed BIOS updates will be kept to a bare minimum.
even after I updated Windows 10 to 16299.194 (or 16299.192 for most people who use newest version of Windows 10), which includes the Meltdown fix, it does not fix the Spectre flaw (at least according to... www.neowin.net/news/ashampoo-spectre-meltdown-cpu-checker-107 ) which appears needs a BIOS update to properly address if I understood things correctly because some of the people commenting on that article, who have two green check marks, have had a BIOS update.
but assuming they release BIOS updates for my computers then I likely won't have any problems there (assuming their BIOS updates are in good running order) because I have did it before in the past on my main PC and even the Laptop about a month ago (hell, even on some old original XBox consoles I got so they can boot unsigned code (basically makes them moded consoles that function like a mod chip is in them since it removes the original BIOS that comes with the console and puts on a hacked one that lets it run all of the fancy stuff), but those pretty much collect dust at this point in time but I have used those for years (pretty much 2004-2016) to play .avi video files on my TV through XBMC(XBox Media Center)) ).
but with that said... updating a BIOS always carries some risks like if it fails during the flashing process it could potentially brick the PC. plus, you already mentioned that some BIOS updates from Intel are causing random system reboots. but it makes me wonder if that could be a big problem for those who need to re-flash their BIOS to fix the reboot issue because if it acts up during the flashing process and reboots out of no where that seems like that could be a major problem if it bricks someones PC. so even when (or if(?)) my motherboard manufacturer releases a BIOS update for my system, I may hold off for a while before updating to help minimize the chance of any serious issues turning up.
also, another thing I always do when updating a BIOS on a computer to help minimize potential problems is reset the BIOS settings to their default settings, save to CMOS(basically save the settings you restored to the default state), power off PC and then power on and then proceed to BIOS update etc. then after that BIOS update is complete and the PC powers off, I then turn PC on and enter the BIOS and then select the option to reset the BIOS settings back to their default and then save them and power off the pc. then power it back on and adjust BIOS settings to your liking and save settings then reboot PC (or power off and back on) and then use your PC like usual. your done.
side note: I think my main PC's motherboard has BIOS write protection enabled by default (I would have to check to say for sure though) as I think it's a general safety precaution so nothing can attempt to write to the BIOS. but if that's on by default one would have to disable that setting first before updating the BIOS. either way, ill figure out all out once they release a BIOS update as it's been a while since i updated my BIOS. but it's pretty easy for me to update my BIOS on my main PC as I can do it through the BIOS itself (basically I just connect a USB thumb drive with the BIOS ROM file on it and it's pretty straight forward as it has a BIOS update section on the BIOS menus) as it's got one of those UEFI BIOS's and not the older style which may require DOS in some cases or WinFlash etc. I am pretty sure my HP laptop used WinFlash (basically updates BIOS from within Windows) when I updated it a month ago as I am pretty sure I did it on Windows 10 but if that worked, I would imagine Windows 7 will be that much less likely to act up.
but anyways, my main PC's motherboard had 11 BIOS updates on the ASUS motherboard page for it even though I probably have updated it a couple times or so because the newest one was May 2014 and I had that motherboard since May 2012. basically some of the updates added support for newer CPU's at that time even though it appears it's unlikely ill upgrade the CPU at this point simply because it's a older system so unless I can get a decent quad core CPU for near dirt cheap (as a quad core would give me a decent performance boost over my i3-2120 dual core(with hyper-threading so it appears as a quad core in Windows)) it's not worth the $$$ and I would be better off putting that $$$ towards a new system basically. but my next system... I may consider AMD this time around because the computer prior to my current main PC, which i built in March 2006, had a AMD CPU because those were faster than Intel on gaming at the time but it was about mid-2006 Intel came out with the Core-2-Duo CPU and regained the speed title and basically had it ever since to my knowledge but where AMD seems to be competitive, even though I think Intel still has the speed title in terms of raw speed from each core, is that they tend to offer more cores at a better price point etc. it's one of those things ill have to research once I get ready to build a new system which I likely won't be doing for at least another 2-3 years since my current system is still snappy enough for general use and plays the small amount of games I do play, well enough.
but I won't be too surprised if my main PC's motherboard see's a BIOS update, which has a i3-2120 CPU, but I am not expecting much from HP with the 10 year old laptop with the AMD CPU. but from what I can make out it looks like it's difficult for people to exploit the Spectre vulnerability and apparently the updates to Windows etc fixes the Meltdown vulnerability. but I guess we will find out more as time passes because I would assume once this info is released to the general public you know shady people are going to try to exploit it etc. but if it's difficult to exploit Spectre in general, like if you still need someone to run a file on their PC, then I am not that worried about it. but if you can leak sensitive info by just visiting a site than that would be a big problem there but that would sound more on the 'easy' side of things for people to exploit which is why I am guessing it's not that easy. but I am just speculating here a bit.
but anyways, ill stop babbling now
EDIT: I just noticed this program seems to be quicker at detecting whether your system is vulnerable to Spectre/Meltdown... www.grc.com/inspectre.htm ; plus, apparently it offers a 'disable' option (and can be re-enabled) on the protections to regain some speed. but obviously don't disable the protections for general usage as it would be a security risk. that's just there for special occasions where you might temporarily need the a speed boost etc.