Windows 10: Spectre & Meltdown patches ruined it for me!

Well as the title says the Spectre & Meltdown patches ruined the good experience I was having with my PC and it now feels like I am using a very old and out of date laptop. I must agree that my laptop is pretty old (HP Elitebook 8770W 5 years old). But I really never felt that it was slow and that I was missing something. Laptop would boot in few seconds to windows 10 and all programs would run instantaneously. After the patches it feels lagy and slow.

I know many of us are on the same boat and I am not writing this to whine, but to get advice on the upcoming questions.

I got first the Microsoft patch with the Cumulative Update and few days ago HP finally sent me an e-mail telling me that a bios update was ready for my pc. The real slowdown started after the Bios patch.

InSpectre tell me that my computer speed is slow and offer to disable the meltdown and spectre protection. Doing this gives a significant boost to the PC.
What I want to know is how unwise can it be to disable these protections for a non professional PC running on the internet? I also wish I didn't update the bios. I wonder is there is a way to reflash the bios to its previous state. What is the best solution for people like me to minimize the security issues without having an obsolete computer?

:)

 

Windows Update Intel Patches for Meltdown & Spectre

URGENT - Please Microsoft:

1. Provide a List of Windows Updates that included the (bad) Intel Patches for Meltdown & Spectre (which Intel now say should NOT be installed).

2. Advise IF (and HOW) the Windows Updates that included (bad) Intel Patches for Meltdown & Spectre should be 'removed' by End Users?

3. If Microsoft Identifies (to it's Community) Windows Updates that included (bad) Intel Patches, can Users remove them - while still getting any other 'fixes' (that did NOT relate to Meltdown & Spectre) included in the Same Windows Updates that contained
the (bad) Patches for Meltdown & Spectre?

4. How do Users ensure that ant Windows Updates they remove - to 'eject' the (bad) Intel Patch for Meltdown & Spectre - are not 'automatically' re-installed' later - by Automatic Windows Updates, when Windows notices the 'removed updates' are not installed?

Note: I've looked at the Microsoft.com Descriptions of Numerous Recent Windows Updates and (although some refer to 'security') none seem to specifically mention Intel, Meltdown or Spectre - so I can't determine which Windows Updates included the 'bad' Intel
Patches.

 

Spectre and meltdown

Hi CMC69, below is a link that provides a list of the patches released and possibly installed on your system for Spectre and Meltdown:

https://www.techarp.com/guides/microsoft-spectr...

If these are installed, you can uninstall these from Control Panel - Programs and Features - View Installed Updates . . .

 

The video in this link displayed a method to roll back a HP BIOS.
HP Notebook PCs - Computer Starts but Screen Remains Blank (Windows 10,Â*8) | HP® Customer Support

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...stalling-the-j
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...ry-13-2018-upd
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...date-kb4074588
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...ectre-meltdown
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...build16299-251

Root causes for slow boots and slow logons
Root Causes for Slow Boots and Slow Logons (SBSL) - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki

For the fastest boot times > use clean boot
For a compromise use selective boot (have only 2 or 3 software programs on startup and start everything else when you need it)

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...oot-in-windows
How to perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki

 

Are you sure your CPU is one that needs the BIOS patch? My PC is a custom build, a little over 2 years old and my CPU is not affected by the Spectre & Meltdown bug.

My cpu; i7 4790K devils canyon.


Wow...just rechecked....now my CPU is listed as affected. WTH!

 

@zbook Thanks for the links. Much appreciated *Smile I will read and watch all this and get back. Hopefully it will help me be in a better situation then what I am in right now!

@Plankton My CPU is "Intel Core i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz" and unfortunately needed the patch *Sad

 

I followed the instructions to rollback the bios. A page opens saying that a bios recovery has been started with no other option then pressing enter or waiting. In both cases pc restarts and the bios remain the same version *Sad

 

Hi,
I just leave both disabled *Smile

 

Yeah that's what I have just done and the pc seems to be in much better shape. I wonder how much the bios patch has affected it though!?
It's really unfair that this issue make us put hands in the pocket and buy a new pc *Sad I bought mine for 2900 euros and don't really feel like spending again for now.

 

Hi,
Intel should be rebating use a lot of money the way I see it *Smile