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I have a Lenovo g50-80 with an Intel i5-5200U CPU running Windows 8.1 64bits with all updates installed and no new updates available (only 2 optional ones that are irrelevant here). I just ran InSpectre and I am not protected whatsoever! :-( I'd like to know where I am standing, as the news on the this got a bit blurry after so many backs and forths from Intel.

  1. Has Intel made something to fix my CPU? 1.1. If yes, what is it (BIOS-related?) and how do I install it? 1.2. If not, will it?
  2. Has Microsoft issued some update that I should have installed by now? 2.1. If yes, how can I (and should I) manually install it? 2.2. If not, will it?

Thank you for helping me sorting out all this confusion.

ASR
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1 Answers1

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There are three levels, based on the info I have, of the Spectre/Meltdown patches:

  1. CPU: This is fixed via a BIOS update most often, which will include the necessary microcode updates. Check for any patches for your mainboard or computer from the manufacturer, or look for documentation on the bugs from your mainboard or computer manufacturer.

  2. Antivirus: If your antivirus product is not patched, it will flag the OS patches as being viral and will block them. For this reason Microsoft's patches do not activate until the antivirus product has written a specific registry key indicating it is ready to accept these patches. For more information see here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4072699/windows-security-updates-and-antivirus-software

  3. OS: Microsoft patches. You've probably already got them.

music2myear
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