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Microsoft leaves systems lacking SSE2 support high and dry for ongoing Windows updates

Every so often, we're reminded of the fact that extended support from Microsoft for Windows 7 will draw to a close in 2020, provided the company chooses not to apply further extensions in the future. However, users running older hardware with Pentium 3 or earlier CPUs may have run into issues with monthly rollups and security-specific updates that first reared its head back in March.

Upon installing the Windows 7 Monthly Rollup for March 2018 (KB4088875), systems with processors lacking support for Streaming Single Instructions Multiple Data (SIMD) Extensions 2 (SSE2) would encounter a stop error displayed on a blue screen of death. At the time, the company acknowledged the issue and said that "Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release." Frustratingly for users, the same issue cropped up in the security-only update for March as well as both the monthly rollup and security-only patches for April and May 2018.

It appears that Microsoft now has a solution for the problem, although it won't be in the form of a patch coming via Windows Update. Instead, the Redmond giant has somewhat quietly posted a workaround for the issue, as exemplified in KB4088875, that says:

Upgrade your machines with a processor that supports SSE2 or virtualize those machines.

Of course, this may seem to be a bit of a slap in the face to users who bought copies of Windows 7 that was going to be installed on machines with CPUs earlier than and including the Pentium III and Athlon XP, particularly given that these support windows are so widely reported for the various versions of Microsoft's operating system. Of course, it remains to be seen if there will be a sufficient chorus of users that voice their dissatisfaction to the extent that Microsoft changes its tune.

Source: Computer World via Gizmodo

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