Intel's Meltdown and Spectre patches causing older machines to reboot

Intel has warned its users that its fixes for the Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities may have inadvertently made PCs and servers less stable. According to an announcement by Intel, the issue may cause reboot issues in systems running older Broadwell and Haswell architecture chips.

Customers have complained to the company about a higher than usual level of system reboots following installation of the patches. Navin Shenoy, executive vice president and general manager of the Data Center Group, Intel, said in a blog post, "We have received reports from a few customers of higher system reboots after applying firmware updates."

The company has been warning customers of three specific flaws in a recent firmware update and recommending that customers hold off installing the patches, according to emails first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The company explained that it's investigating the incident and could release a new update within days. "If this requires a revised firmware update from Intel, we will distribute that update through the normal channels," Shenoy advised.

Shenoy further added, "We are also working directly with data center customers to discuss the issue. End-users should continue to apply updates recommended by their system and operating system providers."

Earlier this week, Microsoft also halted some of its updates after some AMD computer users reported that they couldn't boot their computers after installing its patch. Notably, Intel had earlier reported that most people would experience a small amount of slowdown -- less than 10 percent -- on their personal computers after installing its fix.