Win7 Driver Issues? Microsoft, AMD Recommend Uninstalling KB3004394
by Ryan Smith on December 11, 2014 10:00 PM EST
Though we don’t normally report on Windows updates, we’ll make an exception on this one. AMD sends word this evening that they are advising users to remove update KB3004394, which was released as part of this week’s Patch Tuesday, due to driver installation issues this update is inflicting.
The update, designed to update Windows’ root certificate store, has apparently been causing havoc on some Windows 7 configurations. In AMD’s case what they are finding is that the update prevents the installation of new graphics drivers on affected systems, with both AMD and NVIDIA drivers refusing to install. More broadly, Infoword is reporting that KB3004394 is also being blamed as the culprit behind certain issues affecting Windows Defender, Task Manager, and other software.
At this point this looks like the update only affects a small number of systems – Windows 8 is not affected, and even then most Windows 7 systems appear to be fine – but Microsoft has not taken any chances and has pulled the update. In the meantime for those users that are affected, uninstalling the faulty update reportedly fixes the issue.
Source: Microsoft
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K_Space - Saturday, December 13, 2014 - link
You do MS own software is having similar issues thanks to the aforementioned update from MS? Troubleshooter you are not.pol098 - Saturday, December 13, 2014 - link
Regardless of this update issue, the balance between AMD and Intel on performance, electrical power, and value for money has been oscillating, with AMD less advantageous than it has been. One issue that has been an absolute decider for me is that inexpensive AMD processors and their desktop motherboards fully support ECC RAM (unbuffered, not registered; you can't use server memory); for some reason Intel has stopped supporting ECC for desktop computers (this was supported in the past, then discontinued; I had a modest Pentium some years back that had it).umadrabbit - Sunday, December 14, 2014 - link
pol - what did any of that have to do with the article on hand?That and I won't get into the "electrical power" stuff again. If €3 a month is too much for You then You need to stay away from x86 CPU's all together and pick an ARM route.
Antikapitalista - Sunday, December 14, 2014 - link
Hey, bloody moron, come back when you have learned to read!AMD/ATI (apparently) *discovered* the issue, but NVIDIA drivers are affected as well, so if you want to avoid them, what will you be using?? Crappy Intel?? ROTFL!!!
(Because anything else from Intel (as a possible alternative) is crap, except the respectable Xeon Phi (Knights Corner)).
prime2515103 - Thursday, December 11, 2014 - link
I ran into this issue while trying to install AMD's 14.12 driver. I was getting pretty upset with AMD until I remembered I had installed Windows updates earlier that day.Tip for AMD: Don't release a driver on patch Tuesday! I would wait at least two weeks.
alacard - Friday, December 12, 2014 - link
Haha, but in two weeks they'd be like two more patch Tuesdays during that time.Reminds me of the old tavern signs: free beer tomorrow.
close - Friday, December 12, 2014 - link
One Patch Tuesday every month. :)alacard - Friday, December 12, 2014 - link
Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, i figured there were four. ^_^zero2dash - Friday, December 12, 2014 - link
I don't have the patch (because I do not automatically install updates), and I still had issues getting 14.12 installed last night. BSOD'd my PC at least 3 times. Eventually taking out a GPU (leaving a single) and running DDU several times with several reboots and Safe Mode attempts/trials got me through the driver installation. Hooked back up card #2, re-enabled CF, (tested both cards individually in FurMark just to verify that I didn't suddenly have a bad card), and haven't had any issues since.I think there are issues with 14.12 on it's own, but now apparently they're compounded by this stupid Windows update as well. Again though, stuff like this is why I check for updates only (and then install them when I want to).
cbuchach - Friday, December 12, 2014 - link
My Mediacenter stopped working on Wednesday with an old AMD/ATI graphics card. I was getting weird graphics card warnings. I tried re installing Catalyst but the driver failed to install. I tried uninstalling but then got a nasty BSOD that I ultimately have fixed. This must be the issue. Thanks MS/AMD for wasting hours of my time.