Warning: AMD graphics driver bug could brick your Windows 11 PC
Windows 11 (and 10) users are suffering from a really nasty bug that effectively blocks the PC, putting it into a boot failure loop, and is caused by the latest versions of AMD’s graphics driver, the company has confirmed.
computer world (opens in new tab) reported on this (via Tom’s hardware (opens in new tab)), most notably executive editor Brad Chacos who was unfortunate enough to experience the bug on his gaming PC.
The issue was found in AMD’s Adrenalin 23.2.1 driver and the most recent 23.2.2 driver, leaving the user with a damaged system.
However, the occurrence of this malfunction is rare and depends on two factors. First of all, when installing the new AMD GPU driver, the option for a clean install (‘factory reset’) must be selected. Then you must also have the misfortune that Windows kicks in and updates in the background while you install the Adrenalin driver.
Due to the fact that Windows Update is not likely to decide to launch at the wrong time, it seems that the bug is rare, which is something at least.
However, this can happen when Windows is set to update automatically (instead of scheduling an update), and when it does, it appears that the two update processes are happening simultaneously (with a clean AMD driver install, as noted) is causing serious havoc.
Chacos was left with a situation where instead of Windows booting, a Blue Screen of Death error occurred, then the computer rebooted and the same thing happened again, in a loop. Ugh…
AMD told PC World: “We have reproduced an issue that may occur in an extremely small number of cases if a PC update occurs during the installation of AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, and we are actively investigating.
“We recommend that users ensure that all system updates are applied or paused prior to installing the driver, and that the ‘Factory Reset’ option is disabled during the AMD driver installation process. We are committed to resolving issues as quickly as possible and strongly encourage users to submit AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition issues through the Bug Report Tool.”
Analysis: prevention is better than cure
So, as AMD suggests, if you’re going to update your graphics driver, make sure you don’t opt for that clean install option (‘Factory Reset’) until AMD fixes this situation. Also, make sure that any Windows driver updates are already applied (or updates are paused) before proceeding with the AMD driver installation.
Following one of these rules should mean you’re fine, but making sure both are adhered to is obviously the safest thing to do in this situation. And caution definitely seems like the right approach here, given what happens to PCs affected by this particular bug.
The way out of the boot failure loop, as Chacos points out, is to get into Windows recovery mode, but this apparently involves a tricky bit of timing. You have to press the PC’s power button in the fleeting moment between the disappearance of the BIOS options and the appearance of the Windows loading cycle – and it took Chacos no fewer than 15 tries to get the timing right. The message is to persevere, but again, this is another unpleasant aspect of this bug.
While rare, given the severity of this gremlin, hopefully AMD (and Microsoft) will work to fix it soon. It’s not clear exactly where the error lies here, but as Tom’s and PC World point out, this has been a problem for a while – and there’s no way Windows should be launching an update when another update is already in progress, because clearly that is a recipe for chaos.
So we’re rooting for a quick fix and wouldn’t blame people for not adopting the suggested fix and just putting off installing the new AMD driver for a while until a full fix is implemented. As Chacos also points out, his PC was updated to the latest version of Windows 10 before proceeding with the Adrenalin driver installation. It could be that something else, such as the Game Bar, happened to run a conflicting update.