User-made Patch Enables Windows 7/8.1 Updates for Kaby Lake and Ryzen Systems

It was reported several days ago that Microsoft has begun blocking Windows 7 and 8.1 updates from being downloaded and installed on systems that are running the latest Intel Kaby Lake and AMD Ryzen CPUs. The move is an obvious effort by Microsoft to limit new system builders to using only Windows 10 going forward.

However, a user named Zeffy on GitHub has posted batch scripts that allows users of Intel Kaby Lake, AMD Bristol Ridge and Ryzen CPUs to get regular updates for Windows 7 and 8.1 platforms. Windows does a CPU version check when running the updates, so this script patches the Windows DLL files and overcomes the version check. The only inconvenience is that a new patch has to be applied everytime the wuaueng.dll file gets updated.

Why did Zeffy provide the patch?

I was inspired to look into these new rollup updates that Microsoft released on March 16. Among other things included in these updates, the changelog mentions the following:

“Enabled detection of processor generation and hardware support when PC tries to scan or download updates through Windows Update.”

Which is essentially a giant middle finger to anyone who dare not “upgrade” to the steaming pile of garbage known as Windows 10. There have even been people with Intel and AMD systems from 2015 who have allegedly been locked out of Windows Update because of these updates!

Since it is in GitHub, the source is completely open for checking just in case some users are concerned about security or if the files themselves are malware.