Winbeta reports that complaints from users of the 32-bit version of Windows 7 began to arise after installing a security fix during April 2013 Patch Tuesday. This security patch, KB2823324, updated the Windows 7 file system kernel-mode driver. However for some, this resulted in an infinite reboot loop cycle, blocking users from fully loading into Windows 7. Fun stuff.
For now it seems that the issue is only affecting Windows 7 users in Brazil, but it's possible the update is plaguing other customers as well. To prevent further damage, Microsoft has halted the distribution of this specific patch while the company investigates the issue.
"Microsoft is investigating behavior where systems may not recover from a restart, or applications cannot load, after security update 2823324 is applied. We recommend that customers uninstall this update," the company stated. It's suggested that the problem stems from third-party software, but it's currently unknown which app is causing a conflict.
Given that Microsoft has pulled the security fix in question, it should no longer be necessary to turn off automatic updates. However if the security fix is installed and causing problems, then users are suggested follow one of three options if the PC has not been restarted: manually uninstall the security update via the Control Panel, to incorporate a command line uninstall in a custom script, or run removal script remotely by using PSEXEC.
If the PC has been restarted after the update and Windows 7 fails to load, users are suggested to hit the F8 key and recover the last restore point via System Restore or via the Command Prompt using one of two commands.
"Microsoft is researching this problem and will post more information in this article when the information becomes available," the company stated in security update KB2839011. "This includes issuing a new update that resolves the issues discussed in this article."
At least it wasn't a firmware update that totally bricked the hardware.
