AMD K7 Processor Software Update

[JeffroTa]

A driver update titled, "AMD K7 Processor Software update" has been showing up in the list of available driver updates at the Windows Update site for my Athlon XP 1900+ machine for quite sometime now. I actually installed it once when it first showed up but the machine failed to start on reboot and I didn't try it a second time. I booted to safe mode and removed it. I figured after that it must be some glitch but even after a clean reinstall it still shows up in the list.

Does anyone know what this is? Should I have this installed? I already know that I should get my driver updates from the manufacturer's websites and not from Windows Update but can someone tell me what this driver update actually is?

[redwudz]

It's hard to tell from MS's site, but it appears to be Q306458 (MS Knowledge base) for AMD mobile processors. This is MS's explanation:
"Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) offers PowerNow! technology on AMD mobile Athlon 4 and mobile Duron processors. AMD PowerNow! technology adjusts the processor's performance and power consumption by dynamically adjusting the processor's operating frequency and voltage. Windows XP requires an additional driver (the Amdk7.sys driver) to enable AMD PowerNow! functionality. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 306458." Probably won't hurt anything, but it's for laptops. It's kind of irritating the MS doesn't tell you why it's needed (or not) on their upgrade site.