SSD Owners Report File Corruption After New Windows 11 Update — Should You Be Worried?

Microsoft's recent Windows 11 update, KB5063878, is causing concern among users. Reports indicate that this security patch might be damaging storage drives, particularly SSDs. Users have noticed that after installing the update, some drives disappear from the system, with SMART data becoming unreadable and files inaccessible.

While a reboot may temporarily resolve the issue, it tends to recur when large amounts of data are written. This problem is especially evident when writing over 50GB on drives that are more than 60% full. Affected users have reported a significant risk of file corruption during these instances.

Key Findings from Early Testing

The first person to flag the issue was X (formerly Twitter) user @Nekorusukii, who encountered the bug while updating Cyberpunk 2077. With KB5063878 installed, his SSD suddenly disappeared from Windows 11 - the OS could no longer recognize the drive on which the game was stored.

Another detailed analysis by X user @Necoru_cat highlights that after installing the latest update on Windows 11, the drives vanish from the operating system - with SMART data unreadable and files inaccessible. While the drive may reappear after a reboot, the issue resurfaces when writing large volumes of data.

The issue seems to be more prevalent in SSDs with Phison controllers, particularly those without DRAM. However, some HDDs have also shown similar symptoms. The underlying cause might be related to a buffer memory leak at the operating system level rather than a hardware fault.

According to NichePCGamer, not every drive is affected. In fact, during testing with a SanDisk SSD PLUS 240GB (SDSSDA-240G) - a DRAM-less model - the site attempted to replicate the issue by filling the drive to over 60% capacity (151GB of 222GB) and then writing an additional 62GB continuously. The problem did not occur, suggesting that the bug may be inconsistent or limited to certain controllers.

That said, this isn't an isolated case. Beyond @Nekorusukii's initial report, several other users on X have confirmed similar failures across different setups. The SSDs reported to be affected so far include:

• Corsair Force MP600
• SSDs with Phison PS5012-E12 controllers
• KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G4
• Fikwot FN955
• Drives using InnoGrit controllers
• Maxio-based SSDs
• KIOXIA M.2 SSDs
• SanDisk Extreme PRO M.2 NVMe 3D SSD

Precautionary Measures for Users

Despite these findings, Microsoft has not yet officially acknowledged the problem. Experts recommend backing up critical data and avoiding large continuous writes until an official fix is provided. This advice is crucial for systems with high SSD usage.

If you've recently installed the KB5063878 update, your risk depends on your storage usage patterns. Casual users who primarily browse or work with smaller files might not encounter any issues. However, those who frequently handle large data sets could face drive instability and potential file corruption.

Until Microsoft addresses this issue, it's advisable to back up essential files before transferring large amounts of data. Avoid stress-testing your storage with heavy write operations and consider pausing updates if you haven't installed them yet.

In summary, while casual users are likely safe, power users dealing with substantial data loads should exercise caution until further clarity is provided by Microsoft regarding this update's impact on storage devices.

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