Windows update warning after reports of drive crashes
Microsoft says it is unable to reproduce a problem causing solid-state drive (SSD) crashes that was linked to a recent security update, despite mounting reports that the issue is more widespread than previously believed.
A video published by YouTube computer hardware channel JayzTwoCents on 30 August showed that a computer running benchmarks in F1 2024 would crash after losing contact with the SSD.
Initial reports about the problem originated in Japan, where users said a specific Windows 11 security update (KB5063878) had resulted in drive failure or total data loss in some cases.
Japanese Twitter/X user @Necoru_cat is believed to have published the first detailed report about the problem.
According to these first reports, the problem occurs when trying to move more than 50GB on an SSD that is already 60% full.
However, Jason Langiven of JayzTwoCents said his experience while running the F1 2024 benchmark suggests the problem can also be triggered under more common circumstances.
The error causes specific SSD controller chips from Phison to malfunction, making Windows unable to detect affected drives. This causes Windows to show a blue screen of death and restart.
While some drives reappear and are usable after a system reboot, several reports state that they suffered data corruption or total drive failure.
Microsoft’s support page for the update states that it has several fixes and quality improvements, including some from a July preview update (KB5062660) that relate to its controversial Recall feature.
Recall is a feature of Windows 11 on PCs with CoPilot+ support that takes a screenshot of a user’s desktop every few seconds.
It then uses on-device large language models to allow users to retrieve items and information that had previously been on their screen.
The change logs for the updates don’t specifically mention anything about SSD driver changes. However, these may have been part of the security updates included in the patches.
Microsoft and Phison unable to reproduce error
According to media reports citing a service alert for business users that Microsoft updated this week, the company was unable to establish a link between the update and SSD failures.
“After thorough investigation, Microsoft has found no connection between the August 2025 Windows security update and the types of hard drive failures reported on social media,” it stated.
Microsoft had previously told business users that it had been trying to reproduce the errors with the help of storage drive partners.
“Neither internal testing nor telemetry suggested an increase in disk failure or file corruption,” Microsoft previously said.
“Microsoft customer support teams also haven’t received reports of customers experiencing this issue.”
Phison, a Taiwanese memory component producer, also couldn’t reproduce the issue. The company said the root cause of the problem remained elusive after 4,500 cumulative testing hours.
In feedback to PCMag, Phison also said that no partners or customers have reported that the issue impacted their drives at this time.
However, Langiven said there was sufficient evidence to indicate that a number of SSD controllers and the drives that use them are affected.
They produced the following list based on testing by NichePCGamer and @Necoru_cat, as well as their own testing with a Phison E25-based SSD.
- WD Blue SN5000 (WD Polaris)
- WD Blue SA570 (WD Polaris)
- SK Hynix Platinum P41 (SKHynix Aries)
- ADATA Legend 800 (Silicon Motion SM2267XT)
- XPG SX8200 Pro (Silicon Motion SM2262ENG)
- HP FX7000 (MaxioTech MAP1602A)
- Hanye HE70 (MaxioTech MAP1602A)
- Other SSDs with Phison E25
- Corsair MP510 (Phison E12S)
- Corsair MP600 (Phison E16)
- Crucial P3 Plus (Phison E21T)
- Crucial T500 (Phison E25)
- Micron 3500 (Phison E25)
- Sabrent Rocket 5 (Phison E25)
- PNY XLR8 CS3150 (Phison E25)
PCMag has also reported that a person in South Africa contacted the publication on Friday to report that his SSD had seemingly inexplicably failed.
Langiven highlighted in his video that while it was possible to uninstall the security portion of the KB5063878 update, not all of it could be rolled back.
In his testing, the problem persisted even after uninstalling the update. To fix their testing machine, they had to replace the SSD with one that used a controller not impacted by the bug.
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