Windows 11 Update Raises Concerns Over SSD Data Corruption
Reports have emerged regarding the KB5063878 Windows 11 security update potentially leading to significant data corruption on SSDs, with some users experiencing their operating systems failing to boot. One such account comes from X user @Necoru_cat, who encountered a crash while updating the game Cyberpunk 2077. Following this incident, their operating system became unresponsive, and data on the SSD was rendered unrecoverable due to corruption of the partition table.
According to Necoru, the issue appears to be triggered by sequential file transfers exceeding 50 GB. They suspect a link between this problem and the recent update, although definitive evidence to confirm this connection remains elusive. While there has been speculation about SSDs becoming bricked, Necoru’s report suggests that the drives themselves are functioning properly, with the primary issue being data corruption.
In an effort to investigate further, Necoru conducted extensive testing across 22 different SSDs, ranging from budget SATA models to high-end NVMe options. Their findings indicated that 12 of these drives encountered problems, categorized as “level 1” for requiring a restart and “level 2” for experiencing major data loss.
However, it is important to note that all tests were performed on the same test bench, which raises questions about whether the root cause might lie within that specific system or its operating system installation. Although Necoru initially speculated that the issue could be linked to DRAM-less SSDs, their tests included models equipped with cache memory. Furthermore, the drives tested utilized various controllers from different manufacturers, complicating the identification of a singular firmware issue.
The testing environment featured a Ryzen 9800X3D processor paired with an ASRock motherboard and high-speed RAM, which has been known to exhibit stability issues. Given Necoru’s technical expertise, it is likely they have implemented all necessary BIOS updates to mitigate these concerns.
Currently, there appears to be only one other individual reporting a similar issue, with no clear connection between the two cases. A commenter on NotebookCheck, Hotz, proposed a theory that overheating SSDs could be a factor, particularly since many models have inconsistent temperature sensors that may not throttle effectively under sudden loads. However, the diversity of the SSDs tested makes it difficult to attribute the problem to overheating alone.
If a 50 GB sequential write is indeed sufficient to corrupt a system, one would expect that intensive benchmarking sessions, such as those conducted with CrystalDiskMark, would expose the issue. While it seems this may be a system-specific anomaly, vigilance is warranted to determine whether a broader problem exists. In the meantime, we commend Necoru for their thorough testing efforts, regardless of the outcomes.
