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Microsoft's mandatory security update this month has been fraught with several issues. But one of those stands out from the rest. The mystery of failing SSD drives and corrupted data when saving large files -- especially, some claimed, games.
The first report was posted by @Necoru_cat on X, and warned that "drives disappear from the OS (SMART data also becomes unreadable); in some cases, access to the buffered tree is possible, but files cannot be read." This seems to be a "suspected issue with the operation of the drive cache" with a "high likelihood of file corruption."
Now Microsoft has finally concluded its "investigation" and told Windows users that "after a thorough investigation," it has "found no connection between the August 2025 Windows security update and the types of hard drive failures reported on social media."
Or as Bleeping Computer put it, August's Windows update "didn't kill your SSD."
The original warning suggested "SSDs with over 60% usage after approximately 50GB of continuous writing" are affected, with "similar symptoms on HDDs as well. Our tests suggest that Phison NAND controllers are relatively prone to issues, with DRAM-less models from the same company tending to exhibit issues at lower write volumes."
In response to this, Phison told me it was aware of the reported issues "that potentially impacted several storage devices, including some supported by Phison. We understand the disruption this may have caused and promptly engaged industry stakeholders."
The company said it was "steadfast in our commitment to product integrity and the success of our partners and end users," and that "the controllers that may have been affected are under review and we are working with partners."
The advice to users was not to save large files to SSDs until the issue was resolved. Now you have the green light to save those files again, after Microsoft's update.
"As always," the Windows-maker says, "we continue to monitor feedback after the release of every Windows update, and will investigate any future reports."