Hi all, I lost everything on my device where Windows 11 was installed due to an update.
Everything was properly backed-up, but it will be a pain to reinstall everything from scratch.
Just a friendly reminder that firmware update for SSD is a thing and I’ll be putting this in my monthly checks from now on.
Sources:
At least you’ve prepared and actually got backups. I knew people that doesn’t have recovery plan whatsoever even on their most important data. The 1 copy they have is their 1 “backup”.
Was your SSD bricked as a result of this?
Had me worried about my dual Samsung 990 PRO(4TB) drives that cost like 700 dollars for the pair at the time I bought them.
I was running Windows 11 up until this Friday. Once I read that article I immediately installed Arch Linux(BTW).
I needed a good excuse to get away from Windows and back into Linux/BSD landscapes.
Please exercise caution.
Currently, the Neowin domain is classified as spyware:
Yes completely bricked. Since they f-upped, it was completely free to exchange, but the whole process is still a big pain. I’m still waiting for a replacement 2 weeks later.
Ok, I removed the link and left the other one up.
I just realized a backup I didn’t have is bookmarks from Mullvad Browser.
I presume there is nothing to be done here, but I’ll ask just in case: any solutions to recuperate those in the cloud assuming all data in the ssd can’t be recovered?
Well, at least that confirms it isn’t Microsoft’s fault, it’s at most a bug that triggers it. SSDs aren’t meant to have “just fuck my shit up” command in their protocol, so if their firmware just does that in response to some garbage thrown at it, the outcome is ultimately the manufacturer’s fault.
I think I’ll throw the name here as it could help someone else.
It was a Sandisk SSD (Western Digital).
Edit: From what I read, it seems unclear who’s at fault and it seems like it’s a little bit of both.
I’ve heard that Spin Rite can work miracles on dead drives. I haven’t used it in years, myself, but just throwing it out there in case you’re interested.
My drive was already sent back unfortunately. I spent 15 hours trying to revive it using https://www.system-rescue.org/
It didn’t work.
Mostly because my BIOs wasn’t even able to recognize my SSD anymore. So all the recovery step didn’t work.
Microsoft confirmed it’s related to the update, but the issue is rare:
Microsoft confirmed (via Windows Latest) that “we’re aware of these reports and are investigating with our partners.”
That’s not confirming it’s related.
As of today we still don’t know what is the cause unfortunately.
Sad that you got it.
Apparently the cause was a beta version firmware
Ah. Well it seems to be really Sandisk’s fault then:
it isn’t Windows that’s causing the problem but rather preliminary firmware versions on certain SSDs. These unfinished firmware versions, which were never intended for end users, appear to have been triggered by the KB5063878 update and thus began causing the problems described by users.
And I guess a bit mine. I updated all the drivers directly from my PC’s website, except from that one, because it was an upgrade and I didn’t know SSDs had firmware.
Then again, the SSD was sold to me brand new with a prerelease config. Yeah, I’m still blaming Sandisk. Sigh.