No, the latest Windows 11 update doesn't break SSDs, says Phison

By Simon Batt

6 hours ago

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Summary

• Microsoft investigated reports that a Windows 11 update broke SSDs when moving large files, but no users came forward.
• Phison ran over 4,500 hours and more than 2,200 test cycles on the reported drives and was unable to reproduce the fault.
• Phison suggests user-side causes (like heat during big transfers); neither Phison nor Microsoft appears at fault.

Phew. Well, that's a relief. A little while ago, Microsoft announced that it was investigating reported SSD issues. People claimed that the latest Windows 11 update would render an SSD unrecognizable if you attempted to move at least 50GB of data to a drive that was 60% full or more. Microsoft then opened communications for anyone suffering the same issue to step forward...but it seems nobody actually did.

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Now, one of the manufacturers of these apparently affected SSDs, Phison, has stepped forward with its own findings. It has conducted numerous tests on its own drives and concluded that Windows 11 isn't to blame; in fact, it's more likely to be a user-side issue.

Phison confirms no issues after 4,500 hours of rigorous testing

When reports first emerged that the latest Windows 11 update may be doing damage to people's SSDs, Phison's drives were one of the top suspects. As you might imagine, Phison wanted to get to the bottom of the problem so that it could either fix the issue or report it to Microsoft. So, the company began doing a ton of testing to double-check if its drives were really the culprit, or if something else is going on.

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Well, it turns out that Phison isn't to blame here. In a statement to Tom's Hardware, the company claimed that it couldn't reproduce the error, even after thousands of hours of testing:

Phison dedicated over 4,500 cumulative testing hours to the drives reported as potentially impacted and conducted more than 2,200 test cycles. We were unable to reproduce the reported issue, and no partners or customers have reported that the issue affected their drives at this time.

Phison took the time to remind everyone that storage drives can get hot during large file transfers, so it's essential to ensure your hardware stays cool. Other than that, it seems that neither Microsoft nor Phison is to blame here, but there might be something happening on the user's side that caused these problems, especially if nobody else seems to be experiencing the same issue.

It's good to hear that Phison hardware isn't causing people's SSDs to become undiscoverable on Windows 11. After all, you can find some of Phison's technology powering the best PCIe 5.0 SSDs you can buy. And if you're in the market for some more storage, now may be the time to stop purchasing DRAM-less SSDs.