Microsoft's August 2025 security updates are causing issues with recovery tools on Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers, leading to problems.

Microsoft's August 2025 security updates have reportedly caused issues for users of Windows 10 and Windows 11, particularly those dealing with large data transfers and recovery options.

The latest Windows 11 update KB5063878 has been linked to problems with storage drives, especially during large file transfers of 50GB or more. In some cases, SSDs have become completely inaccessible with corrupted data partitions, leaving users in limbo without a solution from Microsoft.

Early analysis suggests that the bug may be related to how a storage device handles caching and metadata mapping. However, this has not been officially confirmed by Microsoft.

Another serious issue has surfaced with August's security patch, which targets the Windows Recovery function. The Reset this PC feature may fail, leaving the reset incomplete on Windows 11 23H2. No personal files are lost after a failed reset attempt, but the recovery feature becomes unusable.

Microsoft has acknowledged an issue with its August 2025 security updates that prevent users from resetting or recovering their systems using built-in Windows tools. However, they have not yet released an out-of-band update to fix this issue.

Users who regularly deal with large data transfers are advised to exercise caution until the issue is resolved. Installing this month's security updates can potentially break the Windows recovery options for users, so it's important to be aware of these potential issues.

The Windows versions affected by the Windows Recovery function problem after the August 2025 security updates are Windows 10 and Windows 11 client versions. Specifically, the issue appeared after the August 12, 2025 updates and was fixed by out-of-band updates KB5066188 for Windows 10 and KB5066189 for Windows 11, released on August 19, 2025.

It's worth noting that some Windows Server versions including Windows Server 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012 R2, and 2012 had upgrade-related issues around this time, but the core recovery function problem relates primarily to Windows 10 and 11 clients.

For up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews on technology, subscribe to the Tom's Hardware Newsletter. However, it is not directly related to the issues discussed in this article.

In light of these issues, it's crucial for Windows users to be vigilant and cautious when installing security updates and performing large data transfers. Microsoft is working on an out-of-band update to fix the issues on all affected platforms, but until then, users should avoid resetting or restoring their systems.