Microsoft’s botched August updates wiped SSDs, now it’s breaking PC resets and recoveries on Windows

Microsoft has admitted yet another problem with its August update, this time in reset and recovery operations – serious enough to spark an out-of-band update.

The monthly update was issued last week with a set of security patches including one zero-day vulnerability. However, beyond security, the update batch also introduced new features and made minor improvements.

A series of bugs have since shown up in the days since the release, highlighting how updates can wreak their own havoc for administrators.

Immediately after the update was released, Microsoft noted that some Windows upgrades might fail; the issue has since been resolved, and the tech giant advises anyone still seeing the error to retry the upgrade process.

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Users also reported that SSDs have disappeared from view in systems that have been recently updated, potentially leading to a loss of data.

Commenting on the issue, a Microsoft spokesperson said: "We're aware of these reports and are investigating with our partners."

User tribulations aren’t over yet, however, with Microsoft acknowledging another flaw - this time causing failures with reset and recovery tools.

Microsoft confirms reset and recovery flaw

This newest flaw hits specific versions of Windows that have run the August update when users attempt to reset or recover their device. The bug is triggered by running key recovery processes: Reset my PC, Fix problems using Windows Update, and RemoteWipe CSP.

"Microsoft has identified an issue where some attempts to reset or recover Windows devices might fail," Microsoft said in a support document.

"This issue is observed after installing the August 2025 Windows security update on some client versions of Windows."

The issue rears its head after installing the August 2025 Windows security update — KB5063875 — on client versions of Windows 10 and 11, but not server OSes nor Windows 11 24H2. (The full list can be founder here.)

That means anyone running the latest version of Windows isn't affected, but anyone still on Windows 10 may be — right at a time when Microsoft is trying to encourage people to upgrade their OS or their hardware to the newer system, and therefore need the reset and recovery functions.

What administrators need to know

Initially, users were told to avoid using reset and recovery until the issue was fixed.

Naturally, this might prove problematic as those are tools used to solve issues when something is wrong with a device, meaning some users may have been left without a functional PC - albeit temporarily.

However, the wait would have been short, as Microsoft fixed the problem in less than a day from when it announced the flaw.

Microsoft has since issued an out-of-band (OOB) update to address this particular fault, with the company recommending installing the new update instead of the original from last week for anyone using an affected device.

"If your organization uses the affected platforms and hasn’t yet deployed the August 2025 security update yet, we recommend you apply this OOB update instead," Microsoft said in a support document.

As admins will be well aware, this is hardly the first time Microsoft has had issues with Windows updates — just last month Microsoft mistakenly flagged a non-security update issue as being resolved, only for it to return.

The tech giant issues an apology to customers for “any inconvenience and confusion” the issue caused.

ITPro contacted Microsoft for comment on the latest fault, but has yet to hear back.

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