Microsoft has confirmed the existence of a bug in Windows 11 that causes internal hard drives to be detected as removable media in the taskbar, potentially causing data loss.
This bug had previously been seen in versions of the operating system spanning back to Windows 7, but this is the first time Microsoft had confirmed it also impacts Windows 11 machines.
“Whether or not a device is considered removable is determined by your system’s BIOS and how it marks the various SATA ports on the motherboard,” Microsoft explains.
“The inbox driver directly inspects SATA ports and considers devices connected to those ports marked ‘external’ as removable devices.
“Not all storage drivers do this, which can be a potential cause for corruption or data loss.”
Microsoft advises those with impacted machines to check for a BIOS update for the motherboard, plus offers a long command to manually override the bug.
