Blank hard drives are caused by a software problem: this is how owners should react now

Due to a software problem, currently many users are complaining about their hard drives suddenly emptying. You can find out how users might encounter this here.

Many owners have been complaining about problems with their SanDisk Extreme and SanDisk Extreme Pro for some time. how Ars Technica reportsThe manufacturer, Western Digital, has now commented on the issue.

It’s a firmware bug. The file system can become corrupted if the write load continues for a longer period. This threatens to lose all files stored on the device. WD confirms the error only for the four TB versions with the identifiers SDSSDE61-4T00 and SDSSDE81-4T00.

There is a risk of data loss due to firmware bugs: those affected should now take note

Some SanDisk SSDs are at risk of losing data due to a firmware error.

Photo: Chip/Denis Loginov

However, there are also reports that the problem occurs with 2TB SSDs. An Ars Techinca employee was also able to reproduce the error on such a device.

Meanwhile, WD announced a firmware update for the 4TB versions. This should be published “soon”. Owners of affected devices should definitely back up their data on another device or in the cloud until the update. Important data should never be stored in just one place anyway.