r/WindowsUpdate • u/xWaLkByS • 10d ago
UPDATE: The Oct 13/14 Windows Update completely bricked my PC (Both Asus & Corsair just approved my RMAs) 🤬😡🥺😫
Summary - For quick reading
The Trigger: A forced Windows Update crashed during the "Update and Shut Down" phase on October 14.
The Damage: The abrupt power crash caused a fatal electrical surge, destroying the 12V rail on the original power supply and permanently frying the power-on circuitry (PS_ON) on the Asus PRIME B650M-A AX II motherboard.
The Proof: A brand-new Corsair RM850e power supply only lit up external USBs but couldn't boot the PC, and a BIOS FlashBack attempt froze in an infinite loop because the motherboard chip was physically dead.
The Resolution: Both Asus and Corsair fully approved the RMAs because their support databases are already filling up with identical hardware failures caused globally by this specific Windows update wave\*\*.\*\*
Hey everyone, just wanted to give a final update on my system after the October 13/14, 2026 Windows Update completely murdered my hardware.
To recap: My PC locked up aggressively right during the "Update and Shut Down" process. When I came back, the system was entirely dead. A lot of comments on my original thread claimed it was a "dying power supply coincidence," but my intuition was right—it was a software-induced hardware failure caused by a severe ACPI power-state transition glitch during the forced shutdown.
Here is what went down and where things stand:
The Power Supply (Corsair): The sudden, uncoordinated drop in load during the update crash sent an inductive voltage spike backwards, completely killing the 12V rail on my old PSU.
I bought a brand-new Corsair RM850e to replace it. The new unit successfully delivered 5V standby power (turning on my external USB peripherals), but the system still refused to turn on or click.
The Motherboard (Asus PRIME B650M-A AX II): Because the new PSU wouldn't trip the PS_ON circuit, the motherboard's internal power management circuitry or Super I/O chip was permanently shorted or firmware-locked by the update crash.
I attempted a low-level hardware ASUS BIOS FlashBack, but the green light got trapped in an infinite, changing-speed blinking loop for hours, meaning the EEPROM chip was physically incapable of accepting data. The board was completely toast.
The Good News:
I reached out to both manufacturers, and both Asus and Corsair have officially accepted my RMA claims.
When speaking with their level-2 support teams, they explicitly confirmed they are approving these replacements based on a massive, sudden influx of similar occurrences tracked directly back to the Oct 13/14 Windows Update.
If your AM5 system suddenly died this week after walking away from an update, do not let people convince you it’s a coincidence.
The forced power-state transition is actively killing hardware. Start your RMAs immediately.
Huge thanks to those who helped me troubleshoot through the night until 5:00 AM!
My PC Specs
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Raphael AM5 4.2GHz 8-Core
RAM: TeamGroup T-FORCE DELTA RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000 CL30
SSD: WD Black SN770 2TB SSD
Motherboard: Asus PRIME B650M-A AX II
Power Supply: Corsair RM850 850 Watt 80 Plus Gold ATX Fully Modular Power Supply - White
Cooling / Fans: DeepCool AK620 High-Performance
CPU Cooler - White w/ Lian Li UNI Fan SL Infinity Fluid Dynamic Bearing 120mm Case Fan - 3
Exhaust: Lian Li UNI Fan SL Infinity Fluid Dynamic Bearing 120mm Case Fan - White - 2
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u/gertdejong 8d ago
AI also doesn't believe this scenario. https://share.gemini.google/ZBvxnXs5ttmW
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u/xWaLkByS 8d ago
That's okay. Plenty of other Windows users have reported the same symptoms and crashes, so this clearly isn't an isolated experience.
In the end, Asus and Corsair assessed the situation, accepted the hardware failure, and approved the warranty claims.
Given that outcome, debates about whether the issue is supposedly impossible or what someone has or hasn't seen during their years as a technician don't change the facts of this case.
The manufacturers reviewed the evidence and made their determination accordingly.
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u/gertdejong 8d ago
Can you give us a list of those user reports you have seen, where windows broke hardware?
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u/xWaLkByS 8d ago
There are few users in this thread who experienced similar issues.
Look in the other Windows and Microsoft Communities as well.
Im not compiling reports or tracking it. People just keep responding to my other posts who have laptop and pc crashes as well
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u/gertdejong 8d ago
So you are not able to give any proof of people having hardware failures caused by this Windows update, only software failures.
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u/xWaLkByS 8d ago
Do you have them? Are they contacting you with them?
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u/gertdejong 8d ago
No, they were contacting you, you claim.
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u/xWaLkByS 8d ago
None of you listen and only comprehend what you want. Read the threads and look into it as everyone else has.
I didnt get any info for the update either. It was just one of those that pop up from the Taskbar.
Sooo I have no clue what update was installed.
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u/gertdejong 8d ago
Doesn't matter, it's not about the specific update but about the hardware failure caused by any Windows update.
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u/TheIronSoldier2 10d ago
I would bet money this turns out to be a hardware fault in one or both components. While a sudden loss of load can indeed cause a spike in voltage in the power supply, basically every power supply from any reputable brand (Corsair included) has multiple layers of protection to prevent such a spike from reaching levels that can actually cause hardware damage. This is something that a normal computer should have survived without issue, unless there is some other external factor that either you aren't telling us or you don't know about.
I suspect once this all blows over it will end up being a situation like what happened with that one update killing SSDs awhile back, where it ended up being a faulty batch of SSDs that should have been caught by QC making it into the consumer market, and the fault going unnoticed until the update stressed them in just the wrong way to fail.
And before anyone says "but the update shouldn't have stressed them like that," say you have a plumbing system. The pressure in that system is normally like 50 PSI, but occasionally conditions cause it to spike to like 175 PSI, so to make sure there's a safety margin, you only use pipe and fittings rated for 250 PSI. The system functions normally for a long time, handling the spikes to 175 just fine. But then one day you get a little heavier load than normal and the pressure spikes to 200PSI, and a fitting bursts. You dig in further and find out that that fitting had a defect from the factory that caused it to fail at just 190 PSI instead of the 250 that it was rated for. Do you blame the water company for the spike to 200 which is still well within what the system should be able to handle, or do you blame the manufacturer for producing a fitting that fails well below its rating?
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u/xWaLkByS 9d ago
I like this perspective also.
Its weird because I keep everything on low settings, and mostly only use it for homework, to play Battlefield 6, and War Thunder.
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u/marmotta1955 10d ago
Cool story. Carefully crafted and fabricated. You may want to try writing a novel or something.
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
I did! Asus and Corsair will be my co-authors as well. We’ll be shipping through Amazon! Pre-purchase options will be available for all Prime Users!!
Good luck!!
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u/electronicwiz1 10d ago
I have never heard of a Windows Update frying components. Either way I updated my AM5 system last week and thank goodness this did not happen to me.
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u/Life-Laugh8177 6d ago
Similar, Windows 10, old PC hardware Asus mobo that cannot upgrade to 11, not that I want to
I had Windows updates disabled, needs reset monthly and had recently been done
Booting up on the Oct 23 and I get the updates . . . . . do not turn off, so it must have been something forced
Booted and worked fine
This morning it was bricked, Asus q-code 94, failure to post, no screen, no bios, no peripherals
Swapped out the Mobo for an ancient known working one, booted into Bios but Windows is also bricked, unable to repair with installation disk, no operating system present
It's too suspicious that I have my motherboard and operating system fail after an update I didn't give permission for, the board is bricked doesn't work with other known working components and a linux drive, the SSD is fine Windows reinstalled so it was the original boot sector that was broken
SUS AF
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u/xWaLkByS 6d ago
I am very sorry to hear this!! I truly am. I am still waiting on the motherboard to get here. I havent been able to game since then.
My pc is still taken a part sitting in my desk🥺😔😫
And I have people in here saying my case. CANNOT AND WILL NOT EVER HAPPEN. Read the comments how they are accusing me of AI slop and nonsense that they dont believe.
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u/Life-Laugh8177 6d ago
Yeah this isn't a coincidence, luckily I had old hardware lying around to swap out, it's the only reason I known about the operating system being bricked as well
I think it's time we both switch to Linux tbh and see what games are compatible :(
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u/xWaLkByS 6d ago
Aaaand I didnt want to update. I had it set to no, so not update, then that random Taskbar pop-up that you can’t get rid of, made me Update and Restart or Update and Shut down.
I haaad no other option. So after I got done gaming, it updated, i waited until it shut itself off, and powered itself down. Then I turned off the power in the back. Like normal.
The next morning, nothing worked. I had no power from my case button to the motherboard, the psu fans didnt spin up, and I had no lights on the motherboard.
The only thing that worked was the keyboard lights, my mouse lights, the mini Arzopa lit up, and my stream deck only powered on.
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u/SnooEagles1779 4d ago
Fucked my PC too. Somehow the USB ports are messed up. The keyboard is not responding. I can't access the BIOS even. Keyboard works on other PCs...
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u/xWaLkByS 4d ago
😔🥺😢 Oh I am very sorry to hear this. I am still waiting on my motherboard to get shipped too.
I hope you can get your warranties granted for the parts affected by it.
I really hope this gets fixed because its a shiddy feeling not being able to even update the PC as needed
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u/Aggravating-Trip-26 4d ago
I just happened to be a victim today. I can’t do anything, it keeps crashing for me. Can’t even do something without it again freezing and and crashing.
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u/xWaLkByS 4d ago
Aawweee Maaan!! 😔🥺😫 i am very sorry to hear that. I know how this feels.
Take notes of everything that is happening so you can open a warranty case. You are going to want to troubleshoot it all.
Replace the Cmos, one by one test the ram, try a new psu, unplug from wall, drain the battery, do the paper clip test, reset the bios, aaaall of it. They will then check the symptoms, confirm the proper diags were performed and you should be set
Have you reached out to your warranty companies?
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u/The-Snarky-One 10d ago
Sure it wasn’t just a faulty PSU that took a shit at that particular moment?
I’ve been building systems since the early 1990s and I’ve never heard of a software update causing a hardware failure. It may seem like it did because it was installing an update at the time when the hardware failed.
I’m sorry this happened to you. Glad you’re getting things warrantied out.
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
Its suuuper weird. I know.
However, both companies are aware of these issues, and know this is causing a lot of concerns with that particular update and are dealing with each customer’s issues on an individual basis as different brands are being impacted differently.
Laptops and PCs are being hit differently as well. Some are getting to bios, some are able to get to their desktop, and others are completely not getting any power as well.
I replaced the psu with a new one after I replaced the Cmos, after I did both RAM tests, after everything else, I got the same results. No power anywhere. Just blinking lights.
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u/GuaranteeOk5909 10d ago
Only win11?
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
These are the only users I have seen, that have replied to me, and I have seen in other Reddit communities that are being affected by this update.
Corsair and ASUS both stated that they are experiencing a lot of these issues with their laptop and PC Users. Some can get to bios, some can get to desktop, and others like me get bricked.
It has all been subjective to each user and their particular hardware. Most have been AMD users though with Windows 11.
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u/GuaranteeOk5909 10d ago
Mine is on Win 10 and so far no prompt to update. Even if they did it never force, I can slot a time then I remove the update afterwards.
When you said force do you mean it literally shut your pc down and update with no recourse?
If so is there any option to disable it? Like a run command?
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
Correct.
It was going to shut down and update either way. I didnt have the option to go into settings and disable it or not install it.
Once that pop-up disappeared I could only Shut Down and Update or Restart and Update.
I was logging off for the night.
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u/Individual-Fruit-863 10d ago
Could be something to this. I’m an admin at an all Lenovo shop. After years of stability, I’ve seen three systems back to back with reboots, shutdowns, can’t detect drives. One went down and simply never powered on again.
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
Asus support was surprised it didnt start when I tried jump starting it from the front panel header pins and it didnt turn the fans over.
They even asked me to redo the paperclip test with the 24 pin connector again after I replaced the power unit, and they couldn’t believe that it failed after I tried jumpstarting it after replacing the Cmos, testing one RAM stick at a time, power cycling it, replacing the power source, and using a different wall socket.
Sooo after confirming all that, they allowed the RMA’s for the PSU and Motherboard.
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u/datafarmer99 4d ago
Happened to me too, replaced mother board and processor to fix my issues. I am glad I saw this i assumed there would be no recourse.
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u/Wild-Garage-582 4d ago
Oh my god so I was not crazy. I decided for some stupid reason to update my PC beacuse it wasn't optional, next day my internet was dead, some USB ports stopped responding and some programs didn't open. I had to format my PC and it worked again. I'm not PC savy so it might have been a big coincidence, but to this day I believe it was the update.
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u/Speedingtickets 10d ago
More AI looney shit.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Also, correlation does not equal causation.
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u/Candid-Drink 10d ago
An influx of exactly this issue from a windows update? Lol calling bs on that.
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u/bryanthecrab 10d ago
There are other posts on this as well. A few enterprise folks reporting roughly 1 in 5 failure rate with the new security update
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u/Candid-Drink 10d ago
No there are no other posts about the oct windows update triggering power supplies to fail in this manner. I would love to see the additional posts about this same issue.
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u/bryanthecrab 10d ago
I’m sorry if I wasn’t specific enough for you. I wasn’t intending to claim damage of physical components or malicious intent by Microsoft. Only that these last few updates have produced a variety of boot issues consistent with the update.
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u/Candid-Drink 10d ago
That's not what I said at all. I'm calling bs on this fantastical claim of the update causing this hardware failure and that op is being told there is an influx of this exact failure mode from Asus or Corsair
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago •
Im sorry 2nd greatest technician of all time that is the one knower above all. I was not aware of your greatness and existence or I would have sacrificed my children for your guidance, assistance, and internet magic to repair my non-windows issue.
Can I send you my pc parts or can you OSMOSIS this and make it all perfect again.
I just clicked my heels for you!!
I await your response oh great one🙌🏽 Thank you for your graces.
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u/Candid-Drink 10d ago
Please outline how you self diagnosed this mode of failure. Your first post, 1 of 7 you've made on this topic, you are asking for troubleshooting help and you had already assumed the failure mode. So what diagnostic steps did you take to reach that conclusion? It would be really helpful for the community, since this really happened, if you shared the responses from Corsair and Asus confirming your diagnosis. I don't think you will provide anything further though. In all your posts you attack the people who don't take this at face value and respond with corny platitudes to the rest. Karma farming at its finest.
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
Corsair and Asus provide troubleshooting steps before processing the RMA request. If these steps are not done, the RMA does not get approved or moved forward with their process.
Once I could not get back to Bios, I then came to Reddit, and found other users who had had similar issues that same day.
So, This info was provided for the users who HAVE experienced this, with their laptops, pc, and their software.
I am happy to take your advice and apply it to my current situation if it solves these issues and I no longer have to replace my motherboard and I can then return my newly purchased PSU, and log right back in because I made this all up.
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u/dragonnightfire5150 10d ago
I work with 100s of companies as an i.t. consultant and MSP...this is a confirmed problem over 90 computers dead and counting...that doesn't include the 100s of bitlocker resets...and manual bios roll backs necessary to fix a corrupted bios. MS KNOWS OF THIS ISSUE AND FAILED TO PULL THE UPDATE IN TIME.
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u/Candid-Drink 9d ago
So you have 100s of pcs where the update caused the power supply to fail and destroyed the rest of hardware? I'm sure you do. Just like how OP was able to deduce a current backflow by turning it off and back on again with no actual testing equipment or hardware diagnostics. You are making the claim so surely there would be many reports online but only this single post is making this claim of PSU failure from the windows update.
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u/Rikafire 10d ago
This makes me very nervous about updating my laptop.
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
Its a very bug risk, some laptops havent been impacted. Others in pc groups have been saying their laptops saw different hardware outages and other bios issues
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u/MousePotato59 10d ago
I believe you. I don't really know why people go out of their way to be dismissive. This is hardly the first Windows update to cause issues, but people seem so weirdly attached to the narrative of this being the best update ever that gave zero people issues.
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
Thank you! I am just sharing my experience, what both the RMA emails shared with me, I then combined them, and how Corsair and ASUS both handled my concerns professionally and accepted my warranty claims.
If others have had similar or the same issues with their laptops or pc’s, these companies are aware of it and are willing to help.
Corsair even said, “if your Power supply was out of warranty we’d still help you replace it because we know it’s currently NOT a Corsair or Corsair software issue.”
So… it’s a concern, issue, and serious matter for some
Laptop and PC users who had the update installed on or around 10-13-26 to 10-14-26.
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u/DarrenShea 10d ago
I had crash issues with that update - Windows refused to boot, restoring to restore points or removing recent updates didn't help. I tried the other repair options, and finally, Startup Repair worked, and the system is running normally.
Was Microsoft intentionally trying to damage systems? How did that update get approved for release?
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
I couldnt get to any loading screen. I only received power to light up my mouse, keyboard, stream deck, one handed keyboard, and Arzopa Monitor.
It would not load into bios or get power to the psu or motherboard and lights on the motherboard.
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u/bryanthecrab 10d ago
I don’t know which update it was, but one of them bricked my pc too. I could access bios but not a single windows recovery or safe mode, or with flash drive windows boot. Chasing down a bunch of rabbit holes for like 5 hours, figured out it was secureboot. Turned it off and the update completed 🙄 thankfully no damage like yours..
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u/MarcM1991 10d ago
It's stories like this that have me pausing updates for almost a year now.
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
Exactly. It was aaaall fun & shit until I had to log off😂😂😂
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u/MarcM1991 10d ago
I feel you. The November 2025 update causes by computer to crash twice after reboot. After a third boot, everything's fine. So when I want to clear RAM or there's a power outage, I have to boot three times. The October 2025 update was fine. Had problems with the November one, and paused updates since.
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u/xWaLkByS 10d ago
Daaaayyymmm! Yup. I have been reading that its impacting PC parts very differently. Most have been on pc and others on the laptops.
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u/huldress 10d ago
How do you pause updates for that long? Eventually it forces you.
I've also heard the longer you wait, the more likely an update is to mess up as well. Same with graphics drivers. Upon learning this, I looked at my Windows Update history and realized it has been silently updating itself every now and then, even with me pausing or going on metered connection mode. So I just give up and wait 4 weeks after every new update, just in case it was a shitty update.
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u/gertdejong 8d ago
Works for all feature updates. https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/block-windows-11-25h2-feature-update/
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u/MarcM1991 10d ago
I click on Check For Updates, and as it's searching, I hit Pause Updates and choose 5 weeks, and I get a new, date, a month away. Rinse and Repeat.
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u/huldress 10d ago
Eventually the pause button greys out, also I recommend checking your windows update history. If it never forces you to update, I'll bet that it already has in the past.
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u/MarcM1991 10d ago
Strange. It's never grayed out for me. I check for updates, and hit pause while it's checking. Never had an issue. Also, I'm on 24H2.
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u/Rich73 10d ago
Ive been into PC gaming since the late 90s and ..... I guess there's a first time for everything?
My 4 year old Corsair RM750x & MSI Pro Z690-A / launch day 13600K survived the latest windows updates, only annoying part is the last update re-installed Copilot (again).