The latest preview build of Windows 10 is set to introduce a feature to warn users if their SSD is on its last legs, giving you enough time to copy them to a cloud storage.
Build 20266 has been pushed out to testers in the Dev Channel containing a new storage health monitoring function which is specifically designed to work with NVMe solid-state drives.
The feature will produce a warning that an SSD might be at risk of failure if the drive is coming to the end of its useful life. It’ll also warn the user to back up any data on the SSD for obvious reasons.
- Adata just revealed the world’s fastest SSD
- How to speed up Windows 10
- We solve 100 common Windows 10 problems
In the blog post accompanying the release, Microsoft notes: “It is strongly recommended that users immediately back up their data after receiving a notification.”
The notification will link through to Properties in the ‘Manage disks and volumes’ panel in Settings, where you’ll be able to see more detailed information on the SSD in question, including its estimated remaining life and running temperature.
That could be a very useful warning to have, naturally enough, for those who have invested in a fast NVMe drive for their PC.
Earlier this year, Microsoft was forced to deny that a separate Windows 10 update was damaging user SSDs.
Your Phone hub
On top of this, build 20266 makes a change to the Your Phone app, introducing a hub to manage all your linked devices. This means you can easily remove a phone you’ve hooked up with the app, or add a new device, and conveniently switch between your existing supported devices (remember, multiple phones are supported now – that was a capability introduce for testers back in July).
That feature will be rolling out to testers gradually, so you may not see it immediately.
As ever, there are a bunch of bug fixes applied with this update, and some known issues as well, which Microsoft details fully in the blog post introducing the new preview build.
- These are the best laptops money can buy
