Microsoft's NVMe slow-down fix for Windows 11 didn't work according to our testing

We are not sure when this happened but Microsoft appears to have sneakily and quietly updated the changelog for Windows 11 build 22000.348 (KB5007262) to now include the terms "NVME, SSD, hard disk" whereas previously, the changelog had mentioned "NTFS".

The company might have made this change after we broke the story of slowing NVMe SSDs on Windows 11. However, we can't confirm when this actually happened since the Redmond firm has not provided any updated date for the KB5007262 support article.

The previous version of the changelog stated:

Addresses an issue that affects NTFS when you enable the update sequence number (USN) journal. NTFS performs unnecessary actions each time it performs a write operation, which affects I/O performance.

The currently updated new log states:

Addresses an issue that affects the performance of all disks (NVMe, SSD, hardisk) on Windows 11 by performing unnecessary actions each time a write operation occurs. This issue occurs only when the NTFS USN journal is enabled. Note, the USN journal is always enabled on the 😄 disk.

Microsoft may have made this change in terminology to perhaps make it easier for readers to understand that it had addressed the issue since most people are likely more familiar with the words NVMe or SSD, rather than NTFS.

However, contrary to what Microsoft claims, the problem was present on the recommended build 22000.348 we tested on using a WD SN520, though it is possible that the issue may be resolved on other systems. While AS SSD did not yield anything significant, CrystalDiskMark seems to show a large drop in random writes compared to Windows 10.

Microsoft's NVMe slow-down fix for Windows 11 didn't work according to our testing