You’re not alone. Windows 11 24H2 causes some PCs to crash with BSOD (critical process has died). I’m told Microsoft is aware of this and plans to pause this year’s biggest upgrade for certain configurations.
Reliable sources have informed Windows Latest that Microsoft is reportedly aware of an issue where a small number of devices with certain Western Digital SSDs could encounter Blue Screen of Death errors.
Although Microsoft has not yet officially acknowledged the reports, this issue occurs when you upgrade your device to Windows 11 24H2 via Windows Update. I’m told Microsoft also plans to pause the Windows 11 2024 Update on affected hardware so you won’t see the update on your device via Windows Update or Media Creation Tool.
What Causes WD to Crash with Windows 11 BSOD?
In a community thread, several people reported seeing Blue Screen of Death (BSODs) after installing Windows 11 24H2.
Windows Latest understands that Windows 11 24H2 BSODs are related to storage drivers and RAID controller, and you may see these errors in the event viewer logs if you’re affected:
- stornvme – NVMe storage drivers.
- The driver has detected a controller error on \Device\RaidPort1 or 2. This appears to indicate the RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) controller, which is responsible for managing multiple hard drives or SSDs as a single storage unit.
“This happened to me with a brand new pre-built one I purchased and returned from CyberPowerPC. It had a 2TB WD Blue SN580 Series (PCIe Gen4) NVMe M.2 SSD and kept failing with BSOD (critical process died),” one of the affected users noted in a Feedback Hub. “I reinstalled Windows and reinstalled the SSD, but the problem is not solved. I just returned it and now I’m planning to build my own PC.
For those who don’t know, the WD SN770 calls for 200 MB HMB (host memory buffer). Windows 11 23H2 granted only 64 MB and no problem. However, Windows 11 24H2 grants the full 200 MB and causes BSOD with a “critical process died” error.
Disabling HMB by setting the registry “HMBAllocationPolicy = 0” to resolve the issue will disable HMB for all SSDs.
Another WD SN580, which has the same 200 MB HMB, has the same problem.
The good news is that Windows Latest’s sources have confirmed that Microsoft is aware of the reports and is working with WD to prevent affected hardware from receiving the Windows 11 24H2 update.
How to Fix Windows 11 24H2 BSOD “Critical Process has Died”
- Open the Registry Editor, navigate to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stornvme\Parameters\Device
- If you don’t already see an entry for HMBAllocationPolicy under the device key, you will need to create one.
- Right-click in the right pane and select New → DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Name the new value HMBAllocationPolicy.
- Set the HMBAllocationPolicy value to 0:
- Double-click the newly created HMBAllocationPolicy value. Set the value data to 0 and click OK.
- Setting this to 0 will disable host memory buffer allocation, which will restore BOSds, but may affect your drive’s performance.
- Restart your PC.
Or you can also run the following registry script to fix Windows 11 24H2 crashes automatically:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorPort] "HMBAllocationPolicy"=dword:00000002 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stornvme\Parameters\Device] "HostMemoryBufferBytes"=hex(7):56,00,45,00,4e,00,5f,00,31,00,35,00,42,00,37,00,\ 26,00,44,00,45,00,56,00,5f,00,35,00,30,00,31,00,37,00,26,00,52,00,45,00,56,\ 00,5f,00,3f,00,3f,00,20,00,36,00,37,00,31,00,30,00,38,00,38,00,36,00,34,00,\ 00,00,56,00,45,00,4e,00,5f,00,31,00,35,00,42,00,37,00,26,00,44,00,45,00,56,\ 00,5f,00,35,00,30,00,34,00,31,00,26,00,52,00,45,00,56,00,5f,00,3f,00,3f,00,\ 20,00,36,00,37,00,31,00,30,00,38,00,38,00,36,00,34,00,00,00,00,00
Windows Latest expects Microsoft to officially acknowledge these reports in the coming hours.
