A major security update from US-based cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike has caused a massive outage for Windows users globally.
This update is causing Windows systems to shut down or restart unexpectedly, resulting in the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) error for users across multiple countries.
The issue, which began on July 18, 2024, is affecting both servers and workstations, causing major disruptions to banking institutions, airlines, media companies, TV broadcasters, supermarkets, and many more businesses around the world.
Many users took to social media to share images of their screen stuck on the recovery page with the message reading, “It looks like Windows didn’t load correctly. If you’d like to restart and try again, choose Restart my PC below.”
One user wrote, “Something super weird happening right now: just been called by several totally different media outlets in the last few minutes, all with Windows machines suddenly BSoD’ing (Blue Screen of Death).
Anyone else seen this? Seems to be entering recovery mode.”
CrowdStrike has acknowledged the problem and identified a “content deployment” related to this issue as the reason behind the worldwide outage and blue screen error.
The company has since reverted those changes and advised a workaround for affected windows users, which is given below:
- Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment
- Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike directory
- Locate the file matching “C-00000291*.sys”, and delete it.
- Boot the host normally.
Commenting on the global outage, tech giant Microsoft, in a detailed thread on X, said it is “investigating an issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.”
“We’re working on rerouting impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion. We’re still observing a positive trend in service availability while we continue to redirect impacted traffic,” the company added.
We're working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion. More info is posted in the admin center under MO821132 and on https://t.co/Htn4qQEnsp
— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) July 19, 2024
“We still expect users will continue to see gradual relief as we continue to mitigate the issue,” it continued.
Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions. More details can be found within the admin center under MO821132 and https://t.co/Htn4qQEnsp
— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) July 19, 2024
Services are seeing “continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions.
“We remain committed in treating this event with the highest priority and urgency while we continue to address the lingering impact for the remaining Microsoft 365 apps that are in a degraded state,” it said.
