CrowdStrike announces Microsoft outage workaround. How to deal with the Blue Screen of Death. (2024)

Editor's note: Check out our oft-updated live blog for all new developments about the Microsoft/CrowdStrike outage

Windows computers around the world are being hit by the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) thanks to an outage caused by services provided by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The issue has impacted everyone from banks to airlines, with flights grounded, grocery carts abandoned, and productivity even lower than usual for a Friday.

Fortunately, CrowdStrike has since announced at 2:30 a.m. ET that it has identified the update causing the issue and rolled it back. The company also offered a workaround for anyone having problems:

1. "Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment

2. "Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike directory

3. "Locate the file matching 'C-0000029*.sys', and delete it.

4. "Boot the host normally."

Of course, having to do this for every single computer in multiple companies across the globe is still likely to take some time.

"CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts," CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on X. "Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed."

While there may be a workaround for individuals with a BSOD, it might take a while before the ripple effects subside globally. Countless services, such as airlines, banks, healthcare providers, and more are still struggling to get up-and-running. All indications are the outages won't completely stop for some time. Kurtz himself admitted as much in an interview with TODAY.

"It could be some time for some systems that just automatically won’t recover," he said.