Issue with CrowdStrike causing Windows to reboot
UPDATE: The CEO of CrowdStrike has issued an apology for the Microsoft Windows outage and has assured that systems will begin to recover shortly.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz apologized for the widespread global IT outage affecting the Windows operating system. In an interview with NBC News, he “vowed” to work with CrowdStrike’s partners to get the services back online. “Many of the customers reboot the system and it’s coming and it’s up and running. It can take a while for some systems that don’t automatically recover,” Kurtz said. “We deeply regret the impact we’ve caused. We’ve caused customers, travelers, everyone affected, including our business,” he added.
This issue was caused by a content update released by CrowdStrike for the Windows host, which means that the issues only affected Windows users, not Mac and Linux users.
This naturally raises the question:
What is CrowdStrike and why does it affect Windows users?
For the uninitiated, CrowdStrike is an American cybersecurity company that works with companies like Microsoft to deploy tools like Falcon to prevent hacking and other security threats that can affect businesses, and more. Many companies actively use its services to stay safe and threat-free.
Now on Friday, the company released a Windows-only content update that caused several problems on Windows computers using CrowdStrike services. This resulted in them getting into a boot loop – repeatedly rebooting and showing the Blue Screen of Death. The company’s CEO, George Kurtz, says the problem with the update has been identified and a fix has already been implemented. However, many systems are still experiencing problems, including millions of business users.
“CrowdStrike is actively working with customers affected by a bug found in a single content update on Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not affected. This is not a security breach or cyber attack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been implemented,” said George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike.
Which Windows PC users are affected?
It should be noted that this does not apply to all Windows computers. only those with CrowdStrike Falcon sensor software are affected. This includes a wide range of business users, university students and retailers. Also, as mentioned earlier, Mac and Linux users will not be affected as no update was released for them.
What is the Blue Screen of Death?
Blue Screen of Death, a well-known problem that has affected Windows computers for years, is caused by serious computer problems and can be caused by a number of reasons, such as driver issues, hardware failures, or even the sudden termination of a critical process. This error is not new and has been reported as a problem since the days of Windows 1.0. Simply put, if you see this error affecting your computer, it means that there is definitely something wrong that needs to be fixed in order for your computer to function normally and safely.
In this case, the problem was specifically caused by a content update published by CrowdStrike, which conflicted with the Windows system.
How to solve CrowdStrike Windows problem yourself?
Based on Reddit’s massive CrowdStrike troubleshooting thread and advice from CERT-In, there are a few workarounds that can help Windows users get back to work. These include:
- Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment.
- Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike.
- Find the file corresponding to “C-00000291*.sys” and delete it.
- Boot the host normally.
If you still can’t get your computer to work, it’s best to wait for the official patch to arrive on your computer. If you have a Mac or Linux based computer, you can use it as it is not affected by this content update.
