Large numbers of Microsoft Windows computers worldwide wouldnât boot up today, instead displaying what is known as the âblue screen of deathâ (BSOD). Among those reportedly affected was the UKâs Sky News, which halted live broadcasting shortly before 6am local time, along with a number of airlines and banking services.
What is going on with Windows computers?
While some reports suggest that Windows devices are refusing to boot, others saw their computers suddenly show the BSOD mid-use.
Eddie Major at the University of Adelaide, Australia, was in the middle of a Zoom meeting with a dozen colleagues when participants began leaving the meeting. âPeople started dropping off, then my laptop hit a BSOD, and then someone elseâs had the same problem about a minute later. Then the room PC went down,â he says.
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Major was far from alone. People have posted images on social media showing entire rooms with , while for âblue screenâ have spiked worldwide to their highest level since September 2020, when Microsoft encountered of its software.
What appears to be the cause?
Microsoft didnât immediately respond to 51¶ŻÂțâs request for comment, but reports suggest that the issue is being triggered by an error in a file created by CrowdStrike, a widely used anti-threat software company. That file relates to the CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor, which analyses internet traffic to and from a userâs computer to check for malicious data.
âThe usual culprit in these situations is an update from a privileged app. Update is installed and causes a major error in the operating system and crashes leaving BSOD,â says at the University of Surrey, UK.
CrowdStrike also didnât immediately respond to a request for comment, but posted on the CrowdStrike website for users says the company is âaware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon Sensorâ and engineering teams âare actively working to resolve this issueâ.
How many devices are affected?
It is unclear, although reports of the issue are global and widespread. CrowdStrike having around 23,000 subscription customers as of the end of its 2023 fiscal year â which may not seem like much, but many of those individual customers will serve other clients or have potentially thousands of devices attached to the subscription.
What can I do and can it be fixed?
People online are sharing a fix that involves renaming the offending file, but if you arenât a specialist tech or IT expert in your company, it is advisable to wait rather than attempt to tackle the problem yourself.
âThe way out would be to try to get into recovery mode and then run safe mode,â says Woodward. âThen delete the CrowdStrike tool. Then it should fire up. But if uninstalling the CrowdStrike tool doesnât remove the offending system file, it might mean a clean install of the whole OS [operating system].â
