If you found your Windows PC showing a Blue Screen of Death this Friday morning (07/19/2024), you're in good company. An issue with a recent update from antivirus provider CrowdStrike has incapacitated millions of Windows machines.
There is a solution, though it involves a few steps. CrowdStrike traced the issue to a problematic update sent to Windows systems, including servers. Thankfully, the fix is straightforward: deleting a specific file within the CrowdStrike software will resolve the problem.
How To Fix It:
The main challenge is that affected Windows PCs are automatically booting into the error state, preventing any file changes. However, there is a workaround. According to a support document from CrowdStrike, affected users should boot their Windows PC into Safe Mode—a Microsoft feature designed for troubleshooting.
To enter Safe Mode from the Blue Screen of Death, click the "Advanced repair options" button if you are already in the Recovery Environment. Alternatively, restart your PC and hold the F8 key before the system reaches the Windows screen. If that doesn't work, restart the PC up to five times and Windows will eventually boot into the Recovery Environment - a blue screen that allows you to troubleshoot. From there, navigate to "Advanced options" and select the option to boot into Safe Mode.
CrowdStrike advises selecting the "Safe Mode with Networking" option. This will allow your PC to restart without triggering the Blue Screen of Death, as Windows will use only a limited set of files, preventing the faulty CrowdStrike bug from running.
Next, open File Explorer and navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike directory. Locate and delete the file named C-00000291*.sys. Afterward, restart your computer, and the issue should be resolved for good.
