Explained: What Is Causing The Dreaded 'Blue Screen Of Death' On Windows?

A major tech issue has affected millions of Windows computer systems worldwide, causing a sudden shutdown or restart. Microsoft Inc. said the error is due to a recent CrowdStrike update.

According to Microsoft's Service Health Status updates, the preliminary root cause is "a configuration change in a portion of our Azure backend workloads (that has) caused interruption between storage and compute resources, and which (has) resulted in connectivity failures..."

These failures, the company said, had affected "downstream (and dependent) Microsoft 365 services".

CrowdStrike Engineering - a cybersecurity services firm that works with Microsoft - has identified a content deployment related to this issue and reverted those changes.

The company has posted steps for resolution for affected Windows users.

Workaround

What Microsoft Said

In a detailed thread on X, the software services giant said it is "investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services".

READ | Windows Systems Restarting, Throwing 'Blue Screen Of Death' Errors

"We're working on rerouting impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion," Microsoft said, adding, "We're still observing a positive trend in service availability while we continue to redirect impacted traffic."

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."

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".

READ | What Microsoft Said After Global Outage Hits Flight, Bank Ops

"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."

Affected And Recovering Microsoft Services

Microsoft said impacted services may include, but are not limited to, services and software like PowerBI, Fabric, and Teams, as well as the Microsoft 365 admin center.

READ | Flights, Markets, Banks, Stock Exchange: Microsoft Outage Crippling Sectors

It also said "internal telemetry and customer signals" suggest some services had recovered, at least partially. These include Defender, OneNote, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint Online.

Worldwide Windows Outage Impact

Services, including critical providers like police and government, across the world have been affected.

In India, SpiceJet has said it is experiencing "technical challenges" that have affected online ticket booking and check-in, as well as other functionalities.

" We kindly request passengers with upcoming travel plans to arrive at the airport earlier than usual to complete check-in at our counters," the airline said on X.

New airline Akasa Air and industry veterans IndiGo have put out similar messages. Flight services at Chennai and Mumbai airports have also begun to be affected, sources have told NDTV.

pic.twitter.com/SI8mcURA1H

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) July 19, 2024

Around the world, Australia's Virgin Australia said it is "aware of a large-scale IT outage impacting airlines and other businesses" and that it too had been affected.

"We are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible..." the airline said.

There are reports of flights being grounded in Australia and the United States.

Melbourne Airport is experiencing a global technology issue which is impacting check-in procedures for some airlines. Passengers flying with these airlines this afternoon are advised to allow a little extra time to check-in. Please check with your airline for flight updates. pic.twitter.com/pFjOjReMKX

— Melbourne Airport (@Melair) July 19, 2024

In the former country, the airports in Sydney and Melbourne have cited a "global technology issue" impacting its services. Contingency plans have been activated, both airports said.

Reuters, meanwhile, has reported of services being affected at the airport in German capital Berlin, and Spanish airport operators have confirmed an "incident" at their facilities, the BBC reported.

The tech problem has affected banks and financial services also, with reports the London Stock Exchange faces minor problems. The United Kingdom's Sky News network is off air, the BBC said.

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