A global Windows computer issue has reignited memories of the “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD), a nightmare for Windows users for decades.
Windows computers worldwide are experiencing problems. A multitude of devices are failing to boot, instead displaying the “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD). The scale of this issue has impacted various critical industries such as banking, aviation, and telecommunications on July 19.
Although inconvenient, this is a safety measure to prevent more severe damage during incidents and to avoid data corruption. Photo: Alamy.
Airlines such as American Airlines faced issues with booking, check-in, and other functions. The incident forced the airline to divert flights and left passengers stranded. Frontier Airlines suggested that the disruption was due to “a technical issue from Microsoft,” while Allegiant stated that “their website is currently unavailable due to a Microsoft Azure incident.”
In reality, this blue screen error was caused by a malfunction in CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor software, spreading at an unforeseen scale. But what is CrowdStrike? What is the “Blue Screen of Death”? Should Windows users be worried?
What is the Blue Screen of Death?
According to an official blog post from Microsoft, the blue screen error occurs when a serious issue arises, preventing the device from continuing normal operations. This error causes Windows to shut down or restart immediately, risking the loss of unsaved data.
If the computer is running Windows 7 or earlier, the BSOD typically displays a code along with technical information, providing clues about the issue. Users can search the alphanumeric code online for troubleshooting advice.
However, starting with Windows 8, Microsoft simplified the screen, displaying a sad emoji and a QR code for users to scan for more information about the error.
Despite being inconvenient, this is a safety measure to prevent more severe damage during incidents and to avoid data corruption. When the system encounters a BSOD, the device halts all activity to prevent potential hardware damage and creates a memory dump file.
This file contains information about the system’s state at the time of the incident and can be used for troubleshooting. After the memory dump is saved, the system needs to be restarted.
Blue screen incidents appeared across devices using Microsoft services. (Photo: Story Picture Agency).
After restarting the device, Windows will initiate a troubleshooting and automatic repair process. If the operating system cannot resolve the issue, manual troubleshooting is required, such as restoring recent driver updates, checking BIOS updates, or running hardware diagnostics.
Causes from Antivirus Software
According to Times Now News, the BSOD can result from hardware or software conflicts, corrupted files, or faulty drivers.
If the issue arises from hardware problems such as faulty RAM or a defective hard drive, the cause could be overheating, physical impact causing damage, or simply due to components reaching the end of their life cycle.
If the installation of new hardware causes the error, users should power down the PC, remove the new hardware, and attempt to restart. If restarting does not work, users can try booting the PC in safe mode.
Additionally, the computer will display a BSOD when drivers are incompatible, encounter errors, system files are corrupted, or there are software conflicts, overwhelming the system. These issues often stem from installing new software that is not fully compatible with the system.
Airlines continuously reschedule flights and make emergency landings due to the BSOD. (Photo: ABC News).
However, in the case of the incident on July 19, the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike acknowledged that the BSOD on Windows was due to their update released on the same day. “Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’re just collecting some error info, and we’ll restart for you,” was the message displayed on the blue screen for all CrowdStrike users.
The faulty file causing the issue is believed to be related to the CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor, a tool that analyzes Internet traffic to and from user computers to check for malicious data.
“The ‘culprit’ in these incidents is often an update from an application. The update is installed and causes a major error in the operating system, resulting in the blue screen of death,” said Alan Woodward from the University of Surrey, UK.
CrowdStrike’s software is very popular and widely used in the U.S. Therefore, numerous outages have occurred on platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft 365, Azure, Instagram, eBay, Visa, and AT&T.
Currently, there is no specific fix for this error. Users will have to wait for a patch along with a new update from CrowdStrike and Microsoft. The company stated that their technical team is working diligently to resolve this issue.
