Microsoft The company announced in a blog post that it has released a USB recovery tool to repair PCs and other machines affected by the infamous CrowdStrike update. A bootable USB drive can be created using which IT admins can speed up the repair process and get disrupted devices back on track. Notably, CrowdStrike had earlier revealed that its faulty update for Falcon sensors affected about 8.5 million Windows devices globally, leading to the dreaded ‘Blue Screen of Death’ (BSOD).
In a blog Post Under the ‘Intune Customer Success’ section, Microsoft published an updated recovery tool with two repair options: Recover from WinPE And Recover from Safe ModeThe signed tool is available for download at the Microsoft Download Center.
According to the company, Recover from WinPE The option gives users a chance to recover their machines without needing local administrator privileges. However, if they have enabled BitLocker, it may be mandatory to enter the BitLocker key to recover the affected system. Microsoft says this option is recommended for most users.
On the other hand, if users don’t have access to their BitLocker key, they can use Recover from Safe Mode option. This allows them to boot Windows Take the PC into safe mode. However, this requires them to log into the device with local administrator privileges. Microsoft says this method is only recommended for machines that are not encrypted or have a password. BitLocker The key is unknown.
According to the company, if the device does not allow connection of a USB device, it is better to image it.
The USB drive to be made into a bootable recovery drive must have a minimum and maximum storage space of 1GB and 32GB respectively. Also, the PC must be running on Windows 64-bit client. Microsoft says it must have at least 8GB of free space to run the recovery tool.
What happened
Microsoft’s new recovery tool aims to fix Windows PCs and servers affected by the CrowdStrike Falcon sensor update. It was released on Friday and shortly after Reports More than 100 percent of Windows PC users worldwide have been affected by the BSOD. It has affected Microsoft services including Azure, Store, and Office 365.
According to media reports, it disrupted services at institutions such as banks, airports, and IT companies. Airlines around the world cancelled or rescheduled their flights citing “technical problems”. Moreover, media outlets such as Australia’s ABC News also claimed to be affected by the update.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz issued a statement explaining that the cause is a “flaw in a single content update” for the Windows platform. It appears to not affect devices running Linux or Mac.
