Major tech issue impacts millions of Windows systems worldwide
A significant technical issue has affected millions of Windows computer systems globally, causing unexpected shutdowns and restarts. Microsoft Inc. has identified a recent CrowdStrike update as the culprit.
Root cause and impact on Microsoft services
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 connectivity failures have disrupted “downstream (and dependent) Microsoft 365 services.”
CrowdStrike Engineering, a cybersecurity services firm working with Microsoft, pinpointed a content deployment as the issue and has since reverted the changes. Microsoft has provided steps for affected Windows users to resolve the problem.
Steps for resolution
- Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment.
- Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike directory.
- Locate the file matching C-00000291*.sys and delete it.
- Boot the host normally.
Microsoft’s response
In a detailed thread on X (formerly Twitter), Microsoft stated it is “investigating an issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.” The company is working to reroute impacted traffic to alternate systems to expedite relief.
“We’re still observing a positive trend in service availability while we continue to redirect impacted traffic,” Microsoft noted. “We still expect users will continue to see gradual relief as we continue to mitigate the issue.”
Affected and recovering services
Microsoft listed affected services, including PowerBI, Fabric, Teams, and the Microsoft 365 admin center. Some services, like Defender, OneNote, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint Online, have partially recovered based on internal telemetry and customer signals.
Global impact
The outage has had a widespread impact, affecting critical providers such as police and government services worldwide. In India, airlines like SpiceJet, Akasa Air, and IndiGo have reported technical challenges affecting online ticket booking and check-in processes. Passengers are advised to arrive at airports earlier to complete check-in.
In Australia, Virgin Australia acknowledged a “large-scale IT outage impacting airlines and other businesses,” with reports of flights being grounded. Sydney and Melbourne airports have activated contingency plans due to the “global technology issue.”
Reuters reported that services at Berlin’s airport in Germany and Spanish airports have been affected. The tech issue has also impacted banks and financial services, with minor problems reported at the London Stock Exchange. The UK’s Sky News network is off the air, according to the BBC.
Microsoft emphasized its commitment to resolving the issue with the highest priority and urgency, aiming to restore full functionality to the remaining Microsoft 365 apps still experiencing degradation.