Microsoft launches recovery tool to help repair Windows machines hit by CrowdStrike issue

Although CrowdStrike has released an update to fix its software that has led to millions of Blue Screen of Death errors, not all machines are capable of receiving this fix automatically. Some IT administrators have reported that restarting PCs multiple times will get the necessary update, but for others, the only way is to manually boot into Safe Mode and delete the problematic CrowdStrike update file.

Microsoft’s recovery tool now makes this recovery process less manual by booting into your Windows PE environment via USB, accessing the affected machine’s disk, and automatically deleting the problematic CrowdStrike file to allow the machine to boot properly. This avoids the need to boot into Safe Mode or requiring administrator rights on the machine, because the tool simply accesses the disk without booting into the local copy of Windows. If a disk is protected by BitLocker encryption, the tool will ask for the BitLocker recovery key and continue to patch the CrowdStrike update.

Microsoft also has separate recovery steps available for Windows virtual machines running on Azureand the company has also published recovery steps for all Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices on its website. support website.