# Breaking news - huge outage/interruption created by Crowdstrike problem (July 2024) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2024, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454 "2024-07-19T09:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/41 "2024-07-19T17:54:37Z")
I’ve seen some reports that if you continually reboot the computer, Windows may eventually mark the driver as bad and skip over it. If you’re just sitting around with a broken laptop, you might as well try rebooting over and over to see if it auto-fixes itself. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/42 "2024-07-19T18:00:18Z")
According to a pinned comment on the Ars Technica article, it depends on whether the network stack finishes booting before the glitchy bit of Crowdstrike. If it does, your machine will boot. If it doesn’t, BSOD. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/43 "2024-07-19T18:02:56Z")
Yep, IT is saying that as well. Reboot, reboot five times, reboot ten times, go nuts. Something do to with your hands beside wringing them, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/44 "2024-07-19T18:05:51Z")
My Windows laptop has been continuously on for the past 2 days. It looks problem-free thus far. So no matter what, I should **avoid** rebooting it and keep it on until the issue is fixed? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/45 "2024-07-19T18:06:14Z")
Computers at work bluescreened last night. We got messaged about the Crowdstrike situation early this morning and told about all the systems effected by it…and messages followed from people that read that message and reported that they were getting bluescreens, couldn’t get into all the systems etc. and can somebody in IT please fix it. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/46 "2024-07-19T18:08:22Z")
My home laptop (running Win11) was turned off overnight. When I turned it on, at about 9am US Central time this morning, I had no issues. I’m not working at the moment, so this is my only machine right now. It’s been running fine for the past 4 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/47 "2024-07-19T18:11:04Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So what percentage of Windows users are actually affected by this? Is it like 1%, 10%? [Well:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_CrowdStrike_incident) “This is basically what we were all worried about with Y2K, except it’s actually happened this time.” - [Troy Hunt,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Hunt) [cybersecurity consultant](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/19/microsoft-windows-pcs-outage-blue-screen-of-death) ETA: Mr. Hunt’s Wikipedia article. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/48 "2024-07-19T18:21:12Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > It’s been about 16 hours since the problems started, and I haven’t seen any political ranting and raving yet. No conspiracy theories, no accusations of Chinese/Russian/Iranian hackers, or CIA false flag operations etc. Is it possible that all of those people/entities you listed are _also_ having problems with this and thus are focused on their own situation rather than stirring the pot immediately? I’m sure we’ll get the internet whacky party going in a day or two at most. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/49 "2024-07-19T18:27:15Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > My home laptop (running Win11) was turned off overnight. When I turned it on, at about 9am US Central time this morning, I had no issues. My understanding is that CloudStrike is something you have to purchase and add to your machine/home network. Therefore, individual private users such as you and I are not affected as we did not purchase and install this software. Businesses, however, do make such purchases, hence why so many businesses and government entities are affected. Someone let me know if my reasoning is flawed. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/50 "2024-07-19T18:30:09Z")
Pretty much limited to the business & government sectors, yes. > **[Faulty CrowdStrike update causes major global IT outage, taking out banks,...](https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/19/faulty-crowdstrike-update-causes-major-global-it-outage-taking-out-banks-airlines-and-businesses-globally/)** > > Security giant CrowdStrike said the outage was not caused by a cyberattack, as businesses anticipate widespread disruption. Businesses worldwide are reporting IT outages, including Windows "blue screen of death" errors on their computers, due to a... ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/51 "2024-07-19T18:31:11Z")
My work computer was affected by this, but I start later than most people in my office and my IT department had already fixed my laptop before I got in. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/52 "2024-07-19T19:28:41Z")
What does the crowdstrike software do, anyway? I’ve never heard of it, and presumably I don’t have it on my home computer. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/53 "2024-07-19T19:45:08Z")
It’s primarily corporate network security. There’s little to no reason for home users to have it installed, and you would likely know if you had it because you’d have to have installed it yourself, it’s not typically bundled into home-use PCs. They do have a home use product, but I don’t know anyone who uses it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/54 "2024-07-19T19:58:15Z")
And what was the “problem” that was “fixed” in this update? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/55 "2024-07-19T19:59:55Z")
Well, you can hardly crack a computer that’s been BSOD’d, can you? I’d say this fix was perfect! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/56 "2024-07-19T20:05:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And what was the “problem” that was “fixed” in this update? It looks like it may have been just a routine software update, which went wrong: > [@](#): > > “Earlier today, a CrowdStrike update was responsible for bringing down a number of IT systems globally,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an unsigned statement. > [@](#): > > Kurtz blamed “a defect … in a single content update for Windows hosts.” Mac and Linux hosts were not impacted, and “this is not a security incident or cyberattack,” he added in a post[on X](https://x.com/George_Kurtz/status/1814235001745027317). (Gift link below) [https://wapo.st/3Se3nV2](https://wapo.st/3Se3nV2) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/57 "2024-07-19T21:28:14Z")
I’m just back from the local UPS store, which was closed, with a sign saying it was shut down by the outage. Wonder what other delivery services were messed up. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/58 "2024-07-19T22:23:57Z")
Luckily, we do not use Crowdstrike for any oh our clients so it did not affect us directly. I was somewhat surprised that we didn’t receive calls about other serviced being down. I did have to pay cash for my morning coffee because Speedway’s payment system was down. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/59 "2024-07-19T22:24:15Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > IT so far has requested I come into the IT office in Virginia. I work at the company HQ in Massachusetts… I have no idea what our IT plans to do about those who aren’t local (i.e.: within a 50 mile radius of HQ) but they’re encouraging those who are to visit one of the two depots around HQ on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454/60 "2024-07-19T22:44:13Z")
This whole thing has made me so glad that I didn’t go into work today. I was requested to work OT today but a cracked tooth was my excuse for not coming in. Then I discovered that my dentist’s office is closed today. Oh well. My iPad shut down on me last night and I haven’t been able to get it working again, but that shouldn’t be related. The iPad is about 16 years old… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-huge-outage-interruption-created-by-crowdstrike-problem-july-2024/1004454.md?page=4)