Millions of Windows PCs worldwide restarting, showing blue screen: What is the global system outage? [Explained]

Microsoft Windows users worldwide have been affected by an issue with Azure’s backend. This has led to frustration among office workers and even caused flight disruptions. Here is the full story.

Windows laptop restarting unexpectedly? You’re not alone—millions of people around the world are experiencing the same issue. (REUTERS)

Update: CrowdStrike CEO says sorry, systems to start recovering soon 

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz apologized for the massive global IT outage which impacted the Windows operating system. In an interview to NBC News, he “vowed” to work with CrowdStrike's partners to get services back online. "Many of the customers are rebooting the system and it's coming up and it'll be operational. It could be some time for some systems that won't automatically recover,” Kurtz said. 

"We're deeply sorry for the impact that we've caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this, including our company,” he added. 
 

If you are reading this, it's likely that you have yourself faced the Windows outage or heard a fellow colleague complain about the problem affecting millions of Windows computers across the world. So, what is this outage, and why is it affecting millions of computers across the world? Simply put, users are reporting that their Windows PCs are randomly restarting, displaying the infamous ‘Blue Screen of Death' (BSOD) error. This has impacted the work of millions, including sectors like aviation, with airlines such as Indigo, SpiceJet, and Akasa acknowledging that their on-ground operations have been affected, delaying flights.

We at HT Media Group are also facing the issue, with multiple staff members across various departments reporting this problem. Our laptops have been randomly restarting, causing delays in work.

What Has Caused This Microsoft Windows Restarting Issue?

CrowdStrike has acknowledged that the issue stems from a “defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.” Further, CrowdStrike notes that Mac and Linux hosts are not affected by this. “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,” CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on X. 

“We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organizations ensure they're communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers,” he added. 

For a separate outage, in parallel, Microsoft, too, has issued a statement: “A configuration change in a portion of our Azure backend workloads caused an interruption between storage and compute resources, which resulted in connectivity failures that affected downstream Microsoft 365 services dependent on these connections.” Further, the company acknowledged that it is working to mitigate the issues for affected Microsoft 365 apps and services.

What Are People Saying?

Working professionals, companies, and others are struggling with this issue, with many expressing frustration on social media. “CrowdStrike decided that people need a day off today. The Windows machines around the world should be down,” user @lulu_blaugrana said on X, jokingly.

Another user expressed elation, posting a meme video, saying, “People in the office right now watching their laptop screens turn all blue and getting to leave early on Friday for the weekend thanks to CrowdStrike tech outage!”

Indigo Airlines has also confirmed that their operations have been impacted. The official Indigo X account asked people to refrain from making booking attempts. “As systems are impacted globally due to ongoing issues with Microsoft Azure, we kindly request you to refrain from making multiple booking attempts during this time,” Indigo said.

For now, it seems like the outage hasn't been resolved, with outage tracker website Downdetector still showing spikes as of Friday, 2:00 PM.