Microsoft has launched a recovery tool to assist IT administrators in repairing Windows workstations hit by CrowdStrike’s botched upgrade, which caused 8.5 million Windows devices to crash on Friday.
The application generates a bootable USB stick, which IT administrators can use to quickly recover afflicted devices.
While CrowdStrike has published an update to repair the malware that caused millions of Blue Screen of Death issues, not all devices will automatically receive it. Some IT administrators have claimed that rebooting PCs several times will result in the necessary update, while for others, the only option is to manually boot into Safe Mode and delete the faulty CrowdStrike update file.
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Microsoft’s recovery tool now makes the recovery procedure less laborious by booting into its Windows PE environment via USB, reading the infected machine’s drive, and immediately erasing the problematic CrowdStrike file so that the machine can boot normally. This eliminates the need to boot into Safe Mode or require admin permissions on the machine because the utility just accesses the disk without booting into the local copy of Windows. If a drive is encrypted with BitLocker, the utility will demand for the recovery key before continuing to fix the CrowdStrike update.
The recovery tool has also been enhanced with a new PXE boot option and a boot to Safe Mode option, which enables IT administrators to access BitLocker-enabled devices without a recovery key. If you choose Safe Mode, you must have access to an account on the device that has local administrator rights.
Microsoft also provides different recovery methods for Windows Virtual Machines operating on Azure, and it has published recovery steps for all Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices on its support site.
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