Microsoft has launched a recovery tool aimed at assisting IT administrators in repairing Windows machines affected by CrowdStrike’s faulty update, which caused 8.5 million devices to crash last Friday. This tool creates a bootable USB drive, enabling IT admins to swiftly recover the impacted systems.
CrowdStrike has released an update to correct the issue that triggered widespread Blue Screen of Death errors. However, not all devices can automatically receive this fix. Some IT administrators have found that rebooting PCs multiple times can deliver the update, but others have had to manually boot into Safe Mode to delete the problematic CrowdStrike update file.
Microsoft’s new recovery tool streamlines this process. It boots into the Windows PE environment via USB, accesses the affected machine’s disk, and automatically removes the faulty CrowdStrike file, allowing the machine to boot properly.
This approach eliminates the need to boot into Safe Mode or require admin rights on the machine, as it interacts directly with the disk without loading the local Windows copy. If the disk is protected by BitLocker encryption, the tool will prompt for the BitLocker recovery key before proceeding with the fix.
Additionally, the tool now includes a PXE boot option and a boot to Safe Mode option, which permits IT admins to access BitLocker-enabled devices without needing a recovery key. However, using the Safe Mode option requires an account with local administrator rights on the device.
Microsoft has also provided separate recovery instructions for Windows Virtual Machines running on Azure and has published recovery steps for all Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices on its support site.
Update July 22nd: Microsoft enhanced its recovery tool over the weekend, adding more features for IT administrators.
