Bowes IT Solutions’ Post

What can we learn from last month’s CrowdStrike/Microsoft outage? Resilience isn't about overcoming the impossible; it's about smart, strategic planning. Over 8.5 million devices worldwide were affected by the infamous 'Blue Screen of Death,' causing significant disruption. This incident underscores the importance of taking proactive steps to prevent or quickly recover from similar situations. Speak with one of our consultants to explore your options and fortify your systems against future challenges. #MicrosoftOutage #CrowdStrikeOutage #CloudComputing #DRP #RecoveryPlanning #BusinessContinuity

This also shows why building a resilient solutions architecture with integrated best of breed platforms can give organisations a competitive edge over those who have over reliance on a single system providers.

I am hoping this post will help, whoever who still is bothered by “Bitlocker” screen or their system is down due to “CrowdStrike” outage. If there is no Bitlocker issue - 1) Reboot the computer in safe mode using the boot up menu. 2) Once in Boot menu, go to C drive ➡️then to System32 ➡️ To your Driver folder ➡️ finally to your CrowdStrike folder and delete the file “C-00000291* 3) Reboot the system again, it should be connected. If there is a Bitlocker screen - 1) You’ll need the manufacturer USB to reboot the device. Using the USB, boot into it by continuously pressing F9 or F11 during the startup. Note: USB should be connected. 2) Once booted up, open up CMD and type in “bcdedit /set {default} safeboot minimal” 3) You’ll be able to enter safemode after restarting the server. 4) Once entered, you can follow the step 2 in the steps for the issue without bitlocker. This was the way, I was able to bring multiple primary servers back online. I understand this could be hard to digest, but to save multiple vendor charges and bring the system online asap, this might prove as the best way. For further help, you can definitely reach out to me and I’ll be glad to help. I am so proud of the Biomedical team here at Island Health - Vancouver Island Health Authority who were able to take precautionary measures, come up with solutions to ensure none to minimal disruptions in patient care. #CrowdStrike #Microsoft #BiomedicalEngineering

Microsoft Outlook Outage: WAN Routing Update Triggers Global Disruptions Microsoft recently experienced an outage affecting Outlook and other services. The outage began on July 17, 2024, causing disruptions for users worldwide. The issues were largely resolved by July 19, 2024, with Microsoft stating that full restoration was almost complete (Office Service Status) (Microsoft Service Health). The cause of the outage was attributed to a series of technical issues within Microsoft's infrastructure. These issues led to widespread difficulties in accessing Outlook, sending and receiving emails, and using other related services. Microsoft has not provided detailed specifics on the root cause but has assured users that they are investigating the matter to prevent future occurrences (Microsoft Service Health). Effects - Screens went blank giving signs of a crash happened at the airports and hospitals. Hospitals had no idea as to what treatments were given and many flights had been canceled at the airport. Everything was interrupted due to this technical issue. For updates and more information on the service status, you can visit the Microsoft Service Health Status page (Microsoft Service Health). This tragedy reminded everyone to be cautious when relying only on digital gadgets because life has become so reliant on them. #microsoft #crowdstrike #outlookoutrage

Want to simplify #IT tasks and enhance efficiency? The Surface Support Portal is streamlining device management, discover how here: https://msft.it/6043meT3c The new #Microsoft Surface Support Portal is accessible via the Microsoft 365 admin center. It offers your business modern support with features including self-serve capabilities, bulk repair orders, and secure authentication. #SurfaceforBusiness https://msft.it/6044meT3Y #Technology #Security

One in 200 Windows devices crash and show the dreaded Blue Screen of Death under normal use. That’s a lot. And it can mean lost time, money, even data. But around half of these crashes can be avoided if your business takes a few simple preventative steps. Here’s what I suggest… #Microsoft #BlueScreenOfDeath #ITManagement https://lnkd.in/gqvqkUDQ

One in 200 Windows devices crash and show the dreaded Blue Screen of Death under normal use. That’s a lot. And it can mean lost time, money, even data. But around half of these crashes can be avoided if your business takes a few simple preventative steps. Here’s what I suggest… #Microsoft #BlueScreenOfDeath #ITManagement https://lnkd.in/eudvYFRc

‘International Blue Screen of Death’ day I know many are wrestling with this right now but there is never a good time discuss far fetched, pie in the sky, phase transition-like architecture changes. In 2005, I was in a Microsoft office talking about virtualization in general to a new Microsoft VP but into the conversation I mentioned why I have issues with monolithic operating systems. As I saw it then, all monolithic operating systems are subject to rights elevation of one form or another. Moreover, a ‘user’ process could be ‘elevated’ to run with a much higher level of privilege so that even benign, corner case mistakes could collapse and compromise the entire operating system. At that time, due to virtualization, I saw the opportunity to ‘hard-split’ the hardware (aka computer) management parts of the operating system from ‘software’ (aka user activity and interaction) of the operating system. I was already experimenting with running my ‘desktop’ as a VM within a Type-1 hypervisor on top of the ‘metal’ of my PC. Then there were trade offs, today with the various hardware pass-throughs this is possible even on the most basic of PCs. We can even give it a catchy name like ‘1-1 VDI’ or ‘personal VDI’. In 2005 I called it the Avatar. It was a little too ahead of the curve then. Now it is what we should have been doing for at least the past five years. Got an update issue. Rollback to the snapshot to just before the update. Wait for a fixed update. Easy peasy, right?

At the end of your day, what do you do with your computer? Computer problems happen, there is no getting around that but the way you end your day on your computer can save you many future problems that will occur if done improperly. At Frogworks, we help you get those problems resolved as quickly as possible. While new computers are coming out all the time and both Microsoft and Apple release new operating systems (and update to those operating systems) all the time, one thing has not changed. Read More on the Newsletter  https://lnkd.in/eJKhZvCj

One in 200 Windows devices crash and show the dreaded Blue Screen of Death under normal use. That’s a lot. And it can mean lost time, money, even data. But around half of these crashes can be avoided if your business takes a few simple preventative steps. Here’s what I suggest… #Microsoft #BlueScreenOfDeath #ITManagement https://lnkd.in/eX7Fst_D