Though, we enjoy the immense benefits of technology but it can cause adverse effects of technological dependence. It was updated in the CrowdStrike, that a significant outage, which can be one of the biggest-ever IT outages, occurred globally. The Minister of Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu confirmed in an official notice issued that airline systems all over the Indian airports have resumed normal operations since 3 AM. Several passengers faced a tough time as many flights were cancelled amid progress in restoring normal operations following the global Microsoft outage.
Microsoft’s IT systems were interrupted worldwide, with Windows PC failures being reported among various services including airlines, banks, health services, emergency helplines, news channels, and many more.
The Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said that technological dependence had its drawbacks and cited the Microsoft outage of July 19 as a point in case. His flight from Delhi to Madurai was nearly cancelled due to the Microsoft outage.
The event took place in the early hours of Friday, July 19, where Microsoft published a post on X saying that it was “investigating an issue causing impact on users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services. As soon as it was posted, several users on X started sharing photos of their Windows desktops and laptops showing an infamous and dreaded blue screen which generally indicates that the system has been crashed and cannot be operated.
While the problem was an easy technical fix, its impact could be long-lasting for some organizations because of the hands-on work required to fix each affected computer. It is really a tough task to touch millions of machines.
Mutual fund industry AMFI on Saturday said the outage in Microsoft services has impacted five asset management companies, which reported disruptions to some important functions but the issues were resolved during the day. The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) said that all the asset management companies (AMCs), their Mutual Funds and Registrar and Transfer Agents (RTAs) functioned without any impact. There were 5 AMCs who reported disruptions to important functions, which were resolved during the day and did not have any material impact on operations.
Moreover, there was no clarity on what was the exact cause of such outage and if the two incidents are associated, then we all need to know about the so-called “blue screen of death” and what shall you do if it ever pops up on your system.
What is the Blue Screen of Death?
The term Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) became popular among the internet users, whereas Microsoft typically refers to it as bug check or blue screen error. A Windows device could display blue screen errors if the operating system has encountered a serious problem that has hinted it to shut down or restart unexpectedly. Generally, the crash screen has white text with a blue background and communicates to the users that “Windows has been shut down to avoid damage caused to your computer” or similar thing.
In the case of Friday’s outage, the blue screen error said that Windows didn’t load correctly and indicated the users to either restart the system or troubleshoot the issue using advanced repair options. In the first-ever Windows blue screen, the text displayed to the users was reportedly written by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. There can be many hardware or software issues that can lead to blue screen errors.
Specifically, blue screens are triggered when operating system code calls the KeBugCheckAPI, which is similar to a fire alarm that is pressed as a last resort due to the lack of any other safe options. This brings the system to a premature halt. The blue screen tends to get pulled up before any memory has actually been corrupted. This means that there is no data loss but ongoing work may not be retrieved.
Why does the blue screen of death happen?
The infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is a dreaded error screen that indicates a severe system issue, often causing a Windows device to crash. When this happens, the operating system is forced to shut down or restart to prevent further damage to your system. While it may seem alarming, understanding why BSOD occurs can help prevent future crashes and ensure system stability.
Common Causes of The Blue Screen of Death
- Hardware Issues
- Faulty RAM, overheating components, or failing hard drives can trigger BSOD by causing unexpected system failures.
- Poorly connected or damaged hardware can lead to communication errors within the system.
- Driver Conflicts
- Outdated, corrupt, or incompatible drivers can cause BSOD by disrupting communication between the operating system and hardware components.
- Graphics drivers, network adapters, and peripheral drivers are common culprits.
- Software or OS Errors
- Buggy system updates or incompatible software installations can interfere with Windows processes, leading to BSOD.
- Unstable applications or conflicts between software can also trigger crashes.
- Corrupt System Files
- Damage to critical Windows files due to power outages, malware infections, or improper shutdowns can result in system instability.
- Missing or corrupted files prevent Windows from operating normally.
- Memory Overload & Overclocking
- Excessive use of RAM and CPU, especially through overclocking, can lead to overheating and instability, resulting in BSOD.
- Running demanding applications without sufficient system resources can increase the likelihood of crashes.
How to Fix The Blue Screen Death?
Microsoft apologized for their inconvenience caused and promised to discover the root cause analysis to determine how this logic flaw happened. They added to devote their time to identify any foundational or workflow improvements that we can make to strengthen their process.
The official resolution that can be followed is to shut down the system that is displaying the blue screen error, remove any newly installed hardware and try to restart the system, according to Microsoft. If this doesn’t work, you can try starting the system in Safe Mode which is a basic version of the Windows operating system. You can also try to get the latest updates with Windows Update, help from other sources or restore Windows to an earlier point of time.
If the issue still continues to prevail, it is suggested by Microsoft that users go to the Get Help app, type Troubleshoot BSOD error, and follow the instructions that follows. However, it is to be noted that solutions to get rid of the blue screen of death varies depending on the nature of the glitch.
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