Microsoft outage workaround: How to deal with the Blue Screen of Death, caused by CrowdStrike?

 

Windows computers around the world are being hit by the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) thanks to an outage caused by services provided by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The issue has impacted everyone from banks to airlines, with flights grounded, grocery carts abandoned, and productivity even lower than usual for a Friday.

 

Fortunately, CrowdStrike has since announced at 2:30 a.m. ET 07/19.24 that it has identified the update causing the issue and rolled it back. The company also offered a workaround for anyone having problems.

 

To fix the problem,

1.       Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment

2.       Go to:  %WINDIR%\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike directory

3.       Locate the file matching “C-00000291*.sys” and delete it.

4.       Reboot normally.

 

"CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts," CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on X. "Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed."

 

To prevent for enterprise environment,

·         Backup!

·         Test updates before deploying them to production.

Pandorian - desktop client for Pandora

 

Andorian is a free and a clutter free, lightweight and easy to use desktop client for Pandora. It enables listening from unsupported countries with the use of a proxy. Pandora's song skipping limits are honored in order to avoid possible account flagging. Pandorian is intended for Pandora listeners who do not like to have a web browser open all the time and/or find it a hassle to setup a system-wide proxy or having to dial a VPN connection every time they would like to listen to Pandora. Alternatively, if your country is supported, simply change a setting to not use a proxy and enjoy listening.

Features:

• Change stations
• Like/ Dislike songs
• Block a song for a month (Tired of song)
• Play/ Pause current song
• Skip songs
• Large album art display
• Song/ Artist/ Album info
• BPM detection of playing song (Click on album cover to display)
• User configurable global Hot-Keys for main functions (Right-click on album cover to access)
• Gobal menu for quick actions and song info (ALT+M)
• Password protected Lock-Screen with album art and song info (ALT+X)
• Sleep Timer (Right-click on album cover)
• Minimize to tray
• Volume normalizing with ReplayGain info
• Volume control with hotkeys & slider (Click on song progress bar to show slider)
• Choose streaming audio quality
• Honours Pandora song skipping rules to avoid account being flagged
• Supports Pandora One accounts for higher audio quality
• Highly optimized communication with Pandora servers
• Save/reuse session & station playlists across app restarts
• Built-in proxy enabled browser to log in to Pandora website
• All connections go through proxy server
• Supports usage without a proxy if your country is supported
• See what the app is doing behind the scenes by pressing CTRL+ALT+L

 

https://pandorian.djnitehawk.com/

PhotoRoom - Magic photo studio on the go

 

PhotoRoom is the all-in-one app that edits, designs and optimizes great visual content that helps you run your business from your phone. Remove or erase the background of photos, use templates and create your own content.

No need to be a photographer or design pro anymore: with PhotoRoom, you can turn your photos into pro-quality content in seconds. With one tap, remove the background and create stand-out content that showcases a product or person. Edit the image, add text or a logo, stickers, make collages.

Main Features:

1.       Erase any background

Edit photos quickly and accurately without all the effort. PhotoRoom makes it easy to keep the focus on the foreground, plus it's 2x more accurate than other apps.

2.       Blur your image background

The best free tool to blur your photo background in 2 seconds

3.       Remove objects with a swipe

Instantly remove unwanted objects and defects. With just a swipe of your fingertip, you can make sure your snapshots are flawless.

4.       Create backgrounds instantly

PhotoRoom's Instant Backgrounds uses the power of AI to create realistic, studio-quality product images in seconds.

5.       Color Splash: Black & white background

Unlock the magic of stunning monochrome images and transform any background to captivating black and white while preserving the vibrant colors of your subjects.

6.       Instant Shadows

Use the power of AI to generate realistic, studio-quality shadows instantly.

7.       Image Resizer

Crop images online for a perfect fit in a simple and quick process

8.       Add text to photo

Share your story and enhance your images by adding text

9.       Round Profile Picture

Create a circular profile picture and personalize it to stand out - easy and fast.

10.   Photo Enhancer

Revamp your photos with PhotoRoom and elevate the images quality, adjust colors, enhance details, and bring your visuals to life like never before.

11.   Edit hundreds of photos in seconds

Retouch all your images at once with Batch Editor. Get your Amazon, eBay, and Depop listings live up to 3x faster.

12.   Signature Maker

Snap a picture of your signature and remove the background.

Website: https://www.photoroom.com/