Microsoft Windows Reports Major Service Outage Globally: Users Share 'Error Message' Screenshots
Microsoft Windows users are experiencing widespread Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors. Many have taken to the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to report the issue. According to reports, users are seeing blue screen errors on their screens, with their laptops or PCs stuck in a restart loop.
A Wall Street Journal report highlights the severity of the outage, mentioning that it forced low-cost airline Frontier to cancel some flights in the US. “Our systems are currently impacted by a Microsoft outage, which is also affecting other companies. We appreciate your patience,” Frontier stated.
Major IT Outage Disrupts Institutions in Australia and Beyond
Reports are coming in about a significant IT outage affecting major institutions in Australia and internationally. According to ABC News, they are experiencing a major network outage along with several other media outlets.
Crowd-sourced website Downdetector is listing outages for Foxtel, National Australia Bank, and Bendigo Bank.
Earlier on Friday, Microsoft (MSFT.O) announced that its cloud services outage in the Central U.S. region had been resolved after causing the grounding and cancellation of several flights.
According to Reuters, low-cost carriers Frontier Airlines, a unit of Frontier Group Holdings (ULCC.O), Allegiant, and SunCountry (SNCY.O) reported outages that affected their operations.
Frontier had previously stated that a “major Microsoft technical outage” temporarily impacted its operations. SunCountry mentioned that a third-party vendor affected its booking and check-in facilities, though the company was not named.
“The Allegiant website is currently unavailable due to the Microsoft Azure issue,” Nevada-based Allegiant said in a statement to CNN. Allegiant did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Data tracker FlightAware reported that Frontier canceled 147 flights on Thursday and delayed 212 others. Meanwhile, 45% of Allegiant aircraft were delayed, and SunCountry delayed 23% of its flights. The companies did not provide details on the number of flights affected.
Microsoft stated that the outage began around 6 pm ET on Thursday, with a subset of customers experiencing issues with multiple Azure services in the Central U.S. region. Azure is a cloud computing platform that provides services for building, deploying, and managing applications and services.
Separately, Microsoft announced that it was investigating an issue impacting various Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Microsoft’s Response to the Issue
In response to the widespread disruptions, Microsoft 365 Status posted on X that the company is “investigating an issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.” They added, “We’re working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate the impact more expediently. We remain focused on redirecting the impacted traffic to healthy systems.”
As the situation evolves, users are advised to stay updated through official Microsoft channels for further information and guidance.
