crowdstrike causing Windows Server boot loops and solutions not working 2026

Question

crowdstrike causing Windows Server boot loops and solutions not working 2026

Todd Frye 0

We are trying to find the root cause and solution outside of wiping the C: Drive OS clean.

Todd Frye 0 Reputation points

2026-06-23T18:52:11.6866667+00:00

We've tried Recovery repairs, DISM, BootRec Fix, SFC /Scannow, chkdsk, last known good configuration, and safe mode with no success. There have been no way to produce or find any logs due to the Boot loop state. The only option so far has been to wipe the OS clean if we are lucky enough to have the OS on a separate disk partition then the data. We've experienced the boot loop with windows server 2016, 2019, and 2025 standard.

1 answer

Your answer

Todd Frye 0 Reputation points

2026-06-23T18:52:11.6866667+00:00

We've tried Recovery repairs, DISM, BootRec Fix, SFC /Scannow, chkdsk, last known good configuration, and safe mode with no success. There have been no way to produce or find any logs due to the Boot loop state. The only option so far has been to wipe the OS clean if we are lucky enough to have the OS on a separate disk partition then the data. We've experienced the boot loop with windows server 2016, 2019, and 2025 standard.

Answer 1

Hello Todd Frye,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Q&A.

To help us better understand the issue, could you please confirm the following:

When the boot loop occurs, do you observe any bugcheck (BSOD) or blue screen error before the server restarts?

For example, do you see a stop code such as 0x50 or 0x7E?
- Or does the server simply display the Windows logo and then restart without showing a blue screen?

Have you already tried deleting the CrowdStrike file C-00000291.sys* as part of your troubleshooting?

If not, please try the following steps:

Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).
Navigate to: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike
Once in the CrowdStrike directory, locate the file matching “C-00000291*.sys”. To do this, type the following command and then press Enter: dir C-00000291*.sys
Delete the file by following command: del C-00000291*.sys
Reboot the server normally and check whether the issue persists.

Please let us know the results, especially whether a BSOD is displayed and, if so, the exact stop code shown on the screen. This information will help us determine whether the issue is related to the known CrowdStrike boot-loop scenario or another underlying cause.

Hope you found something helpful here. Please let me know if you need further assistance.

If this answer could solve the issue, it's appreciated to accept the answer.

Thank you again for your patience and support!
Ivy Bui

Todd Frye 0 Reputation points

2026-06-24T20:00:10.44+00:00

Hello, There have been no blue screens or pop up error codes. It just restarts and simply gets hung at the logo screen with a continuous spinning dots in circular motion.

Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). No successful safe mode boots. (It will still get hung up the same way) Last Known Good config does not work as well.

Navigate to: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike (We have not been able to see or find any visible CrowdStrike folders via Recovery Admin Command Prompt GUI.)No Success at getting to or deleting the CrowStrike file.

Once in the CrowdStrike directory, locate the file matching “C-00000291*.sys”. To do this, type the following command and then press Enter: dir C-00000291*.sys

Delete the file by following command: del C-00000291*.sys

Reboot the server normally and check whether the issue persists.

I'm trying to confirm all of this. We've also had 3rd party support try some of these things as well with no success.