Uninstalling CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent for Home Use

Uninstalling CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent for Home Use

CrowdStrike has officially discontinued the “CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent for Home Use” product, and it should now be uninstalled as it will no longer provide any level of protection.

What You Need to Know:

• CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent for Home Use was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to help protect Windows home computers used for work purposes.
• The product has now been decommissioned by CrowdStrike and will no longer function.
• This was an add-on tool, not a standalone antivirus product, and Duke is not providing a replacement.

What You Need to Do:

• Uninstall CrowdStrike Windows Sensor from your personal computer.
  
  You can uninstall the CrowdStrike Falcon Protect for Home Use software by taking the following steps:
  • Open Windows Settings, selecting “Apps” from the menu choices on the left, then selecting “Installed apps” from the main window.
  • From the list of apps, select the ellipsis (“…”) on the line for “CrowdStrike Windows Sensor” and select “Uninstall”.
  • NOTE: If the process asks you to "Enter the Falcon maintenance token for this host" on a personal computer, please contact the Duke IT Security Office at security@duke.edu.
• For ongoing protection, Duke’s IT Security Office recommends using Windows Defender Antivirus, which is included with Windows devices.

More about “Enter the Falcon maintenance token for this host”:

If the uninstallation process asks you to "Enter the Falcon maintenance token for this host", you are not uninstalling the “CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent for Home Use” product, but rather the “CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent” enterprise product instead. The “Home Use” product requires no such token and can be freely uninstalled while the enterprise product requires administrative assistance to uninstall.

If this is on a personal device, please contact the Duke IT Security Office for assistance as the enterprise product should not be installed on personal devices. Having the CrowdStrike enterprise product installed on a persona device will give Duke access to your personal device and information as well as putting your personal device under Duke policies and requirements.

If this is on a Duke-owned device, CrowdStrike is a required installation and should not be removed.

If you have any questions, please contact the Duke IT Security Office at security@duke.edu.