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McAfee Kills SVCHost.exe, Sets Off Reboot Loops For Win XP, Win 2000

Posted by timothy on from the hope-you-were-using-antiantivirus-too dept.

Kohenkatz writes "A McAfee Update today (DAT 5958) incorrectly identifies svchost.exe, a critical Windows executable, as a virus and tries to remove it, causing endless reboot loops." Reader jswackh adds this terse description: "So far the fixes are sneakernet only. An IT person will have to touch all affected PCs. Reports say that it quarantines SVCHOST. [Affected computers] have no network access, and missing are taskbar/icons/etc. Basically non-functioning. Windows 7 seems to be unaffected." Updated 20100421 20:08 GMT by timothy: An anonymous reader points out this easy-to-follow fix for the McAfee flub.

3 of 472 comments (clear)

  1. This just confirms my feeling... by OiBoy · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I've always said that Windows was a virus.

    --
    `fortune -o`
  2. Finally by hduff · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Finally, a virus scanner that correctly identifies Windows as the virus.

    --
    "I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
  3. Oh, I don't need virus protection... by TheSpoom · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I run Linux.

    *rides off into the sunset*

    --
    It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
    - E. Debs