Asecurity update from the AVG security softwarehas crippled PCs running Windows XP.
The update mistakenly took a critical system file as a threat
and deleted it.
As a result, users were either unable to boot-up their PCs or
saw their laptops continually boot-up.
The update issued last weekend mistakenly fingered the
"user32.dll" file as a Trojan horse.
As a result, the updated AVG software put the legitimate file in
quarantine, leading to a computer that would not work.
AVG said on its support website, "In case you are not able to
run your Windows XP operating system after AVG 8.0 virus definition
update, it may be caused by a false positive on a specific
'user32.dll' system file.
"The file was moved to the AVG Virus Vault and deleted.
Therefore it is not possible to start Windows."
To get round the problem, affected users have to use Windows
XP's Recovery Console, disable several AVG services and restore the
user32.dll file by copying it from the operating system's install
CD. This is not an easy task for many users, particularly if they
cannot locate their recovery disk.