Anti-Virus Update Cripples Millions Of PCs….. #Fail
If you use Avira anti-virus, you may not want to update it. A recent update has crippled millions of PCs around the world according to ZDNet:
The update bumps the software version to 8.2.10.64 and the definitions file to 7.11.30.24. The result is that the AntiVirProActiv component starts detecting critical processes as malware, including the following:
- \windows\system32\dllhost.exe
- \windows\system32\explorer.exe
- \windows\system32\iexplorer.exe
- \windows\system32\notepad.exe
- \windows\system32\regedit.exe
- \windows\system32\rundll32.exe
- \windows\system32\taskeng.exe
- \windows\system32\wuauclt.exe
Those are just some of the false detected Windows processes. Avira sometimes kills them and stops Windows from booting, but that’s not the end of it.
The update is also blocking other Microsoft software (such as Microsoft Office and Microsoft Works) as well as various third-party applications, including Byki 4 Express, Documents To Go, Garmin, Google Talk, iPod and Palm services, Opera, OpenDNS Updater, Polipo, Shadow, Stickies, and many others. In other words, almost every executable file is being falsely detected by this update.
That’s a bit of a problem. Now to be fair, any anti-virus app could have this problem. But today it is Avira and that’s what is making news. So you’ve been warned. My advice? Always have a current backup and be prepared to use it regardless of what anti-virus app you use.
May 16, 2012 at 10:26 pm
That’s too bad…I used to use Avira all the time and it worked really well. Now of course, WIndows Security Essentials does everything I need and I never have to think about it.