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Many users of AVG 7.5 and AVG 8 were stuck with Windows systems that didn’t operate after the AVG security scanner software mistakenly identified a necessary Windows component as a Trojan virus. 

The file user32.dll was tagged incorrectly as a banking Trojan after a signature update on Sunday.  The AVG scanner then advised users to delete the “harmful file.”  So, of course…many listened.  And when they did, they were stuck with a system that either would not boot or else was knocked into a continuous reboot cycle.

AVG did respond to the whole problem yesterday on their site.  They offered advice to affected users and updated their definition files to get rid of the false alarm detection from the signature database.

Although false alarms obviously do happen with just about every security scanning vendor at some time, it is obviously a pain in the rear when it affects a core Windows file.  And this AVG snafu is following closely on the heels of their problem just last month, when it mistakenly identified CheckPoint’s Zone Alarm as a Trojan.

Many people seem to be thinking that AVG is really starting to go downhill as of late.  It gained much of its popularity because of its free version.  However, if you are looking for other reputable virus scanners that are also free, there are other choices out there.  One that is highly recommended is avast!  Another you may want to check into is avira.

But as always, if you are told to delete a file, and it looks like something you may need, double check it.  VirusTotal is great for just this sort of thing.  Type in the name of your file, and it will check it with all the biggie virus scanners.  Less chance of you deleting something critical and being stuck in reboot land.

Via [securityandthenet]