Network Associates have recently confirmed that their latest version of McAfee Virus Scanning software has caused many Windows systems to lock up whilst it has been starting up.

This has been caused by a bug in the programs definition file and the scan engine software. The only way to amend this is by re-booting windows in safe mode and then to disable the VirusScan at start up. Launch the McAfee VirusScan scheduler and then right mouse click on the McAfee Vshield and uncheck both Enable System Scan and Enable Scanning of e-mail attachments. When you have completed this, Windows will startup normally, however you will not have virus protection.

The file that is causing the problems is version 4.0.4102 which causes the computer to restart without prompting and would then result in the computer locking altogether. The system cannot even be re-booted by pressing the control+alt+del combination, you have to completely switch everything off.

This bug can affect all Windows platforms if the installed version of the VirusScan is 4.0.02. To check the version you have, launch VirusScan and select About from the Help menu.

You can obtain a patch for this by downloading McAfee's superDAT updater. This will update bothe the scanning engine and the virus definition together. Download the superDAT and run the latest scan engine and virus remedy file after restarting your computer.