Friday, December 3rd 2010
AVG Update Cripples Windows
Yesterday an update to the popular antivirus suite AVG left many users computers unable to boot. After rebooting, as requested by the AVG updater, Windows crashes while trying to load certain AVG drivers. The error message reads "STOP: c0000135 The program cannot start because %hs is missing from your computer". Since the culprit drivers load even during safe mode there is no way to boot Windows. AVG recommends using the AVG rescue disc located here. After booting from the disc users should use midnight commander to rename their AVG folder, usually located at C:\program files (x86)\AVG, to any other name and then booting windows normally. However, any bootable flash drive or CD with an OS that can access NTFS file systems can be used to accomplish this task. I used a bootable Ubuntu flash drive.
79 Comments on AVG Update Cripples Windows
/sarcasm
AVG, you're useless. See why I left you a year ago?
Since installing avast I've been getting pop-ups every hour or so notifying me of blocked exploits and stuff. A scan hasn't shown anything infected, so it could be someone attempting to attack me; who really knows?!
araditus; I'm starting to believe all the people that told me I was stupid for never having AV. Don't wait to get infected before you cover yourself. I once did a google video search for something dirty (NSFW), and I got a blatant infection attempt (antivirus 2009 lol). Not saying you'd search for something dirty, but it's an example, I didn't even leave google's video search page and I got an infection attempt. Banner ads, videos, anything flash, etc. can all be "made" to infect you.