EVE Online players who use Windows XP and updated their game via the Premium Trinity patch before 4:00 a.m. GMT got a little more than they bargained for today. Instead of an updated game, they got a dead computer and an inoperative operating system. A programming error in the patch's installer seems to be largely responsible for the chaos. Rather than cleanly installing the MMO update, an incorrectly placed backslash in the program's install path does something a little different -- it overwrites a PC's Windows boot.ini file, effectively killing the computer come the next reboot.

A note over on the EVE online support page has the following bit of advice:

"If you have Windows AND upgraded EVE Online: Trinity Classic before 4 A.M. GMT to Premium using the content upgrade path then you MUST read this before doing anything else.

1. PLEASE DO NOT REBOOT YOUR COMPUTER

2. Check the root directory of your hard drive and see if you have a boot.ini file. Boot.ini file is normally hidden so you need to click Tools : Folder Options : View and select "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" to be able to see it. You can also check for the presence of this file by clicking Start : Control Panel : System : Advanced : Startup and Recovery : Settings (third button down). Windows will alert you if the boot.ini file is missing.

3. If boot.ini is still there then you are not affected and do not have to take any further steps.

4. If boot.ini is NOT there then please click here"

If you're an EVE player, hopefully this bit of upsetting news hasn't come too late to save you a lot of frustration. At the time of writing, the Trinity patch is no longer available through the Premium installer, so if you're just finding out about the issue now, your computer is probably safe. The bad news: before the patch could be removed, the faulty installer managed to catch plenty of unsuspecting gamers with their pants down. As a result, it's no surprise to hear that the EVE forums are in a bit of an uproar right now. At the moment, the only recourse for those affected is to troubleshoot using suggestions posted on the EVE forums.