An update of McAfee DAT file released on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 has been causing stability issues on Windows XP client systems. The symptom is caused by a false-positive detection on a core Windows file (svchost.exe). Once the file is quarantined by McAfee, the system may encounter one of the following symptoms:
- The computer shuts down when a DCOM error or a RPC error occurs
- The computer continues to run without network connectivity.
- The computer triggers a Bugcheck (Blue Screen).
The DAT file version that that caused the problem is McAfee DAT 5958. This file was propagated to client machines that conduct automatic updates of definition files. McAfee updated the DAT file soon after the problem was identified with a new version that does not cause the problem.
Resolution Steps
Please review the following KB Articles for specific steps to resolve the issue on systems that are affected.
McAfee KB Article:
https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=KB68780
Microsoft KB Article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2025695
However, Barry McPherson, executive vice president of worldwide technical support and customer service for McAfee, wrote in his blog post : "McAfee team members have been working around the clock to fix the problem and work with impacted customers, We estimate that the majority of the affected systems are back up and running at this time and more systems are coming back online quickly."