Lonnie R. West

What is Total Existence Failure? It's when you pretty much fail in a spectacular fashion.

Not at all like missing a step on the stairs and getting laughed at and maybe having a sprained ankle.

More like missing a step on the stairs of a cruise ship, falling down two flights breaking your arms in the process, rolling across the deck traumetizing children and bikini-clad women, falling overboard when you try to stand up, getting knocked out when the life preserver hits you on the head, and then get run over like a manatee by a herd of Sea-Doos doing acrobatics, and finally being chopped into hamburger by the propellers of the cruise ship as it sails away...

That, my friends, is Total Existence Failure! And that is kind of what happened yesterday (April 21, 2010) to McAfee when they released a DAT update that promptly kills your computer.

Users running Windows XP SP3 (and there are millions of them out there) got a huge surprise when the DAT update #5958 deleted a critical Windows executable file (SVHOST.EXE) and then promptly identified ~itself~ as a virus... Those computers were then stuck in a endless re-boot cycle requiring a repair of the missing Windows systems files (by users who are technically proficient) or a trip to the service shot (for most users).

Today, April 22, McAfee has replaced the DAT file on their site, so anyone running Windows XP SP3 does not have to worry: updating today is fine.

Those of you who are locked up from yesterday's update, well, you can't read this article, can you? LOL

However, if you researching how to fix your bricked PC, there is hope! You can find info on the problem and how to get your computer up and running at McAfee's Knowledge Base.

At the end of the day, however, I award McAfee the coveted and lofty "Total Existence Failure" award.