Symptoms

It has come to our attention that in some non-standard versions of Windows XP, avast! antivirus may incorrectly identify an important system file as a rootkit infection. This concerns the French version of Windows XP, Service Pack 1 and the Russian version of Windows XP, Service Pack 2.

The following virus message is reported:

Win32:rootkit-gen [Rtk] has been found in c:\windows\system32\svchost.exe

This is a FALSE POSITIVE alert and the file should not be deleted.

Solution

The file svchost.exe is an important system file. Deleting this file will result in a loss of system functionality, however, if it is deleted, your system can be restored by following a few simple steps.

Users with the French operating system Click here.
Users with the Russian operating system Click here.

If you have downloaded the latest version of the virus database (version 080605-0), you should not experience any further problems.