McAfee anti-virus software deletes Spotify

Popular anti-virus software McAfee, provided as standard by several internet service providers including O2 and Sky, made a major goof today when its latest update was sent out: it deletes the .exe (the executable files that make the software work) files for hugely popular streaming music phenomenon Spotify when the program is run.

The Spotify blog said: "A little bit of unwanted excitement today when McAfee released an update to their virus definition file. This caused the antivirus software to falsely identify Spotify as a virus. Both Spotify and McAfee are aware of this problem and they have released an update for their antivirus software. I can assure you that Spotify is not a virus and contains no virus files, this is simply a misunderstanding on McAfee’s part."

A McAfee spokesperson added: “This issue will be resolved in an early release of the 5623 DAT today (22nd May, 2009). Your McAfee products will update to this DAT version in the normal way and no additional action is required on your part.”

The Spotify blog concluded: "To get Spotify working again, we suggest that you update your virus definition file now, you can normally do this by right clicking the McAfee icon in your system tray and selecting 'Update'."

If Spotify still doesn't work, you can manually remove it from your McAfee quarantine list. First, open the McAfee Security Center by double-clicking the 'M' in the systme tray, by the clock in the bottom right of your screen. Click 'Advanced Menu' in the bottom left of the box that pops up, then the 'Restore' option and then 'Files'. This will bring up a list of quarantined files - simply check the box next to spotify.exe and choose 'Restore' from the options that apear below the table.