Antivirus experts are warning of a hoax virus alert which might trick users into deleting an important file on their Windows machines.
The fake warning tells users to search their hard drives and delete a file called jdbgmgr.exe, a filename used by Microsoft"s Debugger Registrar for Java, which may be present quite legitimately on many computers.
But the Magistr-A virus is capable of sending infected copies of jdbgmgr.exe, and this seems to have spawned the misplaced warning, which is gaining ground.
Deleting Microsoft"s Debugger Registrar for Java may result in Java programmes failing to run after the user has deleted legitimate copies of jdbgmgr.exe.
Rob Rosenberger"s Virus Myths first reported on the jdbgmgr.exe hoax alert (which he says should more properly be called an urban myth) last month.
Anti-virus vendor Sophos backed up his analysis today, by warning that it has "received enquiries from thousands of concerned computer users about the subject".