How to improve email performance by removing the email scanning tools of the Symantec Endpoint Protection or Antivirus product.

Products

• Mail Security for Domino
• Endpoint Protection

Issue/Introduction

As part of troubleshooting an email routing issue or acting proactively to ensure the best performance on your email server, you are looking for ways to improve performance on your Windows OS email server.

 

Symptoms
Your organization has a Windows based email server, and either Symantec Antivirus (SAV) or Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) with the email scanning tools installed.

Cause

The Symantec Antivirus and Symantec Endpoint Protection clients come with optional email scanning features that are excellent on a workstation, but may slow down or interfere with email processing on a mail server.  The Internet Email Tools plug-in is not engineered to interact with the volumes and technologies involved in mail processing on a mail server.  Issues can arise including:

• Slow email delivery
• Unscannable email verdicts due to time-outs in the email scanning process
• Unexplained and unusual email delivery
• Legitimate emails being caught under a verdict of spam or virus.

Resolution

The email scanning components of Symantec Antivirus and Symantec Endpoint Protection should be removed from any server utilizing email services.

To uninstall the email scanning tools for Symantec Antivirus version 9.x and 10 please follow Uninstalling the Internet Email Tools components of Symantec AntiVirus

To uninstall the email scanning tools of Symantec Endpoint Protection:

1. Go to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.
2. Select "Symantec Endpoint Protection".
3. Click on Change.
4. After the wizard opens, click on Next.
5. Select Modify and click Next.
6. You will now see a list of components. Click on the icon to the left of Antivirus Email Protection.
7. This opens a drop down menu. Select This feature will not be available.
8. Click Next.
9. Click Install

This starts the uninstallation process. After the uninstallation completes, restart the computer.

Please remember that a reboot is necessary to ensure that all components are successfully removed.