My e-mail stopped working after installing Norton 2000

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This question was answered on January 17, 2000. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

The threat of contracting a virus via e-mail has become a very real problem and we all need to take precautions to avoid them. Understanding how an attack may occur and installing Anti-virus software to combat them is critical to every computer user on the Web. Think of it as “buckling up” before getting on the Information Super Highway. Anti-virus companies have added a new feature that will attempt to “scan” your actual e-mail messages as you receive them so that they can stop infection before you even attempt to access your messages. Virtually all e-mail virus infections occur as a result of an attached file and not from the e-mail message itself, so scanning every message, at this point in time, is not really necessary. This is, however, the feature that Norton Anti-Virus 2000 attempts to install when you place a checkmark in the box that says: “Enable e-mail protection (recommended)”. Since most of you are going to follow the advice that the software company offers, you most likely will place a checkmark in this box, which is where the problem begins. Once you have chosen this option, several rather technical questions may follow, which if answered incorrectly, will cause the problem that you are experiencing. Another issue with this feature is that it will not work on AOL, CompuServe, Hotmail, Juno or any other non-POP3 mail system.

What this feature attempts to do is create a local mail server on your hard drive that actually receives the mail so that Norton can scan it and send it on to your e-mail program. In attempting to accomplish this, it will change settings inside your e-mail program, such as Netscape Mail or Microsoft’s Outlook Express. If all does not go well, which seems to be the norm, you will no longer be able to access your mail because it is looking in the wrong place.

Your best bet if you have already installed the program is to un-install it, which should reset your configuration back to the way it was before the install, then re-install it without this option. Be sure to close all other programs, especially your e-mail program so that it can perform the removal properly. If, after the un-install is performed, you are still unable to get your mail, your next step would be to manually re-configure the POP3 and SMTP settings in your e-mail program. If you don’t have this information, you will need to call your Internet Service Provider to get the proper configuration information or you may be able to get it from their web site. It typically goes something like “mail.providername.com” but since all providers do their own thing, be sure and verify the settings with them. If you are on a broadband or high-speed connection such as a cable modem, DSL or wireless but you use the mail system on a separate ISP, you will have multiple connections and configurations. You will most likely need to contact both your high-speed provider as well as your mail hosting company to get all the info for both. Be sure to write this information down and keep it for future uses as the need to reconfigure your e-mail software can be caused by a variety of products.

If you have purchased Norton Anti-Virus 2000 and have yet to install it, save yourself a lot of time and grief. Just say “NO” when it asks you to “Enable e-mail protection”. This does not mean that you don’t have protection from e-mail viruses because the program will still scan all files that are attached to an e-mail message, which is where the real threat is coming from!

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