Area: Electronic Mail
Topic: Why does my mail server details change by themselves

Background

We have had a number of customers advise us they can not see the mail server. On closer examination the incoming mail server details have been changed from "mail.tech2u.com.au" to "localhost".

In each case the user was operating PC-Cillan antivirus software.

Answer

PC-Cillan has an option to scan incoming email messages for viruses. To do this it creates a minature pop3 mail server on the local computer and intercepts the incoming email messages ready for parsing through this server. This called a "pop" trap. It changes the incoming mail server from "mail.tech2u.com.au" to "localhost" to enable this to work. It usually changes the account name as part of the process.

When a user opts not to scan the incoming messages the software should not make the two changes to a users system.

Twice in the last six months the PC-Cillan update has not updated the POP trap correctly. This leaves a user with an altered incoming mail server but nothing behind it to process the incoming emails. The result is a "server not found error".

We have been in touch with Trend-Micro who supply the product. They have asked that customers with problems contact their software support office for assistance. They are online at the Trend Micro Web Site or via email on PC-Cillan@support.trendmicro.com.

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Remember you can find this and other useful technical tips under "Member Services" at http://www.tech2u.com.au.

Happy emailing
TECH 2U P/L