Incoming POP3 Address Changes on Restart

I was helping a friend who could send but not receive e-mail. I checked the settings and the Incoming mail POP3 address showed 127.0.0.1 (a loop back address I think) instead of the one normally used by our ISP - mail.*****.net. I deleted the number, entered the text line required by our ISP, and then clicked on "Apply ". Was able to download about 2 weeks worth of e-mail.

Later, I rebooted the machine and when I looked at the settings again, the Incoming mail POP3 address had mysteriously changed back to the loop back address. I repeated this entire process again with the same results. What is causing this change to happen? And, depending on the answer, perhaps this should be in Security?

 

This problem has turned up a number of times, and is almost always the result of an anti-virus program's mailchecker. If your disable the section of your AV which checks incoming mail, configure your POP3 address then reboot, is the address still reset?
If that is the problem, I don't see any need to worry about leaving the mail checker off; as long as your firend is smart about what attachments he opens, and saves to a temp folder then scans it before opening any attachments he does want.

 

David,

Thanks for the tips. I tried your suggestions but still got the same results. I disabled the e-mail scanner and then based on some tips on the McAfee FAQ, I tried disabling the Spam Killer and then disabled both at the same time. Still get the loop back when restarting the computer.

I think your suspicion that the problem is in McAfee somewhere is right on. I have an e-mail pending at McAfee right now. Will let you know what I hear back from them.

 

David,

Status update - A McAfee tech gave me some instructions which I followed and still got the same results. When I sent a followup to tell them the instructions didn't work, they sent me a McAfee User Guide in PDF format and told me the instructions for installing or uninstalling or troubleshooting a particular area such as Spam Killer would contain the answers I needed. Thank you very much.

As the friend's McAfee subscription was almost up, we uninstalled McAfee, installed AVG and Zone Alarm and no more e-mail problems. Our HSI provider has a decent spam filter.

So - thanks for your help and no thanks to McAfee.