Overview
Anti-virus and backup software scanning may cause MailEssentials to malfunction. This occurs when such software denies access to certain files required by GFI MailEssentials or completely blocks and quarantines critical program executables.
This article provides the directories that should be excluded from being scanned by all anti-virus and backup software in order for MailEssentials to work properly.
Diagnosis
Local Anti-virus software (including Windows Defender) may report that certain MailEssentials executables are virus-infected and block them from running thus interfering with the normal operations of scanning emails for spam and real malware. Some of the executables that can be wrongly flagged and quarantined by most Anti-Virus software are listed in the table below:
| MailEssentials Executable & Location | Description |
..\GFI\MailEssentials\AntiSpam\aswiz.exe |
Executable for the Bayesian Wizard tool to import tokens from Outlook or Exchange |
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Executable for the MailEssentials Switchboard |
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Executable for the Post-installation wizard, usually launched automatically after every fresh installation, as well as after performing an Import using meconfigmgr.exe. |
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Configuration Export/Import Tool for backing up and restoring the MailEssentials configuration |
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POP2Exchange service executable |
The above list of MailEssentials executables is not exhaustive but only shows a few examples of the most common executables that can be blocked by third-party Anti-Virus engines and wrongly quarantined as malware, thereby corrupting the MailEssentials installation.
Solution
A critical post-installation task to prevent MailEssentials from malfunctioning due to file locking interference from third-party Anti-virus and backup software is to exclude the MailEssentials directories from being scanned by all Anti-Virus and Backup software running on the MailEssentials server, including Windows Defender.
The table displays the directories that should be excluded from being scanned by third-party anti-virus and backup software based on the installation environment:
| Configuration | Directories |
| Installed with (x86) Exchange 2003 |
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| Installed with (x64) Exchange 2007 |
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| Installed with (x64) Exchange 2010 |
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| Installed with (x64) Exchange 2013 |
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| Installed with (x64) Exchange 2016 |
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| Installed with (x64) Exchange 2019 |
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| Installed on IIS Relay (Windows Server 2003, 2008, or 2012) |
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The directories specified in the table above are for the default installation. If you installed GFI MailEssentials in a location that is not the default, please modify the path accordingly.
Always make sure to follow the guides and best practices of your anti-virus solution when it comes to configuring exclusions, in order to properly exclude the above-mentioned folders and sub-folders, as well as any files that may be contained within.
Priyanka Bhotika
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