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IE 8 Crashes After Installing Symantec Endpoint Protection SBE 12.1 RU1

Created: 05 Jan 2012 | 23 comments
Tony Lombardi's picture
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After installing SEP SBE 12.1 RU1 at two client facilities on Windows XP SP3 computers (upgraded from version 11 at one faciity and an earlier version of 12.1 at the other), IE 8 crashes each and every time an attempt is made to start it.  No browser window ever appears.  Following is a list of troubleshooting steps I took at both faciities.  I restarted the comupters after each step.

  1. Scan using Symantec Endpoint Protection version 12.1 - no viruses.
  2. Scan using Malwarebytes latest edition and definitions - no viruses.
  3. Remove all temp files, Internet temporary files and all Internet files in the Content.ie5 hidden folder.
  4. Using the Internet Options application in the Control Panel, disabled all add-ons.
  5. Using the Internet Options application in the Control Panel, reset the browser with all options selected (available on the advanced tab).
  6. Found a script online that purported to fix the type of problem I was having. Numerous comments said it worked for them. It did not work for me on 1 computer where I tried it.
  7. Did a system restore to a point before the problem started.
  8. Downgraded to IE7. IE7 then crashed the same way.
  9. Upgraded to IE8 again
  10. Removed the most recent updates.
  11. On one computer, I installed Firefox and it crashed the same way IE 7 & 8 crashed

Finally, I loaded process monitor by Sysinternals and saw SEP doing some strange things, so I removed it on the last computer I was troubleshooting.  Immediately upon removal, IE8 worked with no problems.  I then reinstalled SEP and IE8 continues to work; although that was done only a few minutes before writing this post.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

This does not appear to be a random problem and I now expect it to happen in other places where I have Windows XP and RU1.  How about it Symantec?  Are you aware of this problem and when will it be fixed?

By the way, I posted this problem on a Microsoft Internet Explorer forum believing the problem was with IE8.

Tony Lombardi
Pronetserv Inc.

Comments

pete_4u2002's picture
05
Jan
2012
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IE 7 & IE 8 are supported

IE 7 & IE 8 are supported version. Have you enabled the IE application dump?

Tony Lombardi's picture
06
Jan
2012
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Wow!  So I am not the only

Wow!  So I am not the only one having the problem with SEP 12.1 RU1. 

Yes, Pete, to answer your question, all clients are updated with current patches.  The facility has WSUS and patches get installed as soon as they are available.  Nevertheless, I checked for new ones just in case.  My original post, also, notes that I removed the latest patches in the belief they may be the problem, which they were not as I discovered later.  And no, I did not enable IE application dump.  Process monitor pointed me in the right direction.  Anyway, I am not aware of a special setting to enable and disable IE specific error captures.  Of course, WER is enabled, but the dump from that didn't tell me anything.  I posted the short version event log entry on Microsoft's IE forum and no one could make heads or tails out of it.

Sure hope the Symantec people are monitoring this thread.  This is not a good situation.

Tony Lombardi

NeilSmith7777777's picture
06
Jan
2012
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Same problem

Hi tony,

I'm having the same problem on a site we are curently upgrading to 12.1 RU1.  We now have around 5 Xp clients that will not open IE8.  if I uninstall Endpoint, everything works fine.  As soon as I reinstall, the problem returns.  I have just opened a case with support so will report back when I know more.

Just been speaking to another engineer of ours and it seems he also had this on another upgrade site before Christmas but only on two clients.  He ended up reloading windows from scratch to solve though.  It does at least prove it is not a problem with a particular site and setup.

 

Neil

pete_4u2002's picture
06
Jan
2012
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did you apply any patch

did you apply any patch recently?

NeilSmith7777777's picture
06
Jan
2012
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No it's a clean install.  We

No it's a clean install.  We have just recently taken over the site and they were running Sav 9.  We had a few problems with a couple of test client installs so decided to run a full cleanwipe on each workstation before deploying.

I downloaded the latest Endpoint version from file connect on Tuesday and all other traces of previous Symantec has been removed from servers and workstations.

thanks

Neil

pete_4u2002's picture
06
Jan
2012
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What I meant was any

What I meant was any Applicatio patch or Microsoft patch?

Enable the application dump, can you also check with Microsoft guys?

NeilSmith7777777's picture
06
Jan
2012
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No nothing.  We only did the

No nothing.  We only did the install yesterday and the ones that are crashing IE did it straight away after the Endpoint Install reboot.

I have an open case and have just sent off the support tool report so will report back when I know more.

LShackleton's picture
06
Jan
2012
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Hi Tony,   Just wanted to say

Hi Tony,

 

Just wanted to say we're experiencing the exact same problem here now after migrating to the same version late last year. It's affecting almost every browser I've tested so far too, Chrome and firefox certainly. Removing SEP fixes the problem but I have not yet found the exact feature causing the issue. I can confirm it's not: "Browser Intrusion Prevention" at least...

Have you contacted support yet? I might be doing so this afternoon.

NeilSmith7777777's picture
06
Jan
2012
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Hi L, The only browser I've

Hi L,

The only browser I've found not to be affected is Safari.  I assume that the browser protection doesn't support Safari so it is unaffected.

 

Neil

pete_4u2002's picture
06
Jan
2012
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ok, can you disable the

ok, can you disable the browser protection and see if it makes difference?

NeilSmith7777777's picture
06
Jan
2012
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Right just got off the phone

Right just got off the phone with support.  There seems to be a bug in this version with Application and device control. 

Advise was to remove this module from any affected clients and restart or to downgrade to an older version.  (Can't remember which one the chap said unfortunately as this is not an option for me).

Have tested on two machines so far and it works.  Will have to wait for a patch now

 

Thanks

 

Neil

Paul Murgatroyd's picture
06
Jan
2012
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Neil, do you have your case

Neil, do you have your case number?

Paul Murgatroyd
Principal Product Manager, Symantec Endpoint Protection
Endpoint twitter feed: http://twitter.com/symc_endpoint

NeilSmith7777777's picture
06
Jan
2012
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Hi paul, Yes it's

Hi paul,

Yes it's 416-033-920.

thanks

Neil

Ps.....Good to hear from you anyway. it's Neil from Aindale by the way.

Marc_Bzh's picture
06
Jan
2012
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Here it is: 416-033-920

Here it is: 416-033-920

LShackleton's picture
11
Jan
2012
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Thanks Neil. I can confirm

Thanks Neil. I can confirm excluding that feature from our install packages a couple of days back fixed the issue for us too.

Trudvangar's picture
20
Jan
2012
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whe have the same problem,

whe have the same problem, the RU 1 doesn`t fix it.

I open a case on symantec and they don`t know how to resolve it. Why i have to deploy clients excluding features that i need?, why i have to downgrade the version... i think thats a homemade fix... not a solution.

dsmith1954's picture
25
Jan
2012
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Still a problem. IE7 or IE8.

Still a problem. IE7 or IE8. It doesn't matter.

I started upgrading some desktops yesterday and today. Two of them have this problem. Did a CleanWipe and re-installed, but that didn't help.

I backed down to IE7, CleanWiped SEP, and then deleted all the folders and registry entries that CleanWipe missed. Re-installed SEP. Still have the problem.

Upgrading to IE8 after the re-install to see if anything changes, and it didn't.

Funny. The only two that failed like this have the application Trusteer Rapport installed. It has real-time monitoring of browsers.

I uninstall Rapport, and the browser started working again. I re-enabled all policies and it still works.

Check your user's Add/Remove Programs to see if they have Rapport installed. If so, uninstall it. SEP is NOT listed on their website as a supported/compatible AV application.

dsmith1954's picture
25
Jan
2012
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Forgot to mention. The way I

Forgot to mention. The way I found that Rapport was the issue was evident in the SEP Client Management System logs. SEP's Tamper Protection reported that Rapport was attempting to shutdown SEP.

dsmith1954's picture
25
Jan
2012
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My bad. It was the Tamper

My bad. It was the Tamper Protection logs...

dsmith1954's picture
27
Jan
2012
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Here's the fix from

Here's the fix from Rapport:

  1. Open Rapport's Console (Start > Programs > Trusteer Rapport > Rapport Console)
  2. Click on the arrow icon to move to page 2
  3. Click on "Edit Policy" in the "Security Policy" widget
  4. Type the required characters
  5. Locate "Early Browser Protection" and choose "Never" in the drop-down list
  6. Click on "Save"
  7. Locate "Block Screen Capturing" and choose "Never" in the drop-down list
  8. Click on "Save"
  9. Restart the PC and see if the problem still occurs

 This worked for me. Step 7 is to stop Rapport from blocking Remote Control applications. Rapport blocked the Deployment Console when I was trying to remote control the PC with the problem. Remote Desktop worked though.

Kris M's picture
21
Feb
2012
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First time installs of 12.1.1000.157 RU1

We are having the same issue when installing SEP for the first time. (Displacing McAfee)

It only affects a small amount of Windows XP machines. IE8 and Firefox crash only when SEP 12 is installed.

We have tried adjusting policies to no avail. We will look for the Trusteer Rapport issue.

Kris M's picture
21
Feb
2012
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Trusteer Rapport causes IE8 to crash

Fortunately, we caught this on the second day of our deployment. Thanks to others for posting the solution here.

Symantec, could you guys work with the Trusteer folks to update their software???

EdmundLau's picture
14
Mar
2012
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IE 8 Crashes After Installing Symantec Endpoint Protection SBE 1

Our customer organization does come accross with following problems after upgrading to SEP 12 verion 12.1.1000.157 RU1

1. Internet Explorer application need to shutdown

2. Loss of network connectivity

Estimated cases been opened until today around 30-40 cases. Headache....