Norton Antivirus Protection Disabled under Novell Netware

[grice <grice () VT EDU>]

Problem:
Even with auto-protection enabled, Norton Antivirus fails to restart when
users login to any workstation which has been logged off at least once.

Systems Affected/Tested:
Norton AntiVirus 5.00.01C under
Windows 95/98 with Novell Netware Client 3.1.0.0

Description:
Auto-protection is a typical feature found in a variety of antivirus software
packages to automatically scan files being downloaded, copied, or executed on
a workstation.  With auto-protection enabled under Norton AntiVirus,
navapw32.exe loads each time the machine is booted.  Under a normal system
configuration this service continues to run and scan files until the machine
is powered off.  However with the Novell Netware Client installed, the auto
protection service also shut downs every time the first user logs off of the
machine.  When the same user or different one logs back onto the machine the
service fails to restart.  The service must either be manually started by the
user or the system must be rebooted.  When tested on systems without the
Novell client the service restarted each time the user signed off and back
onto the windows machine.

The problem also seems to extend to other Norton Utilities packages such as
the Norton Protected Recycle Bins (nprotect.exe) and other "auto-protect"
software.   This isn't really a problem with Norton AntiVirus or other
software packages but it is a flaw (feature?) in the Novell Client that could
have a significant impact on some system administrators in trying to protect
user machines against malicious code.

Regards - greg