Re: Issues with Symantec Version 11

["Fowler, Steve" <steve.fowler () OREGONSTATE EDU>]

Brenda,

We've been running SEP since it was in beta more than two years ago on Dell and other hardware brands but have seen the 
problems you describe on very rare occasions.  What happens if you reboot the system that has the pending system change 
error?  Normally that should clear the registry key and allow SEP to install.  If not you might want to refocus your 
investigation and try to find out what is causing the pending system changes as this isn't a normal situation.  As I 
understand it the SEP installer is detecting the condition as a safeguard against causing potential problems if it 
installs while the system is in a state of change.

I agree that asking users to make registry changes isn't the best approach, but you could consider using a script to 
make the change if necessary once you find the underlying cause of the problem.

Regards,
Steve Fowler
Systems Manager
Technology Support Services
Oregon State University


-----Original Message-----
From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Brenda B 
Gombosky
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 12:35 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: [SECURITY] Issues with Symantec Version 11

Over the past 4-6 month's we have experienced issues campus wide with new models of both Dell and HP's that cause the 
following issue when installing, thus putting the machine into a perpetual loop of re-boots. So far our efforts to get 
a resolution to this issue have not produced any successful response/work around from Symantec. 
 
When trying to install a Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0 client, the installation fails with the message "Pending 
system changes that require a reboot have been detected"
 
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ent-security.nsf/docid/2007121609023348 
 
In our opinion asking the customers to make changes to their registry is not a fair expectation. Therefore we are 
weighing to options before us and one of them is to ask customers with the affected configuration to use an older 
version of release 10 instead. 
 
We are interested to know how other University's are handling the issue as well. 

 
 
Brenda B. Gombosky, CISSP, CGEIT, CISM, CHSP
Director, Enterprise Security  
Information Technology
University of Louisville
Miller IT Center, Room 109
Louisville, KY 40292
(502)852-5037
(502)419-6689