NC State University's Office of Information Technology (OIT) recently discovered issues with Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 and Lenovo ThinkPad laptops and tablets running Windows Vista. There appears to be an incompatibility between Lenovo's built-in "ThinkVantage Client Security Solution" software and SEP 11.
OIT is recommending that Lenovo users uninstall the ThinkVantage Client Security Solution software prior to installing SEP 11.
- How to Uninstall ThinkVantage Client Security Solution
- Questions & Answers
- Technical Details
- SysNews advisory post
How to Uninstall ThinkVantage Client Security Solution:
To uninstall the ThinkVantage Client Security Solution software, follow these steps:
- Open the Control Panel window.
- In the Control Panel, locate and click on "Uninstall a program." If your Control Panel window is in "Classic View," locate and double-click on the "Programs and Features" icon.
- Your window will change to display a list of programs on your computer. Locate and select "Client Security Solution," then press the "Uninstall" button.
- You will be asked if you are sure that you want to uninstall Client Security Solution. Press the "Yes" button.
- You might see a dialog box telling you that an "unknown program" wants to access your computer. This is the uninstaller program, so you should press the "Allow" button, and let it continue.
- When the uninstall is complete, reboot your computer.
When the ThinkVantage Client Security Solution software has been uninstalled, you can now safely install Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.
Questions & Answers:
- Does this issue affect other computers besides those manufactured by Lenovo?
No, only Lenovo machines with ThinkVantage Client Security Solution software are affected.
- I have a ThinkPad running Windows XP. Am I affected by this issue?
OIT has not received any reports of problems with ThinkPads running with Windows XP. We believe this issue is confined only to ThinkPads running Windows Vista.
- How can I tell if I have ThinkVantage Client Security Solution software installed on my ThinkPad?
Open the Windows Start Menu (the blue "orb" with the Windows logo), and select "All Programs." Look in the list for "ThinkVantage," and select it. In the ThinkVantage folder, look for "Client Security Solution." If you see "Client Security Solution" in the list, then the program is installed.
- Should I install Lenovo's ThinkVantage Client Security Solution in the future, after I have installed SEP 11?
No, once you have Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 installed, you should ignore prompts from Lenovo's update program that ask you to install the ThinkVantage Client Security Solution software.
- I want to continue using the ThinkVantage Client Security Solution software. What can I do?
OIT suggests using Symantec AntiVirus 10.2 for Windows Vista, instead.
- I have a question that isn't answered on this page.
Please contact the NC State Help Desk for assistance.
Technical Details:
The ThinkVantage software is intended to act as an interface for the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip installed in all ThinkPad laptops, but is not required by most users. More information about the ThinkVantage Client Security Solution software is available on Lenovo's website.
Users trying to install SEP 11 on Lenovo ThinkPad machines, running Windows Vista, are seeing the following set of errors:
Error text:
Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library: Runtime Error!
Program: C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\Smc.exe:
This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
This error is occurring due to a conflict between the ThinkVantage Client Security Solution software and SEP 11. This conflict prevents SEP 11 from starting up correctly, which leaves the computer without functional antivirus protection.
Page last modified June 20, 2008 by helee2