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Cleaning malware from an email archive when using Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools

This section provides the steps on how to manually clean malware from an email archive when using BEST.

BEST can identify malware in email databases and email archives stored on disk. However, it is important to mention that, in case of a manual scan, if the scan action Delete is selected, then the entire .pst or .ost archive is deleted.

As a result, sometimes it is necessary to identify the infected message using the information provided in the scan report, and delete it manually. For example, when you want to stop detections for that item, or you want to make sure that the file is no longer present in the archive.

To clean the malware stored in an email archive, follow these steps:

  1. Run a Custom Scan task with the option Scan email archives selected. For more details, refer to Malware scan.

  2. Open the scan report and use the identification information (Subject, From, To) of the infected message to locate it in the email client.

  3. Delete the infected message from your email client.

    Note

    If you cannot delete the infected file, you need to temporarily disable the Bitdefender On-Access antimalware protection on the endpoint. For details, refer to Preparing the endpoint for troubleshooting detections.

  4. Delete the message from the recovery folder, if applicable.

    Note

    Most email clients also move a deleted message to a recovery folder, from which it can be recovered.

  5. Compact the folder where the infected message was stored, as follows:

    • In Outlook Express: On the File menu, click Folder, then Compact All Folders.

    • In Microsoft Outlook 2007: On the File menu, click Data File Management. Select the personal folders (.pst) files you intend to compact, and click Settings. Click Compact Now.

    • In Microsoft Outlook 2010 / 2013: On the File menu, click Info and then Account settings (Add and remove accounts or change existing connection settings). Then click Data File, select the personal folders (.pst) files you intend to compact, and click Settings. Click Compact Now.

Important

If you had issues deleting the file and had to apply a clone of the policy, don't forget to apply the original policy back on the endpoint.

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