I have SecurityCenter version 9, build 9.0.286 on a thinkpad.
This problem occurs on both Windows XP SP2 and SP3.
Outlook 2003 opens emails with blank bodies. The From, To, Subject, and attachments are visible. The window body is not drawn - any dialog that overlaps the not-drawn area leaves a static image of itself in that area when dismissed. It is like the display logic for that area of the screen has crashed (or more likely being interrupted by a McAfee process). The Outlook today display is blank. Some emails refuse to open with an error dialog saying "Unable to open item". I also cannot save new calendar or task items. The only way to view an email is to hit Reply so the email opens in Word.
When I use Task Manager to kill all the mc* processes, Outlook behaves 100% normally again. When the mc* processes restarts automatically a few seconds later, Outlook continues to work properly. This is good until the next system restart.
Unchecking the firewall, antivirus etc using the SecurityCenter have no effect. Task Manager must be used to kill the mc* processes.
McAfee has been running on this system for almost 2 years without trouble. I first noticed this problem fter a crash in Movie Maker. Subsequently I have determined that this crash is not the probable cause as the problem remains even after I used Acronis to restore the disk to a state prior to the crash. After the restore, I let McAfee do its update, and the problem comes right back. My suspicion is that one of the McAfee updates has changed something in the application core.
This problem started on SP2. I have since upgraded to SP3 hoping for a fix. The problem remains.
When in SP2, McAfee Virtual Technician reported a problem - something is not up to date. When in SP3, I had MVT reported a registry error. No effect after letting MVT fix both errors.
I have reinstalled Office 2003. I have reinstalled McAfee. No fix.
I am resorting to using Task Manager to kill mc* after loading Outlook upon each restart. This is probably forcing McAfee to load AFTER Outlook, thereby circumventing the problem. This is not a long term workaround. I am seriously considering switching to another product. Can anyone shed light on this before I do?
Thanks!!!