Overview

In certain cases (e.g: upgrading to a newer release candidate, or downgrading to a previous version) a clean install of the product is required.

In case of a clean reinstall, data from the previous installation will be lost.

For a clean re-installation:

Details

Step	Description	Details
1	> Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a program
2	In Programs and Features, find MetaDefender Email Security. Right click and select Uninstall.
3	Follow the steps of the installer

Step	Description	Details
1	Delete the directory and its contents where MetaDefender Email Security is installed.	The default is `C:\Program Files\OPSWAT\MetaDefender Email Security`.

Deleting the installation directory may be blocked by running applications that hold or use files that are included in the installation directory.

A common example of this issue is emailrelay.exe, which is not stopped by the uninstallation process.

Please lookup emailrelay.exe in the task manager and stop it manually. After this, try deleting the folder again.

Step	Description	Details
1	Start Registry Editor: > regedit
2	Navigate to the following key: `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\OPSWAT\MetaDefender Email Security`
3	Delete the MetaDefender `Email Security` key and all of its subkeys
4	Confirm deletion

Follow the instructions in 1.1 Installation to install the new version of the product.

This article pertains to MetaDefender Email Security v4.0.0 or above
This article was last updated on 2019-10-09
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