McCafee Security Centre is driving me mental!

Post by **Rick Piper** » 21 Oct 2006, 19:11

Hi Guys

I need a free Virus scanner that XP is happy with that works.

McCafee's current new stuff is the most annoying thing i have ever had on my PC.

Every 5 minutes there is a new update message that overrides what i am playing or doing and takes priority.(window opens on top of current app & steals cursor)

If i go into the config of it and set all alerts to off i get a continuous message telling me the warnings are disabled.

Basically it's driving me to an early grave as it has made me too stressed to go near my PC. :crying:

The tech support would be SH1* if it improved 1000 times.

It also has about 20 processes running all the time which i do not want including it's own firewall & spyware guards that do not work at all apart from telling me how great they are every 2 minutes.

Sorry but currently very angry & wanting to do a (Blunkett)
ie@ go to McAfee HQ with a Machinegun.

Regards
Rick

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 21 Oct 2006, 19:38

Ok, I've had a read through some threads on the OcUK forums to catch up on whats what in the anti virus world at the moment.

Free Anti Virus:

Avast

Free Firewall:

Comodo
OR
Ashampoo

AntiVir and Comodo are also worth looking at (both anti virus programs)

AVG is a no go.

Post by **DaveB** » 21 Oct 2006, 20:49

Dare I ask Chris but why is AVG a no-go?? When the likes of DM use it and him being 'in the industry'.. I'd have thought it safe :roll:

ATB

DaveB :tab:

Sl4yer · Post by **Sl4yer** » 21 Oct 2006, 20:58

DaveB wrote:Dare I ask Chris but why is AVG a no-go?? When the likes of DM use it and him being 'in the industry'.. I'd have thought it safe :roll:

I've used AVG for a few years now. It seems to test well, and it works fine for me.

James

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 21 Oct 2006, 21:07

AVG wasn't rated very well on OcUK and I've 'fixed' a PC that had AVG along with 159 viruses, trojans etc.

At the end of the day, I wouldn't use a free AV program as you get what you pay for but if it's a free one you want then go with the above suggestions.

Post by **Rick Piper** » 21 Oct 2006, 22:17

Hi Chris

It gets no better.

I installed Avast.

now i can do nothing on these forums involving Emoticons or any of the buttons as they no longer function.

Uninstalled Avast and they still don't work

Regards
Rick

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 21 Oct 2006, 22:39

Do a system restore and try AntiVir or Comodo.

Also, I trust you uninstalled Mcafee first?

Post by **Rick Piper** » 21 Oct 2006, 23:10

Hi Chris

I'm stuck now.

I have used system restore a few times with no problem.

when i try now i just get an empty white window and nothing else.

Yes i did a proper uninstall of McCafee including the reboot etc before i did anything.

Windows update also now sits there searching in an endless loop.

It seems to me McCafee has given my software a good scramble just before it closed the door behind after i kicked it's bitt off my PC.

I am not losing work with a reinstall either as i lose work every time as i have 500 gb of it at least.

I'm so glad i gave up PC support 5 years ago as it's too stressfull for me these days.

Regards
Rick

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 21 Oct 2006, 23:23

Uninstalled Avast?

Other than that you could try hitting F8 on startup and selecting startup with last known good config?

petermcleland · Post by **petermcleland** » 22 Oct 2006, 12:04

I got rid of everything McAfee sometime ago and have recently removed all Norton's from my wife's Laptops. I have now got Avast installed in all and am delighted with it's performance (only turned off the sounds)...It just goes on it way, is NOT intrusive and the machines boot faster and run better.

Getting rid of the old is NOT straightforward...The worst mistake you can make is to have any of it running in the background when you Uninstall...This leads to masses of leftovers which can only be properly cleaned out with something like Registry Mechanic. You can start cleaning after a bad unistall by "Searching" for "mcafee", "symantec" and "norton"...delete every folder found and when you find one that won't delete, restart in SAFE MODE and delete it from there. When you have done all that then you will need to clean the registry of perhaps as many as 700 items...I really recommend Registry Mechanic.

I assure you that you will never regret getting rid of the McAfee and Norton's bloatware.

One more word of warning if you have "Auto Renewal" on either...SAVE the text of any email that assures you that these have been cancelled...You may need to quote it as many as three times and get the associated three refunds to your credit card before the have completed this exercise :think: