Can't remove mcafee firewall

Question

I seem to be having problems removing my mcafee firewall and security center that came with the dell. When i go into add and remove programs and start the uninstall process an error message pops up saying that i cant remove it because it missing an install program!! when i first uninstalled the virus protection it would not do all applications at the same time so now i cant remove the firewall. I do not need nor want mcafee because I use a different program. Everytime i start up the computer i get the error message that mecafee is not installed properly and reinsert the installition cd. I have never had this much problems removing any program!!!!

bamajim · Answer

lisag9059

Removing Mcafee is difficult

If you have the internet security version you will need to:

1.Sign in as administrator

2. open security center

3. on each tab click disable ( ie virusscan, spam blocker, etc)

4. close program

5. then go to add/remove and uninstall

6. if you receive any error codes please reply

bamajim

bamajim · Answer

lisag9059

If you still have your disc's that came with the pc, labeled "application" you can reload McAfee and then remove it per my previous post. If no disc is available, you may have to remove it while in safe mode.

If you are unable to accomplish either one of these, please reply and I'll give you another route

bamajim

lisag9059 · Answer

I opened the secuirty center and shut off the firewall, but it is still running. I have already removed the virsus scanner, just have the firewall and security center left. When i go into the remove programs right after clicking the yes i want to uninstall the program and error message pops up saying

The installation cannot continue because some components (c:\progra~1\mcafee.com\agent\unist\mpfrem.ul) are missing.

when i dont hit the close button on the eror installer box the remove program seems to be working the green bar moves to the end then stops at the end and nothing else happens.

lisag9059 · Answer

well that removed the firewall BUT I still get the error message at startup the mcafee failed to launch properly and reinstall. the program didnt remove the mcafee security center. it is still in the add and remove programs.

itmandotca · Answer

Here are the removal instructions direct from McAfee when Add/Remove programs fails to remove Personal Firewall Plus.Manual Uninstall of Personal Firewall Plus

Please follow the instructions below to run the Personal Firewall Plus removal tool. This will completely remove Personal Firewall Plus from your computer.

Download and save the MPFCleanupTool.exe to your desktop.
Locate MPFCleanupTool.exe on your desktop and double-click to launch.
The removal tool will schedule and display a time when the removal process will begin.
Note: The displayed time should be within one minute of the current system time shown in the bottom right side of the screen.
Removal will begin at the displayed time.
During this process, several icons will be created on your desktop. All of these new icons, except one, will be removed when the uninstall is complete and the computer has been restarted. The file mccleanup.log will remain on the desktop. Once you have verified the removal was successful, you can delete this file.
When finished, the following message will be displayed: The machine must reboot to complete the uninstallation. Reboot now?
Press "Y" on your keyboard to restart your computer and complete the removal process.

If Personal Firewall Plus is the only McAfee service installed on your computer, uninstall SecurityCenter.

itmandotca · Answer

If for some reason, you have removed all of your other McAfee programs and SecurityCenter will still not uninstall, do the following:

Double-click on My Computer (on some XP systems, click Start → My Computer).
Double-click on drive C:
Double-click on the Program Files folder
Double-click on the mcafee.com folder
Double-click on the agent folder
Double-click on the app folder
Delete any files that end with .adf by right-clicking the file and selecting Delete
Use the Control Panel to remove SecurityCenter from Add/Remove.

If that doesn't work try going through the tree on the left of the page at ts.mcafee.com to find the manual removal process for other McAfee software.

Message Edited by itmandotca on 03-23-2006 04:22 PM

lisag9059 · Answer

i started in safe mode and tried once again to unistall the program, all that is left now is the secuirty center. i get the message at startup that it is not properly installed and reinstall it, no i do not have disk. when trying to remove security center the error message now says

the installation cannot continus because some components (c:\progra~1\mcafee.com\agent\unist\screm.ui) are missing.

i tried what mcafee said to go into the programs and in the files to remove the files then uninstall but that file is empty therefore no files to delete. this is utterly confusing and frustrating. this is one of the reasons i do not want to use mcafee, have had problems with there software in the past!

lisag9059 · Answer

i have already tried that and there are no files in that app folder at all. or any folders in the mcafee  program ending with that sequence. is there just any way i can disable the error message from popping up when i start up.

itmandotca · Answer

at this stage I would have to agree that the best bet would be to try and reinstall the application and then remove it.   If that doesn't work I'd have to try to think of something else.

lisag9059 · Answer

i have no way to reinstall the program i dont have the disk it was preinstalled by dell. i went into msconfig. startup apps and unchecked the mcafee boxes and that stopped the error message at startup so far no more errors it may just be a temp fix but if i run into major problems down the road ill do a dell factory restore and start all over with the hassel of removing mcafee but for now im good thanks for your help

itmandotca · Answer

Hey no problem, sorry we didn't find a way to get it resolved.

royhud · Answer

Try Ccleaner from Cnet and run like 3 times. And also run the fix issues a couple times. Just check the items you want to fix. Has worked fine for me. It was the only way to remove all of the AOL junk.

itmandotca · Answer

Good tip, I completely forgot about that tool.   I'll have to remember that one.

gemini4 · Answer

Or you could use MCREM: http://www.toughadmin.com/download/mcrem.bat

eftilton · Answer

McAffee Anti-Virus and Firewall came installed on my Dell computer and I used them until the subscription expired, then installed a good free firewall and an anti-virus program of my choice. But how to rid myself of McAffee, which does not wish to be got rid of? They keep on sending me messages and instructions which I do not want. Finally I managed to uninstall the anti-virus part successfully but I have heard too many horror stories of folks uninstalling the firewall and thereby disrupting their connection to the internet, that I was not brave enough to try. So finally I entered the Program Files folder and renamed the McAffee.com folder to McAffee.com_old. I was hoping that would de-activate the program even though it is still on my hard drive (but I have plenty of room). Since then I have had no signs of McAffee and the icon is gone from the sys tray. I am just keeping my fingers crossed.   Elizabeth

Virus & Spyware

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