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varlien

5 Posts

13911

July 14th, 2007 19:00

How to remove mcafee personal firewall from security centre, even after uninstalling the product

hey everyone, im a running windows vista home premium on my inspiron 6400, and when i had bought this laptop it came with mcafee trial. and now that i have uninstalled mcafee, i realized that the personal firewall is still on. i have tried using the two cleanup tools that are around, and none of them did the job, there is absolutely no mcafee services running or during startup. the mcafee still shows as on in the security centre as "windows firewall and mcafee personal firewall both report that they are turned on. please do help, i dont want to reinstall my OS. is there a way to completely remove it?

zbestwun2001

8.8K Posts

July 14th, 2007 21:00

McAfee has their own forum that might be more helpful to you.

zb1

S.C

503 Posts

July 15th, 2007 00:00

Ah, yes. McAfee problems. So many of those. McAfee is actually worse than a virus. Problem is, it has issues leaving. I've had many problems with McAfee and I'm not quite sure how to remove it totally. How about trying to search for anything labeled McAfee in the program files and deleting them off the machine?

S.C

503 Posts

July 15th, 2007 00:00

Hmm...Well, you might have to delete it from the registry itself but it's dangerous to go into the registry and delete keys if you aren't exactly sure what you're doing because you can totally screw up your computer to unrepairable conditions.

varlien

5 Posts

July 15th, 2007 00:00

hey!! thanks for the suggestions, but i still doesnt go away. oh and another weird thing i just found out, when i open security center the firewall is runnign both windows firewall and mcafee, then in the Malware Protection, there are 3 anti virus programs running, 1st is Avast (which is the default one im using currently), then there is AVG (which i had uninstalled a long time ago), then there is mcafee virus scan, then there are 3 spyware programs too, 1st is mcafee virusscan, then there is spyware doctor (which is the default current one) then there is windows defender which is turned off. so there is my dilemma, i dont know why this is happening.

ky331

3 Apprentice

 • 

15.2K Posts

July 15th, 2007 01:00

I believe your problem is a "corrupt WMI repository".   I've fixed this once on XP SP2, but have never tinkered with Vista, so I'd like to have someone else look into the matter, rather than offering you directions that might "backfire".
 
 

1972vet

3.3K Posts

July 15th, 2007 02:00

Quote: i have tried using the two cleanup tools that are around, and none of them did the job

You didn't say what tools those were...you also didn't say what version of McAfee you had installed as a trial.

If you had version 8 or 8.5 of the Security Suite installed, and if you did not use the McAfee Removal tool...then try these instructrions:

Download and run the McAfee Removal tool

Note: Always be sure to uninstall your McAfee product through Add/Remove Programs, first. The following steps should only be taken if uninstalling through Add/Remove Programs has failed.

1. Download the removal tool from Here.
2. Click Save and save the file to any folder on the computer.
3. Navigate to the folder where the file is saved.
4. Make sure all McAfee application windows are closed.
5. Double-click MCPR.exe and the removal tool will start automatically.
Note: Windows Vista users must right-click and select Run as Administrator.
6. Once the removal tool is finished, you will be prompted to restart your computer. If you choose to restart later, your McAfee product will not be fully removed until you do.
7. Wait for the computer to restart.

All McAfee products are now removed from your computer.

Note: When MCPR completes and the status is anything other than Completed Successfully, please see the FAQ here

1972vet

3.3K Posts

July 15th, 2007 02:00

Have you checked the add/remove programs listing? Since you're not sure which version of McAfee you had, you might look there. Some of their products must be uninstalled individually...not all versions uninstall in one lot. Look for anything "McAfee" related. The Security Center must be uninstalled last.

varlien

5 Posts

July 15th, 2007 02:00

nope there is nothing related to mcafee or anything that has mcafee written, ive tried doing the install a fresh one over the currupted one and uninstalling it properly, but it didn't work, since its incompatible with Vista, now that got me wondering, why would Dell install something thats not compatible with vista

varlien

5 Posts

July 15th, 2007 02:00

Hey, i dont exactly remember which version of mcafee it was, i bought this laptop like around mid january. about the cleanup tools, ive tried the cleanup tool you suggested, it was unsuccessful, and i tried looking through the log for failed deletion, but i wasnt able to find any failed ones. and the other one i tried was the MPFCleanuptool.exe, that dint work as well. the system runs fine anyhow. hmmmmm i might as well reinstall my system sometime when im really really free. i should have done that when i got my laptop.

S.C

503 Posts

July 15th, 2007 11:00

Ah, well, the McAfee cleanup tools didn't work for me, kept showing up as incomplete cleanup. Apparently I had a corrupt registry key that I couldn't delete and McAfee support was no use. I'm not quite sure how else to get rid of McAfee, might just have to stick with it since it has issues leaving.

spearson

17 Posts

July 20th, 2007 02:00

The repository suggestion is exactly correct. Took me hours with Dell, Vista and McAfee before I finally found someone who didn't just have me keep trying the McAfee tools.
 

To completely turn off McAfee:

 

In safe mode with administrative rights:

Run: cmd

At the "Dos" windows prompt:

C:\user\{user account name}>net stop winmgmt  (Enter)

cd %windir% \system32\wbem  (Enter)

Ren repository repository.old  (Enter)

cd\

C:\windows\system32\wbem>net start winmgmt  (Enter)

 

Should cure the mcafee problem.

varlien

5 Posts

July 20th, 2007 03:00

OHHHH THANK YOU SOOO MUCH PEARSON!!!, gah, i can now finally breathe. haahha it got rid of all the junk. thank you a tonne!! woohoo!!

spearson

17 Posts

July 20th, 2007 03:00

Actually, a McAfee/Dell interface techhie took me through the prompts via telephone.
 
I went back and looked at your earlier post and it turned out to have essentially the same commands. At the time, I did not try it because of the cautionary notes and a bit different of a context (getting Vista to recognize a different firewall).
 
I can now report that the commands do indeed correct the McAfee problem in Vista. Hopefully others will find the threads and not have to pound their heads against the wall.
 
Thx for the repository suggestion.  

ky331

3 Apprentice

 • 

15.2K Posts

July 20th, 2007 03:00

spearson:
 
the repository suggestion... which I had made earlier in this thread (message 6)....
 
I had given you the same suggestion... and essentially the same commands... in message 7 of this thread:
 
was your solution based on my suggestion???

ky331

3 Apprentice

 • 

15.2K Posts

July 20th, 2007 11:00

You're welcome.
 
I realize that in the earlier thread, I had only tested the procedure on a Windows XP (Pro) system, which is why I included the cautionary disclaimer wondering whether or not the identical procedure would also work on Vista... but I did suggest there that " You might want to contact McAfee first to see what they have to say about this idea."
 
I had also sent my "research" on this "fix" to 4 other forum members, who I felt might have a better grasp of the technical matters involved...
of these, only 1 replied back to me, and he did not encourage me to pursue the idea.
 
Anyway, I'm glad you "discovered" the technique as well, and that by publicly "advertising" it here, it should serve to help many others.

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