Uninstall McAfee

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@BOBMAS wrote:

I used Dell's step-by-step instructions to manually uninstall McAfee virusscan, firewall and security service. Then I used the automatic uninstaller to get rid of Security Center. I had no trouble deleting files within the registry, but ran into problems in the C: Drive with quite a few dll and exe files. The error message says: "Cannot delete this file. Access denied." In one instance, it said, "Cannot delete this file. Someone is using it." It was McAfee running, but I couln't end the task and delete the file. It's like running in circles.

 

 I really need to get rid of every piece of McAfee junk because Comcast will not let me download it's security software. It I'm still running McAfee on my system. There's got to be a way around the error messages. Does anyone out there know how? Thanks for helping.

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Try doing this in Safe Mode, F8 on startup.  Failing that, visit McAfee's site for further instructions. 

Thanks, Rick. Tried Safe Mode, but same error message. It won't allow me to delete files. I'll try McAfee website. Bob

New Developments ............

I ran msconfig and clicked on Startup to see if McAfee is there. Didn't see anything that might be McAfee connected, so I clicked Services and found: McAfee.com McShield, McAfee Security Center, CmAfee.com ViruScan O... (couldn't see what the O is), McAfee Personal Firewall and McAfee SpamKiller. Only, SpamKiller was running. The rest were all stopped. Nonetheless, I unchecked all of them and rebooted. From MyComputer, Program Files I was then able to delete all the files and folders in McAfee and all files and folders in McAfee.com except for two files in the VSO folder (1) mcvsshl.dll and (2) shlres.dll. I keep getting the "access denied" error message. VSO is shown running in the Task Manager, which is probably why I can't delete. I find myself running in circles if I try end task in order to delete the culprits.

At this point the computer runs ok, except that Comcast won't let me download its Security Manager because it smells traces of McAfee. Also, I get the following, three error messages when launching Outlook 2003:

1. The add-in “c:\progra~1\Mcafee.com\vso\outscan.dll” could not be installed or loaded. This problem may be resolved by using Detect and Repair on the Help menu.
2. The add-in “C:\Progra~\McAfee\SPAMKI~1\McMapi.dll” could not be installed or loaded. This problem may be resolved by using Detect and Repair on the Help Menu.
3. The add-in “C:\Progra~1\McAfee\SPAMKI~mskolplg.dll” could not be installed or loaded. This problem may be resolved by using Detect and Repair on the Help menu.

After clicking OK for the 3 error messages, Outlook comes up and it runs fine. I think that I missed something in msconfig, in either the Services or Startup tabs. Maybe some file is trying to run McAfee automatic virus scan outscan but can't find the dll files because they've all been zapped.

I would really prefer not to go to the McAfee website if I can help it. I'm down to just two dll files and I'm rid of McAfee, I think. Can any of you gurus out there help me figure this out? Thanks. Bob

More new stuff ..............

Went to registry, clicked on My Computer, Edit, Find and did a search on VSO and McAfee. A whole bunch of McAfee connected garbage spilled out. Took a while to sweep them up, as I had to tap F3 after each search and destroy. Toward the end of the registry, there were some files which I couldn't delete (system wouldn't allow it). Should have used a utility such as RegSeeker, but I'm not sure how to use it. Rebooted and checked msconfig, Service tab. Those McAfee files are still there, but now they're spelled differently. Wish they would go away, so I can switch back to Normal Boot. When Outlook is launched the same three error messages still come up and I have to click OK on all three of them. I'm going to try uninstalling Outlook 2003 and reinstall to see if the errors will go away. Also, in C:\Program Files, McAfee.com, I still can't delete mcvsshl.dll and shlres.dll even though they no longer exist in the registry (I ran a search and they're outa' there).

I'm hoping you gurus out there will tell me why I can't zap those few McAfee entries at the tail end of the registry. Also, if you know how to get rid of the error messages associated with Outlook, it will be greatly appreciated. I hope that my own nightmares will help others jettison McAfee and sleep better.

 

Nightmare continues, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm down to 6 undeletable files, I think. They're in the windows registry. Here's who they are and where they are:

Registry Tree McAfee Files

My Computer

       HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

               CurrentControlSet

                       Enum

                               Root

                                       LEGACY_MCSHIELD

                                               000

                                       LEGACY_MCUPDMGR

                                               000

                                       LEGACY_MCVSRTE

                                               000

                                       LEGACY_MPFIREWL

                                               000

                                       LEGACY_MPFSERVICE

                                               000

                                      LEGACY_MSKSERVICE

                                               000  

Read registry help file about "predetermined files" which can't be deleted. But it does not apply to these keys here. I also read about getting permission to take control of keys. It doesn't say what I can do after gaining control. Lost my nerve to find out. Maybe, just maybe a Dell guru or any guru can shed some light. By the way, Regseeker is pretty good. Launching Outlook still makes errors and those McAfee Legacy files are still there in msconfig (unchecked). I typed up an email to send to the tech guy at the local papers. Hope he answers. He's my last hope.

Got rid of the legacy_mcshield and others by highlighting the key, right click, permission, everyone, full permission. So, they're all gone, but I still get the error messages in Outlook and ms config utility still have them listed, so I have to uncheck them and use selected startup. Wonder what's causing the error messages in Outlook? If you know, please tell me. Oh, yeah, the McAfee forum is pretty good. At the tail-end of a post on their site I learned about granting full permission in order to zap the registry keys. The moderator said, "Oh, by the way, be sure you have full permission." I guess that in the end it'll be McAfee who will show me how to get rid of the error messages.

Wooooohooooo.

Searched Microsoft.com for Outlook 2003 Add-in. Voila' found an article right on point for eliminating the error messages.

In Outlook, on the Tools menu, click Options. Click the Other tab, click Advanced Options, and then click Add-In Manager. Click to clear (uncheck) the McAfee check boxes, click OK, and then click Ok. Click Ok one more time. That's it. Outlook launches without error messages. Good-bye McAfee.

Why does a customer have to jump through a thousand hoops to get rid of a crummy piece of software? There ought to be a law. Write your congressmen and women!

The upside of all this is that a person learns one heck of a lot.

 

This is the last post on manual uninstallation of McAfee Internet Security Center 7.

On a whim I decided to search registry one more time from top to bottom, using Edit, Find. Clicked My Computer and searched for "McShield", which is one of the 5 McAfee items in msconfig utility. It found not only McShield, but the remaining 4 items ... mcupdmgr.exe, MCVSRte, MpfService and MskService. Zapped 'em all and they went away. Here is the path:

MY COMPUTER

       HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

                   SOFTWARE

                             MICROSOFT

                                       Shared Tools

                                                MSConfig

                                                           Services

                                                                     McShield

                                                                      mcupdmgr.exe

                                                                      MCVSRte

                                                                      MpfService

                                                                      MskService 

The Config Utility has no more McAfee files in it and Outlook has no more errors. Wooohoooo!!

I sure hope some one finds this information useful.

Bob M.