Quick question about McAfee subscription

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@rngd wrote:

 

... is the 15 month subscription starting from the time I received the laptop...

 

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Yes... it (normally) starts from the time it was installed on the laptop - which is when software normally asks for registration information.

 

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@rngd wrote:

 

If I were to uninstall it, and install it again, say 1 year later, will I still have the free 15 months to use?

 

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If only :smileyvery-happy:

No... it doesn't work like that.

 

If software registrations did work that way... the developers would be bankrupt in very short order, because nobody who bought their software, would ever need to buy an extension to the registration period!

Many programs offer lifetime registrations of course, but anti virus/anti spyware solutions, almost always last for a year only, after which you either have to uninstall the software, or buy an extension for it.

 

When you reinstall it, the software will know the date the program was first registered, and continue the registrtion from that date :smileywink:

Thanks for the reply !

So how is it actually activated ? Was it already activated at the Dell factory ? Or does the user activate it himself ? How do I know if its already activated ?

 

Thanks. 

We use McAfee at work.  The way their licensing works is it 15 months from the day you activate it.

If you uninstall it for 1 year then reinstall it, its only good till the end of the original 15 month period.

 

Hope this helps.

 

- M

I dont think it will be activated from the factory.  They will use a ghost image to image

your drive, not build them all one by one, far too slow and not cost effective.

 

Upon first boot up buy you, it will ask your name and to set a user ID and so on.

Then it will want a active Intenet connection to activate Windows and other apps

on the image.  Its at that point the clock starts ticking on your apps and anti-virus.

 

Any testing done at the factory is just hardware tests to make sure all the bells and whistles

work on the system board, graphics, memory and HD prior to shipping.

 

Every new HP and Dell my company buys comes this way.  Only on first boot up does all

the soaftware and OS get activated.

 

- M

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@rngd wrote:

 

So how is it actually activated ? Was it already activated at the Dell factory?

Or does the user activate it himself?

How do I know if its already activated?

 

Thanks. 

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I don't know for sure, because I uninstalled it as soon as I could (I prefer to use my own AV solution - namely NOD32).

But I'd expect it will have been activated during installation?

 

You can usually check if it has been activated, by opening the program, and selecting 'About'? 

If I recall I had to register once I received my laptop

Thanks for all the replies. Yeah, I haven't registered it yet.

 

But Im not sure if registering it is the same as activating it ? Or was it already activated at first boot up, but I have to register also .. ?