Mcafee took my computer down

Question

Have a Dell Studio with paid McAfee service (purchased thru Dell) that worked perfectly until last Monday.  Contacted McAfee as their Security Center was not displaying correctly.  They uninstalled their product, downloaded newest version to the desk top, and told me restart computer and download from desktop.  The down load ran for about a minute and then everything would freeze.  Had to kill power, and retried download twice more with same result.  When I get back online, I find that though I can get online the 'buttons' do not work on any site.  Could not log into McAfee as when I click 'log in' nothing happens.  After four excruciating sessions with those people, I am no better off.  Last two rounds with their Tier2 team supervisor ... first one said it was an operating system bug and to reinstall Windows.  Second one said it was an Internet Explorer issue and to reinstall that.  All I know everything was fine until they got their fingers on it.  Forgive me if not totally computer savvy, but I have all my software and can find no IE disk ... would that be on the operating system disk?  Should I contact Microsoft?  or Dell?  Fix it myself?  I'm still under warranty, but it is so frustrating to spend two hours with techs and get zero results.

Bugbatter · Accepted Answer

Hi THIO

Should I contact Microsoft? or Dell? Fix it myself?

It's not a Microsoft problem, nor a Dell problem. It's either a McAfee problem or you have malware that is suppressing McAfee and will not let you login to their site. If your system is clean, and you have tried RoHe's recommendation, with no luck, try another anti-virus.

* Disable all components of McAfee.

Please open McAfee Security Centre
Under Common Tasks click on Home
Click Computer Files
Click Configure
Make sure the following are disabled by ticking the "Off" button.

Virus protection
Spyware protection
System Guards Protection
Script Scanning Protection (you may have to scroll down to see it)

Next, select never for "When to re-enable real time scanning"
and click OK.

Further info on disabling and re-enabling McAfee: http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/microsite.do?cmd=displayKCPopup&docType=kc&externalID=222820

Please make sure that you're following the above instructions for Add/Remove followed by McAfee's Removal Tool in order to uninstall all remnants of McAfee if you are going to remove it.

Follow with CCleaner: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds

(This is a good utility to keep for your regular maintenance.)

** Select to download the SLIM version.

** Because CCleaner removes everything in temp folders, if you have anything saved in a temp folder, back it up or move it to a permanent folder prior to running CCleaner.

** You will be cleaning cookies as well. Make a note of any passwords, etc. that you want to save. If you do not want to delete cookies, simply uncheck that option.

Run CCleaner.

After that, REBOOT. Then you will be ready to install one of the free AV programs.

Please see these pages for

LISTS OF FREE SECURITY SOFTWARE

FREE SECURITY SOFTWARE

Let us know how that goes.

kirkd · Answer

Your Dell warranty does not cover software problems. If you manage to get them to listen, they will recommend re-installing the OS! The commercial AV programs appear to have lots of problems

My recommendation is to ditch McAfee and go with one of the free, good AV programs. Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG and others are good. Search on AV program ratings to learn more.

RoHe · Answer

Always include the version of Windows in your posts! :emotion-5:

If this is Windows XP, you might try running a Windows system file check (sfc /scannow) to see if any Windows files are missing or corrupted. You'll need your Dell Windows Reinstallation disk.

You may want to run a System Restore to last date available before you installed the McAfee update which creamed your system. Not sure about your version of Windows, but in XP, for example, you'd click Start>Help & Support. Then click "Undo changes..." and follow the prompts. Pick the last date when you know things worked ok. Personal filles will be ok, but you will have to reinstall any (Microsoft) updates that were originally installed after the date used for the System Restore.

Now be careful about going on line because McAfee may not work after the System Restore. So go directly to MCPR.exe removal tool and see if you're able to download the tool. If you can, follow the directions at that link to remove McAfee. Reboot when that's all done. Then go back to the McAfee site and download their software again, based on your account license -assuming you want to continue using McAfee. If not, install some other antiviral software. EDIT: And then go to the Microsoft site and let it scan your system for any missing updates.

If none of that helps, you may need to run a repair of Windows, but the exact procedures vary with the version you use. Your personal files shouldn't be affected, but you will probably have to reinstall some Microsoft updates again...

Ron

THIO · Answer

Thanks for the fix ... worked perfectly.  I did have to reinstall McAfee, but good to go now.  Now off to find some other AV program.  Poor to pay for a service, have that service bring you down, then leave you hanging to fix it yourself.  Anyway, learned some good information with the restore feature.  Hopefully won't have to use it again.

RoHe · Answer

:emotion-21: Want to elaborate on exactly what you did so others can learn from your experience? Ron

Bugbatter · Answer

I did have to reinstall McAfee, but good to go now.  Now off to find some other AV program. If you reinstalled McAfee and you are good to go, you do not need another AV.

THIO · Answer

Main issue in choosing another AV program would not so much be the need as the desire, especially after paying for a program that created this mess and then getting minimal customer support that did not fix the problem.  I have not changed AV programs, but this forum helped much more then the hours I spent with customer no-service.  Thanks for the tip on CCleaner and to all for their input.

THIO · Answer

I was able to do a system restore, using Vista: Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore.  The process was very easy following the prompts, though it did take some time.  I was able to find a restore point that was the day before I got into the mess.  As I was not proactive in creating those points, I assume the system automatically does so at regular intervals.  The system was working fine, but as RoHe noted may be the case, McAfee was not functioning.  I uninstalled McAfee: Control Panel>Programs>Uninstall A Program.  I then utilized the MCPR.exe tool RoHe noted to be sure all components of McAfee were removed.  Followed that up by using the CCleaner recommended by Bugbatter (great, free tool).  After rebooting, I was able to log into McAfee account and redownload the program.  Everything has been fine, and we are going on several days now.  Full McAfee scan after reinstallation showed only one low level trojan, FWIW.

RoHe · Answer

:emotion-21:

If it were me, I'd wait until the McAfee subscription ended so at least you'd get what you paid for (not counting all the aggrevation!).

I'm probably going to dump McAfee too when my subscription expires in Feb'11. Their 2010 version doesn't work as well as previous ones. And you're right, their tech support is horrible.

At least we all can share our experiences here and -more than likely- somebody else has had the same problem and knows the fix.

Ron

Windows General

Mcafee took my computer down

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