McAfee Problem

Will either of these get rid of whatever virus is hanging up McAfee? Or is McAfee just doomed?

Yep yep yep...been doing this for several years even when I paid for the MS product. The Malwarebytes doesn't even run all of the time. Just to speed up my machine a little I only run it occasionally. The MS is all I use full time and I have had zero issues for quite some time.

That's the exact combo I use on the 5 computer I maintain but I also recommend running Ccleaner at every startup and PC Decrapifier at least once after you get it stablized.

You can get them both for free at filehippo.com.

L8r

Open up task manager. Click on processes and view the list. Is there a application that is consuming a lot of your memory? Is it running using up the processor? Whats it called? If it's a application you have install lately uninstall it from the control panel. Have you tried windows go back?

I tried that. With no apps running, the one I kept seeing come up, take up memory and CPU time, and go away--every 10 or 15 seconds--was McAfee.

Yeah, for me too it seemed like McAfee was itself the virus; it was the thing hanging up the system. I un-installed it, then installed and ran the other programs I mentioned.

In my experience, Norton is slow, and McAfee is worse.

I rarely recommend any piece of software, but my company (300+ employees) has been switching to Vipre antivirus the last 6-9 months. That is not enough time for me to feel completely comfortable with it, but so far it has been very good. No, I do not have any affiliation with Vipre.

Checkout http://www.pcantivirusreviews.com/Reviews/GFI-Sunbelt/VIPRE-Antivirus-Software/ . Note the head-to-head review near the top.

Since I currently have Norton at home with ~6 months to go on the subscription, I have not switched yet. But once it does, I will be loading it up on my home computers.

Hi, SOP,

I haven't had any problems with McAfee, but maybe I've just been dodging bullets without knowing it...

It might be a good idea to back up any critical data you've got on the system, just in case. After that try Malwarebytes as several have suggested.

There are also a couple of other programs that I've had really good luck with. One is CCleaner (cleans junk off your hard drive, but use the default settings if you're not sure about anything), Startup Inspector for Windows (from download.com), and Spybot S&D. Between these four programs, my system stays fairly trouble free. Except for the patches from Microsoft, which are authorized to be resource hogs.

How did the McAfee get on your system to begin with? Was it one of those trial versions that came when you bought the system, or did you voluntarily install it at a later date? Sometimes those try-before-you-buy packages (from a lot of vendors) don't always work like you'd hope.

That's all the quick & dirty fixes I can think of off hand. I'd definitely back up everything before going any further, though.

Good luck & keep us posted!

My wife likes McAfee, so she bought it. My company computer came with ESET. I use AVG on all my other computers.

Fighting viruses and trojans is like electronic warfare in the military--that is, the offense is always one step ahead of the defense. No matter what you run, sooner or later a virus will get through and destroy your system.

I think they should invoke the death penalty for those people.

Long term, you might want to consider a switch to Linux--much less susceptible to viruses.

Ok, gotcha. Well, like I said, I use McAfee and haven't had any problems, but you're correct in saying that it's a mattor of time before something gets through, no matter what AV is being run.

About all I could suggest is what someone else has already suggested: deinstall McAfee and see if that helps. Seeing's how this was a purchased package, McAfee might allow you to reinstall it since you're a licensed owner. Maybe the problem is a corrupted file or something simple like that. And if M won't let you reinstall, maybe it's time for a switch.

If you deinstall M, let us know how it goes. I guess it's kind of like being the canary in the coalmine...

You've had good results with AVG, so you know what to do

Beyond that

The usual windows advice, back up any files, do a restore

XP machines seem to work best, if they get rebuilt every year or so

An item gets frequently neglected. When did you the last time did basic cleaning and repacking on your hard disk? It is a well neglected area, and frequently cleans up mysteries caused by weak bits, and such. Once started it takes a few hours, but the results are gratifying. I do it every 6 months or when to many mysteries of the kind: sometimes it works, at other times not, pops up.

The programs are there in every Windows I worked with, well hidden in one of the program selection subbasements.

I have heard of other horror stories RE- McAfee AND Norton- I hit a problem a while back because I was running XP64-bit, which Norton does not even support.

I tried the free 30 day down load of Kaspersky, and I have never looked back. A really neat thing is that it check with "home" at least every hour, sometimes sooner, totally seamlessly.

It is also available- relatively cheaply- in a 3 computer from one disk pack, so just one purchase takes care of up to three independent machines. You can also- again relatively cheaply- buy 2-year or 3-year licenses which saves you both time and money.

It even tells you about 30 days before the license expires that it is closing in on the magic day so you are not scrambling to keep protection in place- and you can purchase the multi-user renewal online and install at your leisure.

Re: I tried the free 30 day down load of Kaspersky, and I have never looked back. A really neat thing is that it check with "home" at least every hour, sometimes sooner, totally seamlessly.

That is not always a good thing. If you trust Kaspersky, I suppose it is OK--you're call.

I use Kaspersky as I usually manage to buy 3 licenses on ebay each year, even cheaper than a single license is normally, for my daughter's Laptop, my laptop and my PC.

Last time I paid less than $20 for all three.....late night or early morning!!

Install it and remove McAfee, I think its rubbish.....

Clamwin is free and keeps itself updated. It's not just for Linux. I use it and ccleaner occasionally.

Hello,

I remove viruses infectecting Windows machines all the time. Download and a copy of Ubuntu Linux, burn the image to a CD and install it side by side with Windows. Side by Side is an option during setup when you boot from the CD.

Once you are running in Ubuntu, goto "Places" and mount your Windows partition. Then, in "Places" choose Search for files, and find ALL the "Temp" directories and "Temporary Internet" directories and delete their contents.

The search will bring up alot of directories with "temp" in the name. Ignore those. Your main concern is "Documents and Settings" Temp dirs, and "Windows" temp and temp dirs.

Then browse into the Documents and Settings folders and look for "Application Data" folders. If there are ANY .exe files in there, delete them.

Last, remove the McAfee directories from "Program Files" and delete the pagefile.sys file from the root of "C:, and the "Recycler" directory.

What this does is cuts the legs off any virus that is already in the machine. While still in Linux, download Malwarebyte for Windows and save it to the Windows drive. Also, search the internet for this"

"fix_av_xp.reg" and this: "FixingMalwareProblem.reg" and save them to your Windows drive as well.

On reboot, you will have a timed menu, choose Windows and be ready to hit "F8" for safemode.

If the machine wants to check the disk, let it, but don't let it boot normally when it is done. It will reboot on it's own so you have to watch it at this point.

Now shutdown the machine, disconnect the network cable/wifi, and then restart in "Safe Mode" using the F8 key. In that mode, find the .reg files and double click on them and answer "yes". Goto Start, Run, and type "msconfig". Choose "diagnostic startup" and apply/ok and reboot.

Once in Windows run the Malwarebytes installer you put in from Linux.

Run a full scan and remove anything it wants to. Then, reboot again after a complete shutdown, remember Linux is the default! (You can change that easily if you want, but it's safer if you don't. In Linux terminal say "sudo apt-get install startupmanager")

Reconnect the network. Restart, and when up, open Malwarebytes again and update it. Run another Full scan and you should be good to go, if you don't have other problems!

Let Windows get all of it's updates, and then get "Google Pack" and use that to get "Spyware Doctor" as well. It works pretty good too as a second pair of eyeballs on the problem.

Now that you have Linux, try that for a while, you might like it.

Wow! Thanks for all the advice, but those procedures are something I would turn over to an expert.

We're just dumb 'ol computer users, who expect a computer to act like an appliance--like a refrigerator or microwave oven, which doesn't require a Microsoft Certified Engineer to keep it running.

When I go back to my wife's office next week, I think I'll just uninstall McAfee, install free AGV, and let it scan the system. If that doesn't fix it, I'll run some of the programs others have recommended. And if THAT doesn't fix it, we'll buy another computer with (ugh!) Windows 7 on it.

I've been down this road before, and sometimes the cures are more expensive, agonizing and time consuming than just buying another computer. I have 3 or 4 computers just sitting on the shelf because they are infested with a virus that we couldn't get rid of.

Using a Linux virus recovery boot CD, you will be able to recover each of those PCs and sell or use them.....

In the worst case, replace the hard disks.....rebuild.

Give the hard disks to a professional to clean and re-format before re-using.

The rest of a PC cannot hold a virus, assuming no USB sticks or floppies when I say that, but even they can be cleaned......only storage devices can hold a virus active....

Problem is, what's a old used PC worth? $100? Not worth the trouble. We used wiring and steel from one of them on the race car, but that's the only time I ever made use of an old PC. the processors are slow, memory and disks are small, and the old Windows operating systems aren't supported any more. I tried to give my granddaughter an old PC, but we couldn't find software to support the wireless connection because they don't go back that far. The PC worked, but we couldn't get it onto our wireless network.

OK, THAT old........

Third world countries can sometimes use them I believe, the OSs are still on the web to download. Wireless is not really important and can usually be shut down and a plug-in card used instead if it is.....

Also CNC fanatics that mainly use DOS anyway like old "free" computers.......the most important thing for them is a Parallel Printer Port!! Look for a CNC (no not Command and Conquer! Computer Numerical Controller) club or similar in your area, he will drive to you and pick them up. I can help if you tell me what city you are in, with a bit of luck.....

They are not "worthless", except for the one missing wiring maybe.......

I use an old Pentium with ClearOS for a FANTASTIC router! I run it "headless" no keyboard or monitor, and it's routing down two paths, Cable and DSL. Also does file sharing and stuff.

I use Puppy Linux on older hardware for internet/schoolwork stuff.

I use Ubuntu for my desktops and Laptops.

ChromeOS for netbooks.

SUSE for servers.

Windows I use for looking through....

*sigh*

Sometimes I wish I still had the time and knowledge to play around with hardware and software like some of you. Once, computers were fascinating to me, when I wrote real-time operating systems and process control systems and robot controls and avionics software and helped send Apollo to the moon.

But the last computer program I wrote was a game, where two people chased each other around the screen and fired lasers at each other--on a Radio Shack Color Computer. Crikies, that was a zillion years ago.

Those days are over for me. I'm just a user now. I just want the &$@*ing computer to WORK, not require re-engineering.

You'd think, after all these years of developing Windows, Microsoft would finally get it right--but all they do is continue to screw things up. It's called Transoptimal Engineering--that is, Windows has so many advanced features, it doesn't work any more.

Sorry for the rant.

Well, My Uncle worked on Apollo too...And I go back as far as the programmable IBM ten-key from '77.

I would do the Ubuntu Linux thing and forget the fixing windows part of my first post. It works. It's easy to do. I have alot of clients using Ubuntu at home now because they can't afford to "fix" windows every 4-6 Months.

www.ubuntu.org and follow the bouncing ball. You will not regret it. You can boot the cd you make and run it "Live" from the CD itself before you commit to an install. That way you can see if it will see your hardware ok first. Or call up your local computer guy and offer him a six-pack of his favorite brew to make a Ubuntu cd for you. Tell him/her you want "Maverick 10.10" not "Natty 11.4".

Windows is a nightmare. Linux will remind you of the old days when you want it to, and just work otherwise.

Use ClamWin anti virus with Tiny Firewall, and when you get rid of McAfee make certain you cancel with them and with your Bank. AVG will screw up your mind as it takes over and over-rides your decisions on settings.

Somehow, everybody who is responding is getting declared off topic.

I suggest you don't reply to somebody else's thread and reply to the main thread.

I started one of my replies as off topic to begin with. I wasn't addressing your problem specifically, but thought I would hijack your thread a little for a well-known Microsoft/Linux discussion.

I said I'd keep you folks updated on my progress--or lack thereof.

We installed AVG today. Took two hours to install, four hours to run a scan, and it found two viruses which it put in the Virus Vault. But now the computer runs slower than ever. It takes 10 or 15 minutes to get any program to run and like 6-7 minutes to read an email. I tried to Uninstall AVG, but that won't run. So it's off to the computer hospital tomorrow morning, where I'll let the pros work on it. There goes $200 or so.

*sigh*

Yup. AVG will do that. Go online, google "pack" and get Google Pack and select Avast and Spyware Doctor only, after you uninstall AVG.

Run Full scans with both and see what you find.

Final diagnosis: It just plumb ran out of memory. It only had 500MB, and my wife had too many programs starting up. Well, SHE didn't want them to start up, they just growed all by themselves. Adding AVG was the final straw--the system simply couldn't run any programs any more. Adding a gig of memory and cleaning out all those program startups cured it. It runs like a new machine now.

The reason McAfee kept running every few seconds was because it was running in virtual memory.

Thanks for your help--even though more than half the messages were off topic.