[furycat]

I can't get this pesky program off my computer. I have it installed because it's necessary to access my schools wireless network, but it's not doing its job. My computer has been extremely sluggish lately no matter how many files i clean up and everything, and stupid mcaffee wasn't finding any problems. On a hunch i downloaded AVG and ran a virus scan- it found 138 infections that mcaffee was ignoring. So, i want mcaffee gone so that i can use a real antivirus but it won't go away. I had this problem early in the summer as well, but i didn't spend a lot of time tinkering. I took AVG off for now, because i understand that having two antiviruses is not good, but I've honestly tried everything to get rid of mcaffee- the windows uninstaller won't work because the program is running- and even when i can find mcaffee processes running it won't let me stop them. I've tried using the mcpr tool. it detects mcaffee enterprise and directs me to the website, which runs the mcaffee tech tool, which tells me to log in, with a password that i don't have. The tech guys at my school are no help because they will just insist on putting it right back on- they uninstalled a paid antivirus on me and reinstalled their stupid enterprise mcaffee when i said no. I've read almost every online forum post about this that i can find and I've tried it all, short of the manual remove, because i'm afraid to mess about in my registry and none of the walkthroughs i found were specifically for vista. I found another thread on here that was really similar to my problem only none of those answers worked for me... can anyone help me out? I'm tearing my hair out here- it's midterms time and i should be studying, only my computer keeps freezing on me when i'm trying to do so.
also, once i'm rid of this thing, any suggestions for a really good free antivirus program would be absolutely welcome.
thanks in advance for any help.

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Hi furycat and welcome to Geeks to Go.

As you are aware McAfee is a program that is very difficult to get rid of. It binds itself to every bit in the computer. That is why it is also difficult to get rid of. It also consumes a lot of memory and resources.

I believe you have tried some of this, but I need to verify.

Is mcAfee still functional on the computer?
Have you tried to uninstall through the add/ remove program group. Doing so, it should ask you about "stopping" the program from running.
Have you tried stopping the program by right clicking the icon down by the clock and choosing pause/stop?
Have you tried going to services and looking for all remnants of mcAfee and stopping them from running before the uninstall or using the MCPR removal tool?
Go to start...run... type in services.msc and hit ok.
Double click on each of the McAfee services and choose disable.
Try running the MCPR tool again.

As for a good free anti-virus tool, Avg, Avira, Avast, are all good.

Some reading for you
http://www.geekstogo...ftware-t38.html
http://www.geekstogo...ng-t225044.html

123runner

[123Runner]

Hi furycat and welcome to Geeks to Go.

As you are aware McAfee is a program that is very difficult to get rid of. It binds itself to every bit in the computer. That is why it is also difficult to get rid of. It also consumes a lot of memory and resources.

I believe you have tried some of this, but I need to verify.

Is mcAfee still functional on the computer?
Have you tried to uninstall through the add/ remove program group. Doing so, it should ask you about "stopping" the program from running.
Have you tried stopping the program by right clicking the icon down by the clock and choosing pause/stop?
Have you tried going to services and looking for all remnants of mcAfee and stopping them from running before the uninstall or using the MCPR removal tool?
Go to start...run... type in services.msc and hit ok.
Double click on each of the McAfee services and choose disable.
Try running the MCPR tool again.

As for a good free anti-virus tool, Avg, Avira, Avast, are all good.

Some reading for you
http://www.geekstogo...ftware-t38.html
http://www.geekstogo...ng-t225044.html

123runner

[furycat]

Hi 123runner thanks for your response.
Yes Mcaffee is still running and active. It won't let me stop it.
I've tried most of the things you asked about, and I just tried the last two. My mcaffee icon by the clock does not show an option to pause or stop it, I can't shut it down or turn it off. When i go into services, in the task controller window, if i try to stop any mcaffee process it tells me that access is denied. I am the admin on my computer but i get this message a lot .. should i be worried about that? also, when i did the run services command you told me, none of the options for stopping mcaffee were available- all of the pause and stop buttons are dimmed. I can't change anything about the program either. It's possible that the program could be installed incorrectly which could be my problem, but I've repaired it a couple of times to no avail. would it be useful for me to try reinstalling the program and then trying to uninstall it?

[rshaffer61]

Go HERE download and run the removal tool for mcafee.
Let us know how it works for you.

[furycat]

I've used it, it spends about ten to twenty minutes loading and trying to work things out, and then stops suddenly, informing me that enterprise is detected, and to contact my tech support.
i don't have tech support.

[123Runner]

Try doing what I recommended through safe mode.
To get to safe mode.....Tap the F8 key during startup.
I would recommend just safemode (not with networking).

And yes, sometimes you need to re-install a program (to repair it) before you can uninstall.

[rshaffer61]

Try this:
Boot into Safe Mode and try to uninstall it through Add\Remove programs. Of no then try the next step.

Download and install Revo Uninstaller

• Double click the Revo Uninstaller icon on your desktop to start the program
• Scroll through the listed programs and Right Click on the program you wish to uninstall
• From the pop out menu choose Uninstall
• Click Yes to the confirmation dialogue
• In the next window select the Advanced mode
• Click Next to start uninstalling the program
• Answer Yes to confirm the uninstall
• When the program has completed the four steps, click Next to allow the program to search for leftovers
• Once complete, click Next, then Finish
• Repeat the above steps for any other programs you wish to remove.

[furycat]

I've done everything suggested in safe mode as well.
I haven't tried revo-uninstaller, but i did use a tool called perfect uninstaller that also did not work. I will try revo.

[rshaffer61]

Ok thanks for the update.

[furycat]

Okay, I tried revo. It got me closer to getting rid of mcaffee than i have gotten so far. I actually was able to stop all of the running processes, and the mcaffee shields in the bottom right hand corner all shut down. However, right when i got to the very end an error message came up saying that the uninstall could not be completed because mcaffee was still being used. I closed down everything i could find that pertained to mcaffee, but i could be missing something, if it doesn't directly say mcaffee on it. I also went to try to uninstall it with revo on safe mode, and i got the same message that I was getting all along- action could not be completed, because windows installer may not be installed correctly. please contact your personnel.
I think i got that message when i was trying to uninstall something else in safe mode as well. I'm not sure what that means, but i've uninstalled several other programs successfully since i have been trying to get rid of mcaffee so I don't think it's true that my uninstaller isn't installed correctly.
what should i do about that message, and also are there any other processes i should close down related to mcaffee that might not say anything about mcaffee on them? i'm using my task manager, and the services.msc window i was directed to pull up earlier.

[123Runner]

Wow is McAfee being a bear.

Try running the Windows Installer 4.5.
We can also try the Windows installer cleanup utility

Then try uninstalling again.

[furycat]

Um, so the Windows Installer 4.5 told me it was not relevent to my system.
and i'm not entirely sure what i'm supposed to do in the windows installer cleanup utility? I downloaded and ran it, and it basically came up with a list of programs with the option to remove? I clicked on both mcaffee icons and "removed" them. but the icons are still appearing in my tray and now they aren't available to be uninstalled because i removed them.

[rshaffer61]

Delete the icons as they will do nothing now that the program is not working.
Another way is to boot into safe mode and try Revo there.
This should keep AV from starting.
If it still happens then we can try disabling it through Autoruns

[furycat]

what is autoruns?
I've already done everything else you mentioned.
i can't uninstall it in safe mode, it tells me that the drivers aren't there and i can't repair them.
also, the program seems to have completely repaired itself and reinstalled everything that i removed.
i think i'm just going to take this into a shop and get it dealt with properly.
thanks for everyone's help though

[rshaffer61]

One more try before taking it to a shop and paying money you may not have to do.


Download Autoruns from the link in my signature below:
1: Extract the Autoruns Zip file contents to a folder.
2: Double-click the "Autoruns.exe".
3: Click on the "Everything" tab
4: Remove any entries that mention "File Not Found" by right-clicking the entry and select Delete.
5: Go to File then to Export As.
6: Save AutoRuns.txt file to know location.
7: Attach to your next reply.