If I need to remove it, I will probably need to 1) deactivate the license, 2) go to safe mode and do the program/features program uninstall, 3) go to web site and download mcpr to remove the rest of the McAfee (I guess I can go back to normal mode to do this as I tried to do it in safe mode with networking and the program's uninstall was unsuccessful), 4) then go the the C drive and remove any directories/files left over, and D) go the registry (after backing it up) and go through it removing any McAfee references.
Still not convinced something else is going on with the laptop, though. I am just not smart enough to figure it out. Spent 48 hours on this and I am about to just chuck the laptop. Other option is to go to a 2 year old backup or the original factory image and start from scratch. I don't really have the time for doing this though.