The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    My Alienware came with mcaffee 4 year. Uninstall???

    Discussion in 'Security and Anti-Virus Software' started by 5abivt, Dec 31, 2010.

  1. 5abivt

    5abivt Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    37
    Messages:
    178
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I just bought an alienware m17x. I sold my MacBook pro unibody 17 for this and am coming from a machine i used for a year with not a single pop up, error, crash etc. I am scared coming back to a pcmof all the garbage that is spyware, malware, antivirus, blah blah blah.

    My question is, should i uninstall mcafee ?

    I am starting to read up on it and I'm hearing mcafee is a resource hog. How bad is it? Will this affect system speed? Gaming? I ran 3dmark06 out of the box and hit 14,600. I didnt turn mcafee off or do anything. I play wow, cs and frozen throne and don't do any downloading at all on my laptop at work. I use my desktop at home for all d/l duties. Can I benefit from removing mcafee and not having any sort of pc only gabage software on my machine?
     
    5abivt, Dec 31, 2010
    #1
  2. Mastershroom

    Mastershroom wat

    Reputations:
    3,833
    Messages:
    8,209
    Likes Received:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    206
    I haven't used an antivirus in about three years, and have not had any trouble. Just use common sense and don't download torrents for HAWT_PR0N_AVI.EXE, and you'll be fine.
     
    Mastershroom, Dec 31, 2010
    #2
  3. 5abivt

    5abivt Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    37
    Messages:
    178
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thanks for the tip! I have free avg on my desktop which I use to download everything I need. I don't d/l anything except the obvious stuff on my laptop like game updates etc
     
    5abivt, Dec 31, 2010
    #3
  4. Deks

    Deks Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    1,272
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    2,073
    Trophy Points:
    331
    Just remove Mcafee and replace it with Avira, Avast or MSE (free versions of course).

    Mcafee is quite bad when it comes to slowing down the computer (resource consumption) and has a overall lower detection threshold.
     
    Deks, Jan 4, 2011
    #4
  5. wave

    wave Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    813
    Messages:
    2,563
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    The new versions of Mcafee is not bad. It will do its job and protect you.

    What takes resources is the full security suit with firewall, browser plug in, spam filter and other crap.

    I would only use the virus protection.
     
    wave, Jan 4, 2011
    #5
  6. Deks

    Deks Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    1,272
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    2,073
    Trophy Points:
    331
    The new version of Mcafee is still a joke as far as virus protection goes.
    I wouldn't touch that thing even if you paid me (at least not until I see some concrete improvements from the software).
     
    Deks, Jan 4, 2011
    #6
  7. Gandalf_The_Grey

    Gandalf_The_Grey Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    443
    Messages:
    541
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    31
    According to the Malware Research Group it is better than MSE 1.0 (they haven't tested version 2.0 yet) and 6 other programs, but worse than Avira, Avast and 12 other programs at detecting single zero day / early life malware samples in Q3 2010.
    MRG Tests Malware Research Group

    So it is not completely evil :rolleyes:
     
    Gandalf_The_Grey, Jan 5, 2011
    #7
  8. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

    Reputations:
    285
    Messages:
    2,834
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    56
    No question on the common sense/torrent part..however the last computer I cleaned was nailed during a Goggle search for a water filter.

    So for the average mom and pop I would highly recommend a least one of the AV programs...which may actual do some good ;)
     
    hydra, Jan 6, 2011
    #8
  9. KarenA

    KarenA Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    81
    Messages:
    565
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    This is a question I meant to ask too. I just bought a new notebook with McAffee Security Center 15 months. Should I replace it with a free AV, or I just keep it?
     
    KarenA, Jan 8, 2011
    #9
  10. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

    Reputations:
    285
    Messages:
    2,834
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Why not, 15 months free. See Gandalf_The_Grey's post. I had read that as well.
     
    hydra, Jan 8, 2011
    #10
  11. Deks

    Deks Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    1,272
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    2,073
    Trophy Points:
    331
    If you know how to separate the internet security from the actual AV, then go right ahead...
    I still wouldn't keep it on my system due to resource utilization.

    Why bother even if they give it to you for 15 months?
    Seriously, that reeks of desperation.
    And with Mcafee's track record, they managed to completely wreck whole computers with a simple virus definitions update.

    Now, if you want to risk it again potentially in the future, go right ahead.

    As I said... until their product shows marked improvements, I'm going to avoid it, but that's just me.

    I fail to see advocating in favour of paid solutions (temporarily free or not) when free alternatives do the same thing for 0 cash.
     
    Deks, Jan 8, 2011
    #11
  12. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

    Reputations:
    285
    Messages:
    2,834
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    56
    hydra, Jan 9, 2011
    #12
  13. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    4,843
    Messages:
    8,389
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Use some common sense when suing the web plus this http://www.microsoft.com/Security_essentials/
    (Free) that should do the trick :)

    On another note... the apple operating system is riddled with security holes - they just don't get exploited that much as there is no money in it for criminals, the more macs are "out there" the more likely you are to catch malware on one of them. No OS is perfectly safe. (even Linux isn't, it can be safer, but not perfectly safe)
     
    DetlevCM, Jan 10, 2011
    #13
  14. KarenA

    KarenA Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    81
    Messages:
    565
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    So... I had to choose between:
    1. McAffee Security Center
    2. My usual free security setup, consists of: Avira AntiVir/MS Security Essential 2.0 and Windows Firewall.

    I've decided to stick with McAffee for a while. I hope it won't hurt to try (I hope it won't end up wrecking my Windows 7). For extra protection I'm using SBIE Free/BufferZone Free, WOT, AdBlock+ with Malware Domain Subscription, and ClearCloud.
     
    KarenA, Jan 11, 2011
    #14
  15. Deks

    Deks Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    1,272
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    2,073
    Trophy Points:
    331
    Question KarenA...
    Why are you using both Avira and MSE at the same time?
    Only use 1 of those 2.
     
    Deks, Jan 11, 2011
    #15
  16. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    4,843
    Messages:
    8,389
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    I think the "/" means "or" :)
     
    DetlevCM, Jan 11, 2011
    #16