Too much protection?

Serpentine

This is a dumbass question but I had a lot of trouble recently with Spyware/viruses etc (used Smitfraudfix & no prob so far, fingers crossed) but I've downloaded AVG, Ad-Aware as well as my McAfee (which didn't pick up on my original problem so I decided to try the others)

So far AVG is great cos it has picked up on a few viruses/trojans that mc afee hasn't so I don't want to get rid of it but someone told me McAfee & AVG are incompatible & I'm asking for trouble

x keo21

yes way too much protection.
if you are running all those anti virus programs at once they will conflict with each other and f@@kup your pc.
Uninstall m afee etc and keep the free avg
thats my opiniion any way

Download spyblaster and spybot S&D there very good with avg

Serpentine

Do you think I should uninstall the Ad Aware too?

I uninstalled McAfee before but it warns me my computer is at risk by doing so & that scared me. Also, lately McAfee is actually picking up on trojans but usually only when I am scanning with AVG then I'll get the Trojan/Virus warning from McAfee so I don't really wanna delete it because of this but AVG so far has picked up on more

-annex-

Running more than one antivirus program will cause conflicts so ensure that you only have one running. In your case I'd recommend keeping AVG and ditching McAfee. AdAware is antispyware so you can keep that no problem. In fact I'd recommend having at least 2 antispyware apps on your PC. Try out SUPERantispyware and/or Spybot.

is_that_so

I have them both on separate machines and do not find McAfee a problem. In fact I have two different versions of McAfee, both of which are working perfectly well. OP if you still have a subscription for McAfee then I 'd leave it on and remove AVG. You can then get AVG when the subscription ends.

ActorSeeksJob

McAfee is useless, even if you had a 10 year subscription you should still get rid of it.

Just make sure you don't have more than one anti-virus program, you currently do, so remove one

Don't have more than one firewall

You can have more than one anti-spyware program though

is_that_so

ActorSeeksJob wrote: »

McAfee is useless, even if you had a 10 year subscription you should still get rid of it.

While I am aware that you do an awful lot here for people with problems IMO you should still qualify your comments on software, instead of just dismissing it out of hand.

ActorSeeksJob

Not sure if I understand you correctly, you want me to say why I think it is one of the worst anti-viruses around ?

I would be happy to do so, as long as you do the same.

is_that_so

ActorSeeksJob wrote: »

Not sure if I understand you correctly, you want me to say why I think it is one of the worst anti-viruses around ?

I would be happy to do so, as long as you do the same.

TBH it is not a question of my opinion versus yours, but in the interest of information. Rather than just say something is crap I would be inclined to highlight why there is/might be a problem with it. I am not necessarily defending it in any way. I myself have preferences for Kaspersky.

I would be inclined to say

I have not experienced any problems with the two versions of McAfee in the four years I have been using it but it does have some very annoying elements to it notably its overzealous email scans, suspect anti-spam software and its tendency to use enormous resources. This has implications for machines running less than 1GB RAM. On a security front it has performed as I would expect and my machines remain clean.

Otherwise you can come across as just slagging it off at the expense of your own favourites. It can also suggest that the real problem is McAfee/Norton and not user activity and, as you yourself pointed out, the lack of overall protection.
No matter what fixes users make or add, often it is their own behaviour/lack of knowledge that has invited the problem in , in the first place.

ActorSeeksJob

I wasn't slagging it off, I was merely pointing out an opinion held by pretty much everybody who has the most basic knowledge about anti-virus programs. I don't know anybody who would recommend the program, even if it was free.

No matter what fixes users make or add, often it is their own behaviour/lack of knowledge that has invited the problem in , in the first place.

Yes of course, but at least other anti-virus programs can remove a lot of infections, McAfee can't even remove the most basic ones.

God forbid you try uninstall McAfee, you will be left with the services still running cause it doesn't uninstall properly, causing possible BSODs, huge slowdown, and loads of other problems.

Throw in massive slowdown in your PC from having McAfee, and the way it aggressively markets its other products, makes this a joke of an anti-virus.

I don't particularly have a favourite anti-virus program, but at least I know which ones are good and which ones are bad

Serpentine

ActorSeeksJob wrote: »

Yes of course, but at least other anti-virus programs can remove a lot of infections, McAfee can't even remove the most basic ones.

God forbid you try uninstall McAfee, you will be left with the services still running cause it doesn't uninstall properly, causing possible BSODs, huge slowdown, and loads of other problems.

Throw in massive slowdown in your PC from having McAfee, and the way it aggressively markets its other products, makes this a joke of an anti-virus.

I've already had that problem where I uninstall McAfee & it's still there, like their stupid privacy service I just can't get rid of plus my laptop runs unbelievably slow I really think I'll try uninstalling it again and stick with AVG

ActorSeeksJob

Download and run the McAfee Removal tool from here

http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe

Serpentine

Cheers for that link, I think I've successfully removed McAfee as it was proving crap! :mad: Yet another obvious question but do I need to install a new firewall now? What do you recommend? Apologies but I'm really not good at these things & I really appreciate the help!

ActorSeeksJob

Yeah if you have no firewall or anti-virus now, install one of these

Firewall : Comodo or ZoneAlarm
AntiVirus : AVG, Avast, or AntiVir

kleefarr

My vote - AVG Free and Zonealarm Free.

Deliverance XXV

You should consider the McAfee Site Advisor tool also. It is freeware and it is a very handy piece of kit. It will indicate if the website you are visiting is dodgy, questionable or clean etc. It also works on search engines.

Download for Firefox
or
Download for Internet Explorer

XJR

You don't have way too much protection you probably don't have enough.

What I mean by that is that running two anti virus programs can end up giving you less protection that running one half decent one.

Find a good one personally I don't rate AVG I use Macaee Virsuscan and it's great. If you don't have a firewall get one I've used Agnitum Outpost, there's a fee version and it's good.

If you set it up right you should be well sorted.

pirelli

is_that_so wrote: »

While I am aware that you do an awful lot here for people with problems IMO you should still qualify your comments on software, instead of just dismissing it out of hand.

I have heard that Mcafee is average/standard in locating spyware. I suppose it's a good all round package. The firewall is good. But for locating spyware it's not nearly the best. That was from a windows security ipod discussion. They are very intensive discussions. I however have no complaints about Mcafee from my experience.

It is not a straight forward uninstall, but it is simple and quick, You must use a mcafee website program.
http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=107083&lc=1033

This will give you a step by step instruction and it also has an essential program mcpr.exe which you save to your pc and run after you have uninstalled. This removes everything.
There might well be some registry files and some other files left. Consult mcafee website to if you are unsure of what you are doing, but i wouldnt worry too much about them.