McAfee Total Protection

January 1, 2007 01:40
Mediocre
1.0/5
I didn't think it was possible to find software that would go out of its way to disable ports on a PC whether it was a install before Total Protection or after it. To give you an example, I installed Total Protection last month after purchasing it free after $100 in rebates... ok thats a deal. After installing the software, my HP All-In-One printer which doubles as a network printer/scanner/fax machine was un reacble from my PC. The printer couldn't find my PC either. Thinking it was a printer problem, I reinstalled the printing software, deligently disabling the personal firewall. Installation complete. Still didn't work. I checked the network, it worked just fine. I contacted Mcafee Technical support and they recommended I uninstall the entire program and reinstall one module at a and test the printer to determine which module was a culprit. Ok, sounds reasonable. To make a long, long story short, you can't just uninstall Mcafee with Add/Remove feature, you need to a cleaning utility, in Mcafee's case is called MCPR.exe which totally cleans off Mcafee and in order to run the module by module test, you really need to uninstall the entire package after each test install... takes up way too much time to test. Stay with the older version until they fix their new offerings.

- menehune

September 7, 2006 09:23
Mediocre
1.0/5
With great ambition McAfee has launched their answer to OneCare. Unfortuntely, it falls flat on it's face. The "suite" has lots of features, unfortuntely it absolutely KILLS system performance, and quite honestly many of the features don't work as advertised - read BUGGY. Stay away.

- grbelanger

January 1, 2007 08:23
Mediocre
1.0/5
I purchased this program in switching from Norton Internet Security and SystemWorks. It didn't take long for me to realize my blunder.During Install, I had to uninstall other helpful utilities (Spy Bot, Ad Aware, Windows Defender etc) because of conflicts with Total Protection. I also suddenly developed trouble signing on to AOL; this was a painfully long process and sometimes was followed by AOL error messages and inability to sign on at all . I made endless winsock repairs. I also began to see error messages and constant disabling of my audio drivers. After four reinstalls, I had enough and uninstalled it for the last time. The disk is now collecting dust on my shelf while I attempt to get my computer back to normal. Caveat Emptor !!!!!

- JLu3

September 2, 2006 03:18

4.5/5
What really amazed me, is this product instant reaction to tools testing for 'security holes' (av, anti-spyware, bho, page high-jacking & registry tampering). It blocks them all as soon as I try to load them! Never mind running them!

This proves to me that this software really works (obviously all these testing tools are malware by their very functional design). No other security software I have tried will do this (including famous designs from the remaining 'top 5') (You should know which ones I mean).

Also Total Protection flagged additional 2 http:// urls that other 'top 3' anti-spyware software did not.

Some people complain (I noticed from reviews) that Total Protection has problem with e-mail scanning. I have not experience any of these. The 'mcproxy.exe' & 'emproxy.exe' work as they should, taking over scanning of ports 21,80,443,110,995,25 and any other, from a pc-resident appications by using local-host ports. One has to be very carefull though, and thorough/consistent when configuring online/proactive/e-mail options. Also, it is very important to have associated firewall (I recommend to use a firewall with the ability to assign port-by-port & address-by-address parameters). It may take a little time for the initial setup (make sure the system is already fully loaded with re-curring applications), but results will be rewarding.

Another correct thing I noticed about Total Protection, is that as soon as I allowed certain functions, clicked 'ok', the software automatically gave these functions 'trusted' status. Sure, when I clicked 'ok', I automatically agreed to the cosequences of my action (Don't we all do the same when we click 'ok' to EUA for example?). Obviously, when later on any of these (trusted functions) get let's say 'spoofed' or abused, other modules design to deal with this situation will catch it, so do not worry.

Okay McAfee, stick by your current design. For sure, improve, add new features, fix some bugs, but do not roll back or compromise anything you already implemented in this already great product. It is my fear (again by reading some reviews) that there are voices asking for relaxation of certain features. Well, in security releted business, these is no such thing. The more stringent, the better. I thing these voices need to get their programming skills put to work harder.

Evaluated:

Security Center: Version 7.0, Build 7.0.329
VirusScan: Version 11.0, Build 11.0.213

System this Total Security is run on:

Firewall: KPF4 Version 4.2.3
Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP2 (Latest fixes from: update.microsoft.com)
Internet Browser: IE6
eMail: OE6 (POP3S/SMTP)

- Andy - Programmer

September 26, 2006 09:11
Mediocre
1.0/5
This is something I rarely do...I really hate to bad mouth a product but I have wasted at least 80 hours since jul 30,when they FORCED a horrible "upgrade" on their customers. Since then,I have wasted so much time installing, tweaking settings, and uninstalling it. DO NOT BUY V11!! It used 100% of your resources, you cant get on the internet, you cant open email. NOTHING!! I am a longtime customer and have just given up with almost a year of active subscriptions with Mcafee left on the table that i cannot get refunded. I got so frustrated I went to another security suite. The cust tech support has not been helpful at all. They have tried to release several patches that just caused more issues. Mcafee has gone for the greed by combining all products into one messy, ill-fitting suite. While thier seperate products worked great for many years, this new frankenprogram does NOT.
I am SO UPSET!! Save your money and time, try something else before Mcafee. Trust me, you'll be happier without the mess they forced down my throat. They can have my money if they want it that bad. I'll consider it a costly lesson learned. Maybe V12 will be better

- acurban

September 27, 2007 04:07
Mediocre
1.0/5
Folks, the bottom line is this. Norton is the WORST internet security around and McAfee is a close second, for many reasons both obvious and some not so. I'm going to tell you all two things.

1st: each time I fix a system with the above AV packages on it I ALWAYS have to pull off viruses.

2nd: If you want GOOD AV protection here are the names: NOD32, AVG, AVAST, Antivir. The first is paid but is the BEST the latter three are freeware and while not as good as NOD32, each blow Norton and McAfee off the map with performance. That's it! Happy computing

- SystemHLP

February 4, 2008 10:53
Good
1.5/5
This the DUMBEST thing I've ever been instructed to do by a so-called authority on protecting computer systems.

I own McAfee Total Protection and it was time to renew. So I logged in, purchased the renewal via an online sales rep, and waited for the confirmation email to arrive.

Just to clarify, Total Protection provides internet security, wireless security, virus protection, and (most importantly) intrusion prevention.

Once it arrived, the instructions explicitily stated that I needed to FULLY REMOVE the current installation ... then proceed to their website, download the latest version and install it.

Let me also point out that they REQUIRE the customer to use their DMsetup.exe Download Manager. A quick search on Google and you will see that many people (including me) experience trouble or denial in this agenda. If you were foolish enough to have already uninstalled the prior version, you are now PROLONGING your uninhibited exposure to the wild of the internet.

I contacted their support team - both via online chat as well as email - and their advise remain unchanged: I was to completely uninstall the product, reboot, then (attempt) to download and install the new version.

And ALL this ... just to renew my 1-year old license?? The product is not that old and I would prefer to merely continue receiving regular updates at this time.

This is pathetic and McAfee needs to address it. I am calling them here to be accountable for this nonsense. Let's see what they say, if anything.

I think I may indeed uninstall their product ... and then go with Avast.com's FREE solution for home users.

- westchaser

March 1, 2007 02:41
Mediocre
1.0/5
I've stuck with McAfee products for a while now, every since Norton 2004 Products were released due to my own complaints against Norton products. So far this is the worst McAfee product I've purchased. In the older versions of suite protection, you could easily find the Firewall, and change settings... this one, its harder to find and I can't tell if its truly working like it should, so I've gone with ZoneAlarm's firewall instead. The worst thing I've come across so far is that I have to re-install this product every few days, sometimes every day, or once a week, for it to work, because for some as of yet unknown reason, it fails to verify the subscription, and DEACTIVATES PROTECTION because of it! I'll get a pop-up saying "Your computer is not protected" and you go in to find out why.. and you see verification could not be completed so you hit fix, that doesn't work, so you click a link to verify your subscription and another pop-up comes up saying it could not verify, try again later, or re-install.. which I end up having to re-install the product because I don't want to wait till later to try again while the system is unprotected. So far... McAfee doesn't have a fix for this, and from forums I've read, doesn't seem to admit there's a problem.

Organization... its like the C|NET reviewer had said... tools are scattered. There is no organization there!

- WolfeBay

February 17, 2007 05:59
Terrible
0.5/5
After repeated calls and e-mails I still have no answer from mcaffee.I purchased Total Protection and can not get it to download.If I want an answer I have to pay for it. THAT IS INSANE !!.I PAID $ 80.00 FOR A PRODUCT THAT DOES NOT WORK AND THEY WANT ME TO PAY THEM MORE MONEY. I am going to stay with NORTON.They have CUSTOMER SERVICE.Mcaffee needs to change the way they do business.

- blinky499

December 22, 2006 05:31
Mediocre
1.0/5
Very poor product don't waste the money. No window functionality, small windows, hard to navigate, cannot cut & paste, or copy. I wasted my money.

- danaoscar