McAfee Total Protection 2008 - 3 User Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The McAfee suite worked reasonably well under Win XP but I had difficulties with it under Vista. Ended up switching to OneCare...
My main issue with McAfee is that the service comes with an auto-renewal feature. They will charge your credit card on the subscription's anniversary. Fair enough...
However, I wanted to cancel it as I no longer use the software. To my surprise, you can't just go to the web site, click on a "cancel" link and be done. They actually force you to contact customer service (phone, chat, email) and then take you through a long process (15min in my case) of getting through it. They first put you in a queue, then verify your details multiple times, then, after you make it clear that you want to cancel the service and receive a refund, the conversation goes like this:Me: Please cancel my service and issue a refund (the 4th time I asked...)
McAfee: why?
Me: I just noticed an auto renewal charge and I don't want the service
McAfee: OK, we will terminate the auto renewal
Me: What? I don't want to terminate future auto-renwals, I want to cancel the one from last week and get a refund...
McAfee: may we ask why?
Me: please cancel and issue a refund...
McAfee: OK...It is obvious that McAfee has all the intentions to make cancellations as difficult as possible. The 10%-20% of people who'd rather not spend the time dealing with it are pure profit. However, the rest of us consumers should not reward such practice.


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10 in 1 Protection - complete online and PC security / Fight viruses and more / Provides 1 Year coverage + Updates / For up to 3 users and computers Blocks hackers from attacking your Wi-Fi wireless network and stealing your personal information, so you can safely connect Backs Up and Restores your photos, music and important files Safeguards your identity and online experience so you can surf the Web, shop, bank, e-mail and instant message safely Keeps your PC healthy and secure. Intercepts prohibited Web sites, unwanted activity and offensive pictures to keep your family safe Blocks hackers from attacking your wireless network, safeguarding your personal information and transactions.Automates file and printer sharing among trusted friends and family Protects Children Online - Filters offensive content, pictures, and Web sites so you can keep your children safe when online Simplifies security with improved McAfee SecurityCenter Warns you about sites which send spam, install adware, or attempt online scams Shields your PC around the clock -always on, always updating, always protecting Prevents spam and phishing scams so you can e-mail with friends and family safely 24/7 virus and threat protection from McAfee AVERT Labs continuously monitors worldwide virus activities and provides immediate anti-virus protection and removal solutions Provides advance warning to help you avoid sites which send spam, install adware, or attempt online scams Daily updates are installed automatically. When a new version of McAfee is available, you get it automatically at no charge during your subscription, ensuring that you always have up-to-date protection for up to 1-Year after installation Support from McAfee's computer security experts, via Internet chat, e-mail and phone

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McAfee Total Protection 2009 3-User Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)When computer users were searching for a term to apply to computer programs that came loaded with viruses, harmful DRM (Digital Rights Management) or other insidious ways of slowing down the user's computer, they eventually settled on "Malware."
Its time to coin a new term for programs like McAfee Total Protection. My complaints against the program are only partially related to its ability to filter out viruses and keep a computer free of junk.
The real issue with this program, and many, many others is that it will constantly steal the users focus by popping up text boxes from the Taskbar in Windows. These can come at ANY time the computer is on. They alert the user to the fact that "McAfee has installed updates," or "It is time to restart the computer" to the neverendingly frustrating "Your subscription is about to expire." These boxes can and will pop up while immersed in a full screen computer game, at times causing it to crash. They will pop up when you are working on editing digital photos, or watching a movie, or anything else that requires your full attention.
The term "nagware," came to mind, and maybe it will stick. Feel free to put your suggestions in the comments section of this review.
I understand why they do this. It is intended for novice computer owners who need to be reminded of all of these things, and who don't consider having their 'focus' (the primary task the computer user is working on. For example, as I write this review, it is my primary focus) stolen as EXTREMELY frustrating. That wouldn't even be a big deal, except that McAfee in their infinite wisdom has provided no remedy for the power user. We cannot turn off these irritating messages. They come regardless of my desire to see them or not.
They are amazingly irritating, especially if they disrupt something immersive, like a computer game or movie. Imagine: you are watching your new blue-ray of "The Dark Knight," and just as Batman is about to dispense with the Joker, a text box pops up with the message "McAfee has finished installing updates" in a gray box in the corner of the screen. Unacceptable in the first place, and even more so because you CANNOT TURN THIS FEATURE OFF! This gets unbearable when your subscription is a few months from expiring, and alerts informing you of that pop up literally every time you use the computer. Also, they don't just leave after they pop up, the user is required to click 'ok.' You cannot permanently disable these messages.
As a virus scanner, McAfee works relatively well. It will scan your system for viruses, and if your definitions are up-to-date, find them some of the time. However, it is pretty strange that after making virus software for so many years, they still cannot provide a reasonably well working Spyware hunter that is anywhere near as good as the free version of "Ad-Aware" offered by Lavasoft, or the retail version of "Spybot Search and Destroy."
Another major complaint is the sheer size of the system resource footprint that McAfee total protection takes up. If you have an older computer, less than 2gb of ram (4gb with Vista), this program will create a very noticeable slowdown in your computer's performance. Comparing to how it runs on my wife's laptop with 4gb of ram vs. some of the computers at my work with only 1.5gb, the older work computers are drastically slowed down by McAfee, while my wife's laptop with its 4gb of ram is not really affected. (I do not use this program on my computer for the reasons that I've laid out above).
In concussion, if you don't care about 1. Annoying pop ups that steal your focus and cannot be disabled, 2. Very limited spyware removal and 3. Slow and poorly written code that uses a large portion of system resources, you MIGHT consider buying this software.
*****UPDATE 09-15-2009*****
Still have this program installed on my wife's laptop, and it's still popping up annoying and useless advertisements despite the fact that I've turned off all notifications in the options tab--you can see the most recent one that I took a screen shot of in the 'customer images' section of this Amazon page. When the license runs out in a few months I will be uninstalling this program and replacing it with AVAST home edition which is free. I can't recommend this program to anyone. Save yourself the money and get a free alternative like AVAST or AVG.
*****UPDATE 01-01-2010*****
Microsoft has recently released their excellent MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS for fee. It also recently won an award for being the best anti-virus program out there. Bests of all it's FREE to anyone with a valid copy of Windows (XP through Windows 7). I've been using it for a few months now and let me tell you, it's just about the best anti-virus I've encountered. Searches are wicked fast, the interface is slick, and best of all it has a tiny memory footprint! Updates are free FOREVER. Did I mention the program itself is completely free? Just Google search MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS, download, install, and you're good to go.

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