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Insomniac0007
Former Member
Message 1 of 10

Are updates using up too much of your time and Mb's ???

1. On Dialup we are LUCKY to get 1 Mb / 5 MINUTES .... a 60 Mb update takes  over   5   H O U R S   on dialup !!!!

2. We have a 'thumbdrive' type 'high speed < - - - 'wink wink , nudge, nudge'  wireless internet 'service'  < - -  " Has a guy who has just been MUGGED considered to have been 'serviced' ...but I digress ... "

    ..... anyways ..this  'service' which costs a mint has a limit of    ONE  Gb / M O N T H  ...so our daily use has to be 33 Mb for all things ...

3. McAfee has sent 3   60 Mb  Updates and the usual 400 smaller ones this month .... guess who is the ONLY user of our  I Gb allotment this month ??? It is costing us more to get the updates than the cost of the subscription .

4. For  my MAC programs ... they ALWAYS give an alternate way to get updates for all programs ..maybe they are smart enough to know that everybody is not in an urban centre with unlimited high sped internet everywhere ... they give a WEB address where the updates can be found .

    I go to the local library that DOES have a free unlimited high speed with my netbook and removable memory device and download all the updates then download them to the Mac to do the updates ..it is still a pain in the ass but it at least does not choke off 100% of my other internet usage just to stay up to date ...

5. I have called McAfee and they were totally unsimpathetic about this problem .. they send their updates the way they do and they are too stupid or cheap to do it any other way ...like maybe a password protected website where registered users could access all the updates for the last ,month and get them all at one time .

6. McAfee HAS to set up some system that allows its' rural dialup and other slow or limited internet accounts to actually use their accounts for normal activity AND be up to date ...

9 Replies
Insomniac0007
Former Member
Message 2 of 10

Re: Are updates using up too much of your time and Mb's ???

I should add that the computer in question is a full sized desktop and cannot be lugged off to the library itself very easily .... it is 300 ft to the garage uphill and this is Northern Ontario CANADA !! < - - -  We do REAL winter here ....

x-imikhlin
Former Member
Message 3 of 10

Re: Are updates using up too much of your time and Mb's ???

Hi,

Maybe in your situation you should switch off automated download and manually grab complete DATs as often as your connection allows (say, every time you visit library )

Have you ever tried manual DATs replacement from here:

http://www.mcafee.com/apps/downloads/security_updates/dat.asp?region=us&segment=enterprise

Make sure it works for you before switching off autoupdate.

Regards,

Irene

Insomniac0007
Former Member
Message 4 of 10

Re: Are updates using up too much of your time and Mb's ???

Thanks Irene ... I will mark this as a helpful answer and if it works out OK then I will upgrade that to answered ...

that site had three downloads available right now and one is obviously not the right one for my machine ..I would assume that the one marked ....[

5860xdat.exe(Windows-Intel)readme.txt
update.ini
1/13/10112.20English

is the right one since I have an intel chip and run windows on an olde  XPpro.

Interesting that customer service is apparently unaware that the site exists and just said, " can't be done talk to technical assistance" ...the right hand does not know what the left hand is juggling ...???

   Thanks again ..will test that soon , [ Handy that one pub and one local garage have high speed wireless for their customers as well as the library ] ... bit of a trip for me in any case but the netbook is always riding shotgun when I go to town  .

Message was edited by: Insomniac0007 on 14/01/10 7:35:32 CST AM
Insomniac0007
Former Member
Message 5 of 10

Re: Are updates using up too much of your time and Mb's ???

I have the automatic turned off but have been doing the updates manually  using dialup during the 'telemarketer hours' and late at night so it is more or less up to date .... IF I get the DAT from the above site and it has a bunch of stuff already installed in it ...will that cause a problem or will I just get a message that says something like : " your programs are up to date " .... ???

x-imikhlin
Former Member
Message 6 of 10

Re: Are updates using up too much of your time and Mb's ???

First of all, what product do you have and what kind of DATs it uses?

The updates (automated or manual) are basically deltas from the previous version. The link I gave contains complete DATs. If you decide to use them, you will need to stop Mcafee service, install the new downloaded DATs and restart the service. Existing stuff on disk will be completely replaced, so you can't get a conflict.

Insomniac0007
Former Member
Message 7 of 10

Re: Are updates using up too much of your time and Mb's ???

Thanks again Irene,

     ....scratching my fuzzy olde head .... physics is my background so 'delta' means 'change in'  to me so I suspect the 'deltas'  you mentioned are changes in the EXISTING program .

   The DAT then is a COMPLETE program that is up to date and the only way to use it is to shut off McAfee services then run the dat and it will replace the old one with a totally up to date new one .... correct ?  As to what product am I using .... where might I find the exact description ?? ... 'properties'  if I can find the actual program ...or is it written somewhere on the main window or somewhere I can get at from there ...?? Sorry to be dumb on all this but I am essentially a MAC man and only reluctantly dabble with the evil empire to keep my wife's pooter running and the netbook ...

Thanks again

Ed

SamSwift
McAfee Retired
McAfee Retired
Message 8 of 10

Re: Are updates using up too much of your time and Mb's ???

I'm moving this thread over to the home user products section as this is more of a product related query now.

There was an issue last weekend whereby some users did get a larger update file, however if you update daily you will receive one incremental update per day (apart from one the rare occasions when we need to do an emergency release), which are typically well under 1MB.

The rule of thumb is if you are more than 15 updates out of date you have to take the full dat file, however if you are less then 16 updates out of date then you will receive the incrementals.

HTH

Sam

Insomniac0007
Former Member
Message 9 of 10

Re: Are updates using up too much of your time and Mb's ???

Hmmm ... something Odd is going on.

If I understand all of the above ...if I HAVE been doing ALL the updates then I should only RARELY get a BIG one of 60 Mb or so.

I HAVE been updating regularly first on automatic and then , ( when I got pounced for 3    60 Mb downloads in less than a month), I switched to manual updates but have still done them daily by dialup .

      Two nights ago when I updated I could see that it was yet another BIG one and it took over 5 hours by dialup to come in ...Why so many in such a short span ?? This is killing my internet usage and / or tying up my phone line for hours and hours doing McAfee updates ...WHY SO MANY IN SUCH A SHORT SPAN ?????? <- - - -and I HAVE kept it up to date on a day by day basis by some means or another .

I have :

McAfee Virus Scan Plus ( Windows)

Security Center:

Version  13.15  build 9.15.160  last updated on   19/11/2009

Virus Scan:

Version 13.15 Build  13.15.113  AffId  105

Updated  18/01/2010  <  - -  small update day after the monster ...

Dat  5864.0000        17/01/2010

Engine  5301.4018

Ste Advisor   3.0        3.0.1.163       26/12/09

Firewall

10.15          10.15.106         AffId  105      19/11/2009

WHY am I getting dumped with so many   60 Mb  updates ????

Message was edited by: Insomniac0007 on 18/01/10 10:16:00 CST AM
x-imikhlin
Former Member
Message 10 of 10

Re: Are updates using up too much of your time and Mb's ???

Hi Ed,

Your understanding is correct. If you are willing to try a complete DAT replacement, to see if it works for you, let's do the following:

Find your DATs on disk. They should be somewhere under program files\common files\mcafee\engine, but it can depend on the product.

If you search for one of the three files: scan.dat, names.dat or clean.dat, that's them.

Stop the service, either by disabling on-access scan in VirusScan Plus interface, or through running services.msc. Copy the three files above some other place, just in case. Then replace them with the latest files you have downloaded from the link we've discussed and restart the service.

Irene

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