Mcafee crashing my pc!

[lukejohns1]

I recently had the "mcagent.exe" error with my pc. I took it to get it fixed and it cost me £50. But now my pc keeps crashing with the logo saying things like kernel_data... or sometimes says memory_management..

I then asked microsoft and they wanted to see my dump files. Finally they said

"These were Related to McAfee_Virus_Shield I would remove and use the built in defender in its place. 

McAffe often contributes to BSOD'S"

Is this true and can you help, it is very frustrating as I cant access itunes as it keeps crashing.

Thanks

(Im not sure if this is the right location)

[Hayton]

Several questions waiting to be answered here.

1. The "mcagent.exe" error - what was that?

2. ... so you took the PC to a repair shop who charged you fifty quid to fix <something, not sure what yet>

3  And when you got it back it started crashing. If it wasn't crashing before I'd be asking the repair shop exactly what they did as part of their efforts to fix the problem - adding stuff, taking it off, changing it, messing with the registry, running programs (which ones?)

4. Next time you see one of those error messages make a note of exactly what it says : the message and any strings of numbers that go with it. Those messages can be a useful source of information.

5. Where exactly did you get the advice that mentioned "McAfee Virus Shield"?  From a Microsoft forum? There's nothing I can find by that name in the McAfee toolbox. It was AOL who used to have "Virus Shield".

6. I can quite see that a Microsoft person would be trying to push a Microsoft product, but Windows Defender isn't always a suitable substitute for a full-fledged AV program. Depends what your system is (XP? Win7? Win8?)

7. BSODs on XP do happen. I've seen them. If that's what you've got it's largely down to XP's limitations, and the rest to McAfee.

8. The iTunes reference was thrown in at the end as if weren't really important. What part does iTunes play in the overall set of problems?

[lukejohns1]

Firstly the error was something like "mcagent.exe  Bad image. Other errors also saying bad image was appearing and since i had no antivirus I decided to take it to a repair shop. I think all he done was restored it back to factory setttings. Also it was crashing before.

Next time an error appears i will tell you.

It was on the official microsoft forum, im not sure if he was correct thats why im asking you.

And im sorry I never mentioned im windows 8.

Finally with itunes, i mean that when I try to uninstall or reinstall , or run any other programs it crashed.

Im not sure what caused it but he claims it is mcafee thats why, im not sure if he is correct so I decided to ask you., I apoligise for the lack of imformation.

Thanks again

Luke

Ross McCormack ❤️

[Hayton]

If you're not getting the "Bad image" errors any more then we can - for the moment - ignore them, although in some of the many (very many) posts about that problem it is said that the errors can be the result of malware infection. Or indeed a number of other things.

The messages you get when the system crashes provide the information we will need to diagnose the problem. Without those we're just guessing.

If there's a problem with the McAfee installation the first thing to do is run MVT to check it - download it from HERE. If the installation is seriously messed up you can uninstall McAfee, run MCPR, and then re-install it. That fixes a lot of problems.

I don't know if Windows Defender on Wndows 8 has any compatibility problems with McAfee. Ex_Brit should know, he''s been running Windows 8 for a while now. I'll ask him. He's also got iTunes, and knows more about it than I do.

[lukejohns1]

To be honest it is probaly my PC, but if he had any problems then it is probaly Windows 8 as it is rubbish!

Thanks for the help btw Hayton from leeds  (best team in the world)

[exbrit]

Windows Defender in Windows 8 is disabled by the installation of McAfee or other antivirus applications for a very good reason, because in 8 it has an additional antivirus component that is absent from the WD found in other OS's.   On no account should you ever even try to enable WD in 8 if you have another antivirus installed.

I have iTunes installed in Vista and 7 but not yet in 8 so I can't really advise you on its behaviour there.   All I know is that iTunes is one of the most temperamental pieces of software I've ever encountered and if I could do without it I would, but unfortunately I have to have it installed to accompany my iPad.

Today it updated so things may change with that update, let us know.   One thing I do know is that it immediately added itself to my Windows Startup which I had to alter using msconfig.

.

Message was edited by: Ex_Brit on 18/08/13 9:25:01 EDT AM

[secured2k]

If I saw a bad image error, I would suggest testing the hardware (CPU, Memory, HDD, ect) for errors. McAfee program files are digitially signed and unless corruption happened to the data on the hard drive, you should not have a bad [executable] image. If you still have problems after a factory restore, this points to hardware problems even more.

I too would like to see a copy of your crash dump files... Just the mini dumps.