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N4AOF
Contributor III
Message 1 of 66

Is there a way to stop McAfee's PopUp ads?

I've been running McAfee Small Business Security on three networked computers for just over two years (on a three-year subscription that has 11½ months left).  McAfee works fine so far as the protection goes, but I find the occasional pop up ads annoying -- especially on one computer where the popups are more frequent and considerably more stupid.

I'm used to McAfee's useless monthly popup offering a totally fake "report" of what it has supposedly accomplished.  The other occasional random popups telling me how great McAfee thinks it is are a bit more annoying but livable.

The one that is really annoying is McAfee running on my Win11 laptop where every few days it pops up either telling me about some random McAfee feature or Inviting me to explore my new McAfee protection (Remember, this program has been installed for just over two years and has been running continuously with no changes other than its own updates).  I don't need to be invited to "Set up McAfee" when it's been running for two years.  I don't need a "Welcome to McAfee" when it's been running for two years. 

These popups are coming from the McAfee program itself.  They are not some mysterious adware and they are not something coming from online, they are just stupid nonsense that McAfee's marketing people have stuffed into the program.

65 Replies
Sudharsanam_G1
Moderator
Moderator
Message 2 of 66

Re: Is there a way to stop McAfee's PopUp ads?

Hi @N4AOF 

We regret for the inconvenience!

These pop ups are legit information alerts about McAfee features and it is as per design. These alerts may be limited by using the following settings. open McAfee UI click on settings>> General Settings and information alerts>> Information Alerts>> make sure the check box is unchecked and click on apply.

If in case you still face any problem, You can always contact the chat support using below link for technical assistance.

McAfee Support

Regards,
Sudharsanam G

DannyCh
Contributor III
Message 3 of 66

Re: Is there a way to stop McAfee's PopUp ads?

Bad luck @N4AOF 

I've had the same problem. At least McAfee are admitting this is a feature. I had some peanut at tech support tell me he could fix the problem by un-installing, re-installing Total Protection, which just wasted more time.

 

It's an open question as to whether this is legal under consumer law - it doesn't appear to be so in Australia, given the opt-out doesn't work. I asked McAfee, and they basically refused to answer the question. I'd suggest checking with your consumer law advocate and lodging a complaint if McAfee can't action an appropriate fix without wasting your time.

N4AOF
Contributor III
Message 4 of 66

Re: Is there a way to stop McAfee's PopUp ads?

I'm not talking about any "legit information alerts" as you have been told to call them (now that McAfee is finally admitting they even exist). 

I am talking about two kinds of McAfee popups:

1. Incorrect garbage -- like "Welcome to McAfee.  Let's start setting up...." On a system that has had the same McAfee subscription running for two years.

and

2. Blatantly worthless ads pretending to be information -- Like offering to show me the thousands of things McAfee claims to have blocked recently, which of course is just a link to the McAfee marketing website.

If McAfee were giving any useful information I wouldn't mind an occasional puff piece thrown in, but I have yet to see any useful information.  The closest thing to useful might be the silly popup that says "McAfee just blocked a dangerous connection" with a link to get details, except that the link doesn't give you any information (like what the dangerous connection was, whether it was inbound or outbound, and if outbound what program tried to make the connection)

N4AOF
Contributor III
Message 5 of 66

Re: Is there a way to stop McAfee's PopUp ads?

Oh by the way, so far as the useless advice about settings is concerned.  This is the current setting.  The ONLY notification I should be getting would be if the firewall were off -- not the garbage your marketing department has stuffed into the program.

McAfee.jpg

N4AOF
Contributor III
Message 6 of 66

Re: Is there a way to stop McAfee's PopUp ads?

The McAfee stupid popup ads continue (of course) and there is no solution because the stupid popup ads are a deliberate 'feature' of the McAfee software, but now there is the added annoyance of McAfee sending me emails pushing me to mark the problem as solved.

Sorry, guys, the problem isn't solved, because the problem is McAfee.

 

N4AOF
Contributor III
Message 7 of 66

Re: Is there a way to stop McAfee's PopUp ads?

Here is an example of this morning's latest stupid McAfee popup ad:

McAfee Ad.jpg

 That popup might make some sense ONCE when a new user is setting up McAfee for the first time, but I am about 25 months into my current 3 year subscription.  Needless to say, the features I want are already turned on and the features I don't want have been ignored or turned off for over two years already.

Note also that this stupid popup ad emphasizes my 12 month subscription -- which seems especially stupid since I am 25 months into my 3 year subscription.

It seems that the folks at McAfee's marketing department just included a bunch of random popups that have no connection to the user's account or what the user is doing.

If the people at McAfee are so incompetent that they cannot even manage better ads, why would I continue to trust them to protect my computers when my current subscription ends in April ?

N4AOF
Contributor III
Message 8 of 66

Re: Is there a way to stop McAfee's PopUp ads?

Consumer laws won't help me.  I'm in the United States....  which has the weakest consumer protection laws in the known universe and where software companies don't have to follow even the weak laws that we do have.

 

As if the stupid McAfee popup ads (that they pretend are "notifications") weren't bad enough, now the idiots at McAfee marketing department have decided to start sending me even stupider emails, like the one I got today congratulating me on surviving one month of using McAfee and telling me that they plan to continue to harass me at least monthly for the next 11 months.

Apparently the idiots in McAfee are incapable of recognizing that I have had my current three-year subscription since April 2021. 

I'm not quite ready to just abandon this paid subscription, but it is highly unlikely that I will ever deal with McAfee again once the current subscription runs out -- that's actually a shame because until the idiots in marketing decided to screw up the software by including popup ads directly inside the software, it used to work quite well.

Sudharsanam_G1
Moderator
Moderator
Message 9 of 66

Re: Is there a way to stop McAfee's PopUp ads?

Hi @N4AOF 

We regret for the inconvenience!

I have sent a personal message. Kindly revert back with the requested details to assist you further.

Alternatively, You can always contact the chat support using below link for immediate assistance.

McAfee Support

Regards,
Sudharsanam G

N4AOF
Contributor III
Message 10 of 66

Re: Is there a way to stop McAfee's PopUp ads?

Why would I need private assistance?   

If there is a way to stop McAfee's incompetent harassment of paid customers, why would you keep that method secret.

I honestly don't understand.  This is a deliberate campaign by McAfee's own marketing people.  I know I am not the only paid customer who resents the frequent intrusions and I doubt very much that I am the only paid customer who is looking elsewhere for competent anti-virus protection.

If there is a way to stop your harassment, why not just put that information here?  If there is no way to stop the harassment, then asking for my personal details is just more harassment.

 

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