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TheBlueRoom
Former Member
Message 1 of 3

Firewall keeps restarting after software update.

I have a router with it's own firewall. I do not need the McAfee firewall as it tends to block other users on my network using such resources as printers and shared folders. So, I turn it off and set it so it "Never" is to be turned on again.

Over the last 6 - 8 months I have noticed that every time I get a "software update, please restart your computer to complete" message from McAfee, I find that the firewall is back up once the machine is restarted.

This is driving me up the wall. I do not need the McAfee firewall so by marking the firewall as to never restart, I expect this is what it is to do. I appreciate in situations where laptops using unfamiliar networks out on the road are concerned then this may be useful, but not for me.

I also need the facility to connect to my machine from out side the office remotely. I have various ways to do this but a couple of them do get blocked by the firewall. I know someone is going to suggest setting up exceptions but when I have already have done this for my router and Windows own firewall, I cannot understand why I need to do this again. Especially when I cannot trust the fact I have already asked McAfee not to bring up the firewall at any time. So can I assume that if it cannot understand this request, it is also going to keep my exceptions in place in the future.

My Mother has exactly the same issue. The other problem with her is that when her firewall comes back up, she can no longer use her e-mail account. Damn useless when you have a user who needs to communicate via e-mail but does not understand the complexities of firewalls.

So, does any one out there have a suggestion as to how to permanently turn my firewall off and it remains so, or a suggestion to an alternative suite of protection software that does include a firewall but allows me to control it.

Thanks in advance.

2 Replies
JaiPrakash
Former Member
Message 2 of 3

Re: Firewall keeps restarting after software update.

Many conventional home routers offer basic firewall protection. But Personal Firewall Plus has more security features than most router firewalls, McAfee recommends disabling the router firewall and using Personal Firewall Plus.  But if you still feel to disable McAfee Personal firewall , eventually the firewall would restart once after an upgrade to the software .

You can probably run  the uninstall tool and remove McAfee programs and reinstall McAfee without the firewall part (Which is not recommended though)

TheBlueRoom
Former Member
Message 3 of 3

Re: Firewall keeps restarting after software update.

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to bring this issue to light once more and inform McAfee of an issue I had again today and the way I have solved it.

I have just visited one of my clients after they reported that they could no longer receive and send e-mails from their PC. They also reported that the machine was very slow. I was unable to connect to the machine using RealVNC which was reporting a time out. When I asked the user to close down and restart the machine, the box hung.

So I have had to drive to site to sort out the PC.

Lo and Behold, the McAfee software downloaded and update to itself today. AND... The firewall which I always turn off had yet again fired itself up. This was causing VNC to be unusable and was blocking e-mail send and receive. The real time scanning process had also fired itself up (we always turn it off and set it to NEVER come back up) and was hogging the CPU causing the machine to be pretty much dead on its feet.

So here is the way we have solved this problem.... UnInstalled Mcafee, Closed down our subscriptions, Installed BitDefender instead. Job Done!

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