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stephe
Contributor II
Message 1 of 19

I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

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I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I

reboot my PC.

I have a Dell XPS 8700, i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, with 2 TB hard drive and

16 GB RAM, 64-bit operating system running Windows 7 Home Premium.

I have a process manager named Process Lasso Pro which is handy in that it

shows CPU and RAM usage, but it also shows the RAM use of each and every

running program and its location on my PC.  Sometimes, I will notice that

McUICnt.exe is using a fair amount of RAM and that it will run continuously

unless I reboot.

I googled McUICnt.exe and found articles on mfefire.exe, which is apparently

McAfee's Firewall.

I ran McAfee McAfee Virtual Technician and it was unable to correct one

problem.

In the Problem Log (MVTHealthCheck_Deviation.html), under the Personal Firewall section, it said:

Product Name    :    Personal Firewall

Product Version    :    17.4.159

Language    :    en-us

Partner    :  

Health Check Details

Registry   | OK

File         | OK

Process    | OK

Service    | 1 service(s) incorrect

Expected Service State Incorrect

Expected : The Service is Running

Existing : The Service is Stopped

Service: mfefire

COM        | OK

Top Issues | OK

SYSTEM        | OK

In the Diagnostic Log (MVTHealthCheck.html), under the Personal Firewall section, it said:

Process | OK

Expected process running

C:\Program Files\Common Files\mcafee\systemcore\mfefire.exe

Expected process running

C:\Program Files\Common Files\mcafee\systemcore\mfemms.exe

Service | 1 service(s) incorrect

Expected Service State Incorrect

Expected : The Service is Running

Existing : The Service is Stopped

Service : mfefire

Expected Service State Correct

Service : BFE

Expected Service Present

Service : BFE

Expected Service Present

Service : mfefire

Expected Service State Correct

Service : mfemms

Expected Service Present

Service : mfemms

If I click on Services then select McAfee Firewall Core Service and right-click

on Properties, in the General tab, the status is Stopped and the Startup Type is Manual

and the Path to exectutable is "C:\Program Files\Common Files\McAfee\SystemCore\mfefire.exe"

When I click on the Dependencies tab, it says This service depends on the following system components:

McAfee Validation Trust Protection Service

[sub-component:] McAfee Inc. mfehidk

If I click on Services then select McAfee Validation Trust Protection Service and

right-click on Properties, in the General tab, the status is Started and the Startup Type is Manual

and the Path to executable is "C:\Windows\system32\mfevtps.exe"

When I click on the Dependencies tab, it says This service depends on the following system components:

McAfee Inc. mfehidk

Also in the Dependencies tab, it says The following system components depend on this service:

McAfee AP Service

McAfee Firewall Core Service

Notably, the lead statement on the Dependencies tab is "Some services depend on other

services, system drivers or load order groups.  If a system component is stopped, or

is not running properly, dependent services can be affected."

In both Services > McAfee Firewall Core Service and Services > McAfee Validation Trust Protection Service,

if I right-click and select Properties, Manual is grayed out as a Startup Type.

I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I

reboot my PC.

One odd thing is that my McAfee console will mark my Firewall as being on even

when McAfee Firewall Core Service mfefire.exe is stopped in Services.

Performing a search on mfehidk in C:\Windows\system32\ I found

OS (C:) > WINDOWS > System 32 > drivers > mfehidk.sys

So, is my firewall on before I Start mfefire.exe in Services?  Or is it only kinda sorta on?

1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 8 of 19

Re: I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

Jump to solution

The McAfee Virtual Technician reports my installation is OK ( https://mvt.mcafee.com/ ) so I assume that is normal.

I was suggesting you contact TS only if you want it clarified.

View solution in original post

18 Replies
selvan
McAfee Retired
McAfee Retired
Message 2 of 19

Re: I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

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Hello Steven

McAfee by default wouldn't allow you to change this settings. Could you try changing the startup type of McAfee Firewall Core Service to Automatic or Automatic (Delayed Start) and see if it works. Please post back the outcome.

catdaddy
MVP
MVP
Message 3 of 19

Re: I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

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Discussion successfully moved from Service and Support to Personal Firewall

Cliff
McAfee Volunteer
stephe
Contributor II
Message 4 of 19

Re: I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

Jump to solution

Chinthanai Selvan P wrote:

Could you try changing the startup type of McAfee Firewall Core Service to Automatic or Automatic (Delayed Start) and see if it works.

Where do you mean?  In Services, Manual is selected and grayed-out: I cannot Select a Startup type, as shown below left (the pic at right is for the sake of comparison):

firewall in services.jpg  SiteAdvisor in services.jpg

I have to Start the firewall service manually after each reboot.

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 5 of 19

Re: I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

Jump to solution

You have to disable Access Protection first.

Open the software interface and go to General Settings and Alerts > Access Protection and turn it off by unchecking it and clicking Apply.

Keep this open so you can reverse the change afterwards.

Then try the above.

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 6 of 19

Re: I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

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I just checked my computer and Core Services is set to Manual by default and not normally started.

Maybe Technical Support could explain this to you?   It's free of charge.

stephe
Contributor II
Message 7 of 19

Re: I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

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If it is normal for Core Services to be set to Manual by default and not normally

started, why do I have to contact Technical Support for a reason beyond that?

Or is it possible that it is *not* normal and that it should not be occurring on your

PC either?  Are you *sure* it's normal?

I'm just surprised that no one has asked about this issue before (or have they?).

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 8 of 19

Re: I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

Jump to solution

The McAfee Virtual Technician reports my installation is OK ( https://mvt.mcafee.com/ ) so I assume that is normal.

I was suggesting you contact TS only if you want it clarified.

stephe
Contributor II
Message 9 of 19

Re: I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

Jump to solution

When I ran McAfee Virtual Technician prior to my posting to this forum, here are the results I had gotten.

From MVTHealthCheck :

MVTHealthCheck.jpg

From MVTHealthCheck_Deviation :

MVTHealthCheck_Deviation.jpg

I rebooted and ran McAfee Virtual Technician just now, though, and it found no errors, even though

when I look in Services, I still see McAfee Firewall Core Service stopped and set to Manual.

Peacekeeper
Message 10 of 19

Re: I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I reboot my PC

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My mfefre service is showing as stopped. MVT shows no issue. My firewall is showing as on.

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