A few days ago, a McAfee screen appeared on my laptop and gave me three options - 'allow', 'block once' and 'block'. It said it had detected a threat, so I clicked 'block' and found that I could not change my offline status on Skype to online. I have a laptop with Windows 7. I think this has happened before but it was a long time ago and I had forgotten. I would like to unblock what I blocked, and also prevent the screen from reappearing. I do hope someone can help, because I use Skype a lot.
Solved! Go to Solution.
Hi there; I have just been having an online chat with McAfee Technical Support and it turns out that the free McAfee protection that was pre-installed on my laptop has expired. I was advised to remove the software, which I have just done and, on restarting my PC, I find I can now use Skype again. Many thanks for all your help; this is a great forum and I am very grateful that you replied so speedily to me query. I hope that this helps others with the same problem. Thanks again, Ex_Brit!
I moved this provisionally to Personal Firewall as that may be what's causing it. But what kind of message are you getting when you try?
Open SecurityCenter and then click Web and Email Protection > Firewall > Internet Connections for Programs
(Hint: That sections takes a while to load. Click the word Program at the top of that section and they will rearrange alphabetically)
Using the Edit button make sure that Skype has full permission or the recommended "Use Designated Ports" - it varies by software version. You could also toggle Netguard on or off to see if that makes a difference.
Failing that Technical Support can help you free of charge by phone or online chat and they are linked below.
Toronto ▪ Canada
Volunteer Moderator - Consumer Products
I CAN'T HELP PRIVATELY - PLEASE POST IN THE FORUMS
Use Advanced Search To Find Answers
Consumer Technical Support (alter Country @ top right as needed)
Consumer Customer Service (Accounts, Billing, Registration, etc.)
Anti-Spyware/Malware/Hijacker Removal Tools
Hi there and thanks for your reply. At the moment I can't even sign in to Skype. In Windows, 'Security Centre' is now called 'Action Centre'; when I go on to that, I don't get Web and Email Protection > Firewall > Internet Connections for Programs so I can't seem to get any further.
I meant open McAfee SecurityCenter not Windows one. When 3rd party security software is installed it takes over from the Windows one and all controls are in the software one.
Thanks. I'm not very computer-literate, I'm afraid!. I've opened the McAfee Security Centre, then Web and Email Protection, but the Firewall is greyed out; do I need to click 'activate'?
Greyed out? That's odd. You need to be logged in as a user with Adminstrative abilities to activate it, but yes it should be activated. I don't understand why it's greyed out at all. Technical Support would be of more help with that.
Thanks, Ex_Brit. I'll try technical support. I don't pay for McAfee; it came pre-installed on my laptop, so I don't know if that makes a difference.
It shouldn't make any difference hopefully. Good luck 😉
Thank you for taking the time and trouble to answer my query. I'll report back on here with the results!
Yes thank you, please do. It'll help us to help others.
New to the forums or need help finding your way around the forums? There's a whole hub of community resources to help you.
Thousands of customers use the McAfee Community for peer-to-peer and expert product support. Enjoy these benefits with a free membership: