×
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Paulie-D
Contributor
Message 1 of 17

McAfee Total Protection gets a major facelift tonight

19-Apr-2010: My desktop and laptop computers suddenly prompted me with a "not fully protected" alert tonight.  In fact, the "M" icon had an "x" icon on it, during the entire time that (I assumed) McAfee was receiving some sort of large update.  Once that was completed, my McAfee Total Protection suite prompted me to reboot.  Once I rebooted, I immediately noticed the new "M" icon which was now a shield instead of the prior square-box icon.  When I opened the Total Protection Security Center, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the entire tool received a major facelift.  Under Navigation > About, the new versions are listed as SecurityCenter: 10.0.580, VirusScan 14.0.309, DAT 5956.0000, Engine 5400.1158, Personal Firewall 11.0.378, Site Advisor 3.1.0.162, Anti-Spam 11.0.261, Content 3516, and Parental Controls 12.0.283.

I can't recall the version I had prior .. but I assume this was a large update to the entire suite.  Let's just hope it contains more than just a facelift, as I still often experience MCODS.EXE consuming nearly all of my processor on WinXP Pro machines.

Kind Regards,

Paul

16 Replies
exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 2 of 17

Re: McAfee Total Protection gets a major facelift tonight

Yes that's the new design for 2010.  It has, like all software, the odd teething troubles, but hopefully will work better than before.

Message was edited by: Ex_Brit on 20/04/10 7:57:13 EDT AM
Paulie-D
Contributor
Message 3 of 17

Re: McAfee Total Protection gets a major facelift tonight

Hello Ex-Brit,

Thanks for the timely reply.  I have a few follow-up comments / questions:

1. What other Windows O/S will receive this update, as my Vista Ultimate and Windows 7 boxes remain at the "prior" version?  This remains true, even after clicking "Check for updates".

2. The new UI, while dramatically different and laced with bright green, does not permit the user to resize the window. This is a poor design, especially when (for example) managing the firewall settings / application access levels.  As I recall, there was literally an "outer" and "inner" scroll bar!  McAfee; are you kidding?!

3. Despite having the "prior" version running for some time now, this latest version is triggering requests to confirm internet access (inbound and/or outbound) for a few applications that existed previously.  While that is likely a good thing, it's somewhat concerning that it failed to do so previously.

Kind Regards,

Paul

Message was edited by: Paulie-D on 4/21/10 9:43:18 PM CDT

on 4/21/10 9:43:30 PM CDT
exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 4 of 17

Re: McAfee Total Protection gets a major facelift tonight

Paulie-D wrote:

Hello Ex-Brit,

Thanks for the timely reply.  I have a few follow-up comments / questions:

1. What other Windows O/S will receive this update, as my Vista Ultimate and Windows 7 boxes remain at the "prior" version?  This remains true, even after clicking "Check for updates".

2. The new UI, while dramatically different and laced with bright green, does not permit the user to resize the window. This is a poor design, especially when (for example) managing the firewall settings / application access levels.  As I recall, there was literally an "outer" and "inner" scroll bar!  McAfee; are you kidding?!

3. Despite having the "prior" version running for some time now, this latest version is triggering requests to confirm internet access (inbound and/or outbound) for a few applications that existed previously.  While that is likely a good thing, it's somewhat concerning that it failed to do so previously.

Kind Regards,

Paul

Message was edited by: Paulie-D on 4/21/10 9:43:18 PM CDT

on 4/21/10 9:43:30 PM CDT

1.  They all will get it eventually.

2.  The old one didn't permit resizing either, although it was bigger.  It is a feature that we have suggested many times.  For thos with bad eyesight there is always Windows built-in magnifier.

3.  You can alter your firswall alerts if you wish.   Just click Web and Email Protection. then Firewall, then Smart Advice & Advanced settings.  You can alter the way SecurityCenter handles all alerts via the main page, Navigation at top right, then General Settings & Alerts.

Paulie-D
Contributor
Message 5 of 17

Re: McAfee Total Protection gets a major facelift tonight

Hello Ex-Brit,

Appreciate your feedback / opinions.  However, I'll offer this rebuttal:

1. Still waiting .. but no sign of it on Vista or Win7 boxes.  Why does a "Check for updates" result in an "up-to-date" status - this is clearly not the case within my network!  It's a foolish approach by McAfee to allow this mixed level of protection.

2. Even under a magnifying lens, crap looks like crap.  There's no disguising a flawed design.  I know I am not alone in despising UI's that lock me into a limited on-screen real estate.  At the very least, the main window should allow resizing.

3. Not keen on that suggestion, since you're encouraging newbie's to surpress otherwise important notices.  Perhaps you missed my point:  The action I described gives the appearance that the prior version of McAfee didn't notice that the particular app(s) were gaining internet access .. otherwise, why were they not reported as such until now?  I'm glad to see the warning now .. but it's lessened my trust for the McAfee solution in general.

In closing, the following article issued today lends to my diminishing trust for the McAfee solution - at one's home office or in a business setting:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/21/mcafee-update--shutting-down-xp-machines/

Excerpt: "Botched McAfee update shutting down corporate XP machines worldwide"

Kind Regards,

Paul

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 6 of 17

Re: McAfee Total Protection gets a major facelift tonight

Well I tried.

geoperkins
Former Member
Message 7 of 17

Re: McAfee Total Protection gets a major facelift tonight

Besides the new user interface (which I haven't used too much yet and can't respond good/bad/indifferent) I have a serious problem with loss of functionality and features.

With the previous Internet Security product bundle, included were features I used regularly: "parental controls", "advanced", and "quick clean". It appears the parental controls settings were wiped out and both advanced and quick clean are completely gone. There were other features, which I didn't use that often, but now those too are missing! It appears as if my "update" downloaded the base antivirus product that lacks the suite bundle. I PAID for a suite bundle, not a simple virus scan program. (If I only wanted anti virus, I would have downloaded a FREE competing product form several reputable sources.)

I contacted support (the chat option), which is always a waste of time (litteraly counted in minutes and hours). The polite overseas call center technician finally said that the downgrade was a known issue. When pressed he could not provide any specifics - such as a FAQ announcement similar to the 5958 DAT fiasco widely reported in the media (and on McAfee support site). But I am wondering if these events are somehow related? Did McAfee strip functionality out of its Internet Security suite in order to reduce risk of new DAT-related problems until McAfee understands how the DAT issue came about? If so, why can't support just provide that information in the form of a press release FAQ?

Of course support had no information on this and no assurances that my Internet Security suite would receive its previous features and functionality. So I am turning to the forum.

I have used McAfee Internet Security for 3 years now and was fairly satisfied; learning the GUI and how to navigate around in the product made a decision to renew to 2010 easy. Now that I have to learn a new GUI and apparently features I require have been stripped out of the product, I want my money back and I'll go out and compare what is on the market to buy a better product. (Especially with the recent 5958 DAT issue, my trust in McAfee is at an all time low right now!)

1. How do I get my Internet Security features and functionality back?

2. Where is the user FAQ/Help file that shows how to do old things in a new way in the new GUI?

3. Failing the above, how to do I get my money back (I'm probably somewhere 30-60 days since renewal now).

Thanks in advance forum moderator and McAfee technical support lurkers oin this forum...

geoperkins
Former Member
Message 8 of 17

Re: McAfee Total Protection gets a major facelift tonight

P.S. On http://home.mcafee.com/root/myAccount.aspx the "Refund Policy" link under "Policies and Agreements" gives the following pop-up error message:

"The Document ID you entered was not recognized in our system. Please type the Document ID again, and make sure to use the correct prefix.

  • Technical Support documents use the prefix TS. For example, TS100376. To search for a specific document, navigate using the link at the top of the page. Click FAQs and Search on the left, and then click Proceed to Search.
  • Customer Service documents use the prefix CS. For example, CS40021. To search for a specific document, navigate using the link at the top of the page, then click FAQs and Search on the left."

    Hey McAfee that's pretty bad when your own customer service site has broken links to basic information.

    exbrit
    MVP
    MVP
    Message 9 of 17

    Re: McAfee Total Protection gets a major facelift tonight

    For Technical Support with the new product please start a new thread rather than tagging on someone else's thread and give as many details as possible - you'll get beeter attention that way..

    Under Useful Links at the top of this page is a link to Customer Service where you'll find an FAQ Search feature where you can look up by keyword.

    This is the refund policy link:  http://service.mcafee.com/faqdocument.aspx?id=CS40107&lang=en_US&prior_tid=2&AnswerID=16777216&turl=...

    I just checked it and it works fine. 

    I checked the link from my account page and you are right, it's broken.  I'll report it.

    Paulie-D
    Contributor
    Message 10 of 17

    Re: McAfee Total Protection gets a major facelift tonight

    My Vista Ultimate machines are finally beginning to receive the update tonight .. and at the proper "suite" version.  However, I immediately notice that my Vista machines had their Windows Defender app turned off. I assume for the moment, was the result of McAfee's direction.

    In regard to user "geoperkins" issue, and since he didn't ask, I have three pressing questions on his behalf and for others who will likely experience his issue, given McAfee's recent track record:

    1. Is McAfee aware of AND confirming this upgrade-versioning issue?

    2. What resolve is being offered at this time, to bring the upddated version to the previously-owned "suite" level?

    3. If no immediate resolve is offered / available, would we be able to uninstall this new version and then reinstall the paid-for version .. or would it, too, be replaced by this failed update / upgrade?

    As my original post mentioned, my WinXP Pro machines seemed to update without any apparent versioning issue.  The same now applies to my Vista Ultimate machines which are reporting (under Navigation > About) as follows:  SecurityCenter: 10.0.580, VirusScan 14.0.309, DAT 5963.0000, Engine  5400.1158, Personal Firewall 11.0.378, Site Advisor 3.1.0.162, Anti-Spam  11.0.261, Content 3520, Engine 2.1.0.8571 and Parental Controls 12.0.283.

    Kind Regards,

    Paul

    Message was edited by: Paulie-D on 4/25/10 7:10:23 PM CDT

    Message was edited by: Paulie-D on 4/25/10 7:11:47 PM CDT

    typo corrected on 4/25/10 7:12:03 PM CDT
    How Many Badges Can You Collect?
    Ready for a little competition? Members like you are earning badges and unlocking perks for their helpful answers. Are you? Click here to find out.

    Community Help Hub

      New to the forums or need help finding your way around the forums? There's a whole hub of community resources to help you.

    • Find Forum FAQs
    • Learn How to Earn Badges
    • Ask for Help
    Go to Community Help

    Join the Community

      Thousands of customers use the McAfee Community for peer-to-peer and expert product support. Enjoy these benefits with a free membership:

    • Get helpful solutions from McAfee experts.
    • Stay connected to product conversations that matter to you.
    • Participate in product groups led by McAfee employees.
    Join the Community
    Join the Community