After using McAfee for several years, and having to go through the same hardship every time a new version was required, I threw in the towel and bought and installed Trend Micro AV.
I will say the support staff person I talked with last was professional, but after following the advice on this forum to get the new version installed, going through the entire process several times only to get generic "failed" checkmarks, I called support to find out what to do, and I was lead like a sheep through the entire process yet again only to result in the same failure message. At this point I was asked to make sure I didn't have another antivirus product installed, and that I had all current Windows updates, and then to call back.
Of course, I did have all updates, and I know my own computer since I did build it myself, and it NEVER had anything but McAfee on it. All this did not make a bit of difference to the tech.
So I went through the process again and this time got the virtual technician to run! And it gave me reasons for the current failure - yes it failed again.
Armed with this information, I was sure that I was on the road to a quick solution to the problem, but alas, this was soon to be disproved because the last tech, although very sweet, had me run through the entire process AGAIN - I added the steps she missed as I was thourghly versed in them by now. Long story short - it failed again. The tech was not interested in the log that the previous failed install provided, nor was she interested in running the virtual tech again. Instead she said that she was going to escalate my case and that I would be called back within a few hours. I told her that I had the time to fix the issue now rather than in a few hours, but aparently the escalation people are very busy these days...
As promised, they did call back, and as expected, I did not have the time to sit and play with it. I was told to call back within 24 hours or the case would be closed. Since I did not get to call back within the next 24 hours, I decided to forget the entire thing. A friend told me about Trend Micro.
I downloaded and had it running in half the time spent on downloading the McAfee suite alone. It installed perfectly on my system nicely cleaned of anything McAfee by the McAffee uninstaller and pre install programs themselves. This tool is far superior as I can install it on 3 computers and monitor their protection status over my home network via a handy interface. Updates are downloaded in an instant and my system is not bogged down while doing so. Scans are discreet and very fast. I always found myself canceling the scan with McAfee.
My advice to users who want to keep their hair is to look for alternatives. Why this software can't install without these issues and needs a forum like this with thousands of threads with 90 percent of them having the words "does not work" is good testimony against installing it in the first place.
This product is way too unforgiving. Good luck to you.
Individual post now moved to the original thread - Mod