More "Computer at Risk" - with a twist

[beatlefan]

photo 111,

Again, thank you very much.  I had been thinking about a week or so that McAfee had actually been running well for some time which scared me because I figured it was about time for them screw something up again and that's exactly what happened.

It is sometimes, like having a second job and I agree, it's not right - it's not as if we're getting McAfee for free.  I have been reluctant to change to another AV program since I don't really know if I will improve the situation or make it worse depending upon which one I go to (sort of like "the devil that you know may be better than the devil that you don't).  But this may cause me to again consider that option when my current subscription expires in July.

I'll try the re-install this weekend and post after that how it went.

Thanks again.

[photo111]

Again, thank you very much.  I had been thinking about a week or so that McAfee had actually been running well for some time which scared me because I figured it was about time for them screw something up again and that's exactly what happened.

Funny, I went through the same thing.

One thing..so many times w/McA, whether it's holding your breath during an update, getting the "At risk" warning...one always feels as if they are the only one going through this crappola...then, you come here, and you see others dealing with the same thing.

Again, I resent any service that requires the paying subscriber to have to deal with the service as if it is a second job. And, after 20 years with McA, that's how I feel about them.McA is like having a seconf job!!

Now, i also agree with, "the devil you know...' statement.  I've had the same thoughts about changing...then, you read about other services and you become angry as you discover there's really problems with AV across the board.

One suggestion, when I did the un/re-install, I CALLED McA and made the tech walk me through both machines. I told him, after 20 years, that's the least McA can do.

Last thing, the tech was in the Phillipines....and he was excellent at his job, and, had no problem being patient. It was my first McA un/re and it went alot smother than some of the other computer issues I've dealt with over the years.

Hope this goe smoothly for you, beatlefan, ..I'm sure it will.

on 4/19/13 11:06:17 AM CDT

on 4/19/13 11:06:55 AM CDT

on 4/19/13 11:08:45 AM CDT

[beatlefan]

photo 111,

Thanks.  I think that the re-install will likely be OK for my Dell Windows 7 laptop which is only about 2 years old with a lot of RAM and good processor speed.  However, my Dell desktop running on XP is about 8 years old and everything having to do with McAfee takes much longer on that machine than it does on the laptop (example - a full scan takes about an hour on the laptop vs. about 4.5 hours on the desktop).

Years ago, that wasn't the case.  When I had McAfee 10.x, the full scan would take a little over an hour.  Once it went to version 11.0 with the current interface in 2010, it started taking longer and longer until now it takes the 4.5 hours that I noted above.  Every new version of McAfee has been more difficult to run on my desktop than the previous version which is why I was in no rush to get 12.1.  This might be the McAfee version that finally causes me to get rid of the old XP machine and buy a Windows 8 machine.  We'll see.

[photo111]

Beatlefan,

What if I told you my XP is just as old as the one you mentioned. I was surprised, I had no issue with the un/reinstal on the XP machine. None. Obviously, it was much faster on the W 7, but in the end, the XP took about an hour, the W 7 about 30 minutes, soup to nuts.

One last thing, re: the old XP computers....I use CCleaner....and I delete all the nonsense at the end of every day. From there, I reboot, do a disk cleanup, a Windows defrag and then I use Piriform's "Defraggler" [the "quick defrag tool, same company as CCLeaner and free]. I do that routine every day and it helps keep the old Dell warhorse running pretty well. If you're interested....

http://www.piriform.com/products

What I have noticed already is that the new version of Sec C, 12.1, runs a lot quicker and better on the old XP machine. And my old Dell has only 1 gig of Ram.

Great talking with you, beatlefan.

Message was edited by: photo111 on 4/19/13 3:34:36 PM CDT

[uffdah11]

I am totally new to this communication forum -- I've never had the need to know that it existed. But, in the last 24 hours, I am experiencing what appears to be the same issue that photo111 and beatlefan are having. I'm using Windows 7; Dell installed. I'm getting at risk messages but when I attempt to follow the instructions to fix it says all is up to date. I just ran the Microsoft Scanner tool (my first time ever) and everything was clear. Should I be creating another event to alert McAfee that others might also be experiencing this issue? Or, is my note added to this string good enough? Thanks for your advice.

[exbrit]

I do know that there have been problems with some servers, particularly the ones that supply the current DAT information, so that may be the cause.  Best contact Technical Support directly if it continues.  It's free by phone or online chat and available through Useful Links at the top of this page.

[uffdah11]

Ex_Brit,

Thank you -- as an fyi, the solution required a reinstall. Hopefully I won't have any additional issues.

[exbrit]

Glad it's fixed for you.

[beatlefan]

photo 111,

I have just posted under "Where Have All the Updates Gone?" 

I did an uninstall/reinstall on both my machines on Friday, April 19 and yes, it went better than I had expected and took less time than I would have expected you were right on the money with that advice.

I now have McAfee SC version 12.1 Build 12.1.323 on both machines and both seem to running well and updating normally (although I went about 48 hours before receiving an Engine update from 1500.0 to the current 1502.0).  I don't see any real speed improvement with 12.1 and a full scan that I ran on my XP machine still took about the same 4.5 hours that the old 11.6 version took.  The Win 7 machine only required about an hour for a full scan using 11.6 and that is also still about the same for 12.1.

However, in any event, things seem to be working OK for right now so I'm happy with that.  I guess we'll just all have to wait until McAfee once again changes something which will bring about the next upset condition.  I understand that sometime soon Version 12.8 will be sent out - not looking forward to that.

Just as an aside, apparently the DAT update issues with 11.6 were finally resolved yesterday (Sunday) so had we left everything alone, it would have corrected itself anyway.  But that's OK, all Dell machines would need to upgrade to 12.1 eventually anyway - we just did it a little ahead of time.

It was great talking to you as well.  I think we had some of same thought processes on McAfee.  I suppose for now I'll stay with the devil that I know.