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insecticide
Former Member
Message 1 of 7

What can we do about Nanny McAfee???

Please can anybody tell me whether there is any way to disable any and all annoying nag messages from Security Center 10?  I'm beginning to think not.

First of all, I have switched off Automatic Updates.  I want to control when updates happen (how about a feature to schedule it?) and am perfectly capable of deciding when to do that for myself, thanks all the same Nanny McAfee.  However, Nanny stills goes off and checks for updates (using resources and on one occasion screwing up a deployment I was doing for a customer) and then starts nagging me that there are updates available (not allowing me to control anything after all, so the Off switch is just a con).

Second, I have switched off the automatic renewal scam on the server.  How arrogant to assume that I will be happy to automatically buy another subscrption!!  And, of course, now I am being nagged about that too -- please review your status.  No, I do not need to review my status, it has changed because I changed it -- which I want to do.

If anybody knows how to disable this patronising nagging, I will be eternally grateful.  Searching these forums and others hasn't given me much hope, however.  McAfee, how about less of this BS and treat your users, most of whom are, after all, allowed by our banks and credit card companies to spend our own money on your product, to make our own decisions and configure your product to suit ourselves.  This version of Security Center is a bit too Vista for me -- unless there's a satisfactory answer to this or a change for the next version, I won't be buying any more McAfee products.

6 Replies
exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 2 of 7

Re: What can we do about Nanny McAfee???

insecticide wrote:

Please can anybody tell me whether there is any way to disable any and all annoying nag messages from Security Center 10?  I'm beginning to think not.

First of all, I have switched off Automatic Updates.  I want to control when updates happen (how about a feature to schedule it?) and am perfectly capable of deciding when to do that for myself, thanks all the same Nanny McAfee.  However, Nanny stills goes off and checks for updates (using resources and on one occasion screwing up a deployment I was doing for a customer) and then starts nagging me that there are updates available (not allowing me to control anything after all, so the Off switch is just a con).

Second, I have switched off the automatic renewal scam on the server.  How arrogant to assume that I will be happy to automatically buy another subscrption!!  And, of course, now I am being nagged about that too -- please review your status.  No, I do not need to review my status, it has changed because I changed it -- which I want to do.

If anybody knows how to disable this patronising nagging, I will be eternally grateful.  Searching these forums and others hasn't given me much hope, however.  McAfee, how about less of this BS and treat your users, most of whom are, after all, allowed by our banks and credit card companies to spend our own money on your product, to make our own decisions and configure your product to suit ourselves.  This version of Security Center is a bit too Vista for me -- unless there's a satisfactory answer to this or a change for the next version, I won't be buying any more McAfee products.

Double-click the taskbar icon to open SecurityCenter

Click Navigation (top right)

Click General Settings & Alerts and switch off alerts there.

As this software is designed to protect you it has to search for updates every few hours and if you have turned off updates and it detects updates available it will nag you regardless of any settings.

That's the way it's designed.

At least you can switch off auto-renewal on the website.  Many applications put you through hoops to turn that feature off.  It is fairly common and not uniquely "McAfee".

It isn't BS to remind you that you've turned off auto-updates.  There isn't much point in having the software in the first place if you are going to update only when you choose.

Sorry, but that's the way it's designed to keep you safe.

Message was edited by: Ex_Brit on 28/07/10 9:37:10 EDT AM
insecticide
Former Member
Message 3 of 7

Re: What can we do about Nanny McAfee???

Thanks for the reply Ex_Brit.

I had already tried the options in the Navigation | General Settings and Alerts, but the alerts I asked about are not listed there.  Nevertheless, as you suggested looking again, I've tried them again, but am still getting the same alerts.  General Settings and Alerts doesn't really offer many options, and doesn't offer any options that address my query:

  • General -- only lets you turn the splash screen on and off..
  • Informational -- no options there for status or update alerts -- and I've tried turning it off altogether but that doesn't make any difference.  Of course, I do actually want to know when a program accesses the internet, so that's good.
  • Protection -- that only has an option for the Firewall, which is one of the reasons I bought the product, so of course I want to keep that alert.
  • Access Protection -- also nothing to do with the alerts I asked about, and also something I want.

I'm sure I must have missed something, and I'm not sure why you directed me to General Settings and Alerts when it's not going to make any difference.

The design is exactly the problem.  I do not want to update every few hours, I want to be able to choose when I update.  Other products offer the possibility of scheduling updates to suit the user (aka customer).  Wouldn't that be an improvement to the design?  Failing that, I should be able to do it manually and really do it manually, but instead McAfee uses a bit too much resource to go off and check for updates "regardless of any settings."

I've had a variety of firewall, virus scanner, internet security applications over the years and this is the first time any of them has set an auto-renewal trap.  So I've never had to jump through any hoops to turn that "feature" off -- but if it's so common, I'll be sure to check for it when I look for an alternative to Nanny McAfee.


Yes, it is BS to not allow flexibility and, sorry, but there's a bit of a BS attitude in your response.  I'm the customer (and from reading through this and other forums, I'm not the only one who objects to the lack of flexibility and the patronising alerts in this version of the product).  You no doubt will disagree since I'm not conforming to the requirements of the product design (would love to have been a fly on the wall in those design meetings), but I am perfectly capable of making those kinds of decisions for myself.  I didn't buy this product so that it could paternalistically keep me "safe."  I bought it to use as a tool, to help me, not to manage me, and I think it's only normal that I get to decide what the point is and make my own decisions about how I use it.  Telling me that's the way it's designed is a bit arrogant and patronising, though I suppose that fits quite well with the design.

Never mind, relentless nagging until my subscription runs out will go a long way to reminding me not to buy a McAfee product again unless the designers get over themselves and drop the bits which usurp individual responsibility and the liberty of choice!

Feel free to scold me now as I've seen you do in other threads.  I'd have expected McAfee to provide moderators with some training so that you don't take customer feedback personally.  I think it's a sign of a mature organisation to take customer opinion on board.  Clearly my expectations are way off in more than one respect.

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 4 of 7

Re: What can we do about Nanny McAfee???

Well I'm a customer also and only volunteering my time here.  If you want to complain directly to McAfee you could either write to head office, address at top of this page...

http://www.mcafee.com/us/about/contact/index.html

Or you could participate in the beta software trials and give feedback there.  Links to that here.....

http://community.mcafee.com/docs/DOC-1236

The current software is pretty well written in stone as it were but we have fed back a lot of similar complaints, believe me.

Sometimes they listen, most often they don't.

SafeBoot
MVP
MVP
Message 5 of 7

Re: What can we do about Nanny McAfee???

Just a FYI, you can tell who works for McAfee, and who's giving up there personal time to help the McAfee community by the "M" shield on our names. Ex-Brit is not a McAfee employee, he's just a guy who for some perverse reason spends inordinate numbers of hours trying to help our users without reward.

Wish I new why you did it Ex-Brit Sir - hats off to you!

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 6 of 7

Re: What can we do about Nanny McAfee???

😉  Thanks.

insecticide
Former Member
Message 7 of 7

Re: What can we do about Nanny McAfee???

Ex-Brit, thanks for the reply and the links.  It's too bad if McAfee won't listen to the feedback that they get.  I suppose the percentage of people disguntled enough to not buy any of their products is too miniscule to matter, and it's the bottom line that counts.  Good luck.

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