I've had problems with McAfee Security Center v 9.3.151. First, the antivirus definitions wouldn't update. Then Spam-killer wouldn't update. I have uninstalled & reinstalled the Security Center 5-6 times (the last three using the McAfee uninstall tool) before contacting the live advisors (twice), who told me to 1)uninstall & reinstal again & 2)suggested I had a virus (not according to McAfee free scan, many other free scans, Windows Defender full scan). I used the virtual technician, which froze shortly after starting. I used the McAfee uninstall tool once again, then did an index search, deleting anything by the name of McAfee. I ran Reg 1st aid, had it search for Mc*, and it came up with 72+ entries (why didn't the McAfee uninstall tool get rid of these?) which I deleted. I uninstalled AdAware/Adwatch (which used to keep quicktime at bay), did a search and destroy for all its reg entries as well. I rebooted and rebooted, logged 20+ hours doing all of this. I reinstalled McAfee Security Center, and except for Antispam (gave up on that), after running the repair tool several times, it seemed to work. Still, Filemon says McUtil.dll is "not found" - why didn't it download with the rest of the program?-, and several dat-journal(s) get a "not found" as well (although I had the folder open, and saw one briefly appear, then disappear).
Eventually antivirus started updating. I gave up on Anti-Spam, & marked it ignore.
I've had the same problems that other people have posted about: antivirus shutting itself off, then doing the "you are not protected" message, and having to re-verify my subscription about 2-3x/week. Eventually (much repetition in clicking the fix button, which stops before anything has been fixed & the update button), the antivirus is updated.
Much of the advice is to uninstall and reinstall. As I've said, I've done this a number of times. How many times does a person have to uninstall and reinstall for the Security Center to be trouble-free? It's pretty time-consuming and stressful (will this time work? will I have time to do anything else today/tomorrow/the next day? how safe am I paying my bills online with the Security Center malfunctioning, and will it be working by the time my bills are due?).
The point is, what makes one uninstall/reinstall different from previous ones? Isn't it doing the same thing but expecting different results? Why are the downloads of the Security Center faulty? I've downloaded Security Center with Avant Browser & IE 7. No difference. I've done it with Windows Defender on and off. No difference. I use DSL (win xp pro sp3). It can't just be me, because many people are having problems. What is happening with the Security Center download?