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MWH811
Contributor
Message 1 of 14

Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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I upgraded to Win 7 and now the security scan seems to be running extremely slow. I do have the option "run with minimal computer resources" unchecked.  Is anyone else having this issue?  Is there a fix?

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1 Solution

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jklein4663
Contributor II
Message 13 of 14

Re: Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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Here's how I fixed this problem on my computer (Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200S, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD, Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit):

IMPORTANT!!  This worked for me but I can't guarantee it will work for you.  I strongly suggest you make a full system backup before you try it, just in case it causes problems on your machine.

Open Windows Explorer and expand the "C:" drive.
Open the "Users" folder.
Check each subfolder for a folder named "Application Data".
Open the "Application Data" folder. If it contains a folder with the same name, delete that redundant folder.
Do the same thing in any "Local Settings" folder under any of the "Users" folders.
Go back to the "C:" drive, and open the "Documents and Settings" folder, and go through the same process.

DO NOT delete the first "Application Data" folder you come to; only delete the "Application Data" folders that are contained in an "Application Data" folder.

Empty the Recycle Bin before you start a scan.

After I did this, I completed a full scan in an hour and 11 minutes. Before, it took over twenty hours. I haven't seen any change in the way any of my applications work, and none of the redundant folders have reappeared.

It appears to me that those redundant folders are just pointing back at themselves, and cascade downhill for several iterations (I've opened them as deep as fifteen times!) Every time I step further down, CPU load goes up, and everything slows down. I have no idea where they came from.  McAfee was scanning every file in the "Application Data" folders over and over and over and taking longer and longer to do it each time.

Hope this helps!

Jim

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13 Replies
UofTguy
Former Member
Message 2 of 14

Re: Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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I am having this exact same issue with windows 7 64bit and McAfee Total Protection 2010.  I spent hours on forums today and and about 30 min with the McAfee online chat support.  Although I appreciate their customer support efforts, the problem is still not resolved.  The online chat tech ran a few .exe's and installed a few things and at the end of the chat, he told me to restart and try a scan...of course after the restart the chat was terminated...and the result was, my scan is still painfully slow...by my estimates, it will take McAfee 2 days to scan my modest 320 Gb drive.  Its scanning as I type.

I'm at a loss...I no longer have my reciept so I can't return it.  I had so much confidence in McAfee that the thought returning it didnt even cross my mind, hence my receipt got misplaced. Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed! $70 for a piece of software that will bog down my pc for 2 days out of the week???  BS.  I'll probably take the hit to my wallet and buy the from the guys with the yellow box

B6344
Former Member
Message 3 of 14

Re: Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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I just extended McAfee for another two years after is was on my new computer from Dell last year. I upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 Pro and Yes I'm having the same SLOW full scan. It took a little over 15 hours to scan my computer and I don't even have all my programs loaded on yet. So what is McAfee going to do about this or is that the way it will always be? I also have "run wiht minimal computer resources unchecked". J just couldn't believe it took that long to scan.

parkcityguy
Former Member
Message 4 of 14

Re: Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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I am having the exact same problem.  I have a dual core machine and when I start the scan my core 1 is at 70 to 80% utilization and my core two 60 to 100% utilization.  Nothing else can really run on the PC while this is going on and I have to cancel the scan run without it.

I am running WIN 7 Ultimate and have no problem with any other program.  If I let it run overnight only 20% of my two drive disk system is scanned.  I hate to have to do this but I think that I will have to shut McAfee off when ever I need to do any work.

Does anyone have any suggestions???

UofTguy
Former Member
Message 5 of 14

Re: Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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Want a suggestion?  Get Bitdefender!  I took the loss on mcafee.  Wasn't worth my time to wait for a solution.  Bitdefender is awesome.  I will never buy a McAfee product again.

try1
Former Member
Message 6 of 14

Re: Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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I recently installed McAfee on my Windows 7 machine. It'll take anywhere from 10 to 12 hours to do a full scheduled scan. I unchecked the use minimal resources to speed it up but it did not help. This same computer was running Windows Vista prior to running Windows 7 and it would take about two hours to do the same scan. I did a clean install of Windows 7 to prevent any upgrade problems that may have occurred. I've seen many posts about this & no resolve. Is this normal? Has anybody come up with a fix? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

parkcityguy
Former Member
Message 7 of 14

Re: Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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I did exactly the same thing with a clean install.  I also tested this on other Win 7 PC that we have and the same problem occurs.  I then tried a scan on a Windows XP machine that was older and slower and the scan screamed.

There has to be some issue with McAfee and Win 7 that they have not addressed.  I tried to contact them but got NO RESPONSE.  I am afraid that maybe they have cut their staff size to the point that they can neither answer a question as to why this occurs, find a solution short term fix, or get their software to behave with WIN 7.

I have a free offer to use Norton with an HP machine that we are going to get.  I will try that an see if they work.  Then I will post my findings.

UofTguy
Former Member
Message 8 of 14

Re: Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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I've tried norton. I bought a compaq (which is hp) that had win 7 premium and 60days free norton.  It worked well but I couldnt find it onsale anywhere.  I bought Bitdefender as mentioned above on a good sale (Bitdefender Total 2010 for 2yrs, 3 users for $50 CAD).  Heard good things about it but was still skeptical because I always believed in sticking with the big names like Norton or McAfee.  I was very surprised, I think its better than Norton but I'm no expert.

My recommendation is to get Bitdefender or Norton...whichever is onsale.  In anycase, keep the reciept and just return it if you're not happy...dont make the mistake i did with losing my McAfee receipt...still pissed off!  Oh well, its all good.

Dinz
Former Member
Message 9 of 14

Re: Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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Hi,

Can you provide some information , whether the scan does it get stuck at particular location during the process ?
Also do a full scan in safe mode (Press F8 while the computer restarts) and check the status.

Thanks,
Dinesh K

try1
Former Member
Message 10 of 14

Re: Security scan is running extremely slow on Win 7

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The computer is a Pentium dual core ES 3200 2.50 GHz with 4 gig of RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit operating system, 500 GB hard drive at 7200 RPM. VirusScan is version 13.15. There is about 54 GB of used hard drive space. It will take anywhere from 10 to 12 hours to do a full schedule scan. When this computer was running Windows Vista, it would take about 2 1/2 hours. This was a clean install not an upgrade. I also uncheck scan with minimal resources to speed it up but that did not help. The only thing I did not try was to delete the Windows old files. This would free up about 35 GB of disk space. I will try that, then do a disk defrag and run it again. I will report back the results when I have completed.

By the way the scan does not hang or stop, from what I can tell because I do not sit there and watch for 10 to 12 hours.

Message was edited by: try1 on 12/7/09 1:33:19 PM CST
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