×
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
obolox
Contributor
Message 1 of 7

Why is my Total Protection 2013 window almost the size of my computer screen?

Jump to solution

Tried looking for the right place to post this. Thought I' try here.

I have Total Protection 2013 running on my Acer laptop running Windows 7 Startup.

Yesterday (11/15/2013) I was on the internet and I must have downloaded something or a McAfee update is seriously messing with me.

My normal McAfee window is about 6 inches tall and about 5 inches wide. It's still 6 inches tall, but now it's close to 9 inches wide.

The only thing I did that could be responible is I clicked "Close" on a pop-up advertising a product to protect you from "The Most Dangerous Celebrities."

Today (11/14/2013) when I started up my laptop, I got a message saying my free trial to something I never heard of had expired and now I needed to pay to reactivate. It was a momentary message and it closed before I could read the whole thing.

MAINow my Total Protection has different sized fonts, no minimize button, the Real-Time scanning kept turning off seconds after I clicked 'Turn On," and the Quick Clean no longer cleans Internet Explorer or Chrome (they aren't even listed as part of the Quick Clean process).

To fix this problem this is what I did.

1. Restored my computer to the previous Restore Point (11/14/2013). That didn't help. The Mcafee window was was it's normal usual size but the fonts were like 5pt to 180pt and the menu options ran off the edge of the window.

2. Rstored my computer to the next previous Restore Point (11/12/2013). That didn't help. All the fonts were normal. All the Main Menu Options were listed normally one right under the other. But the the size was 6 inches tall and 9 inches wide.

3. Uninstalled everything "McAfee"  using the MCPR2 tool. But it said some permissions weren't obtained so some products would not be removed. After the reboot, the Taskbar still had the McAfee icon. but I went ahead and and downloaded "McAfeeSetup" thinking I should be able to work around that. Wrong. I ran "McAfeeSetup" it twice. Each time it could not complete the installation process. This was after wasting close to 140MB each time.

     So I went to Start>Computer>Acer (C:)>Program Files and tried to remove the folders "McAfee", "McAfee Security Scan", and "McAfee.com". Was only able to remove "McAfee Security Scan". The other two folders said I needed Administrator permission to delete and since I was using the Administrator Account, I clicked Coninue, but it said the folder was being used by another program and could not be deleted>therefore: Access Denied.

     Then I went "Ctrl+Alt+Delete" to "Start Task Manager" and selected the "Services Tab" and clicked on the Services button to open the Services window. In Services Window I disabled all the Services that had "McAfee" but some wouldn't be disabled like McAfee Platform. Tried deleting "McAfee" in Program Files. Access Denied.

     Then I started looking on the internet around the forums to see if anyone was having problems deleting McAfee from their computers. I stumbled on one forum where a guy said that a folder not being able to be deleted was probably due to it being used by malware; therefore: Reboot your comuter and press F8 before the Windows logo comes up and restart in "Safe Mode." In Safe Mode, I was finally able to delete the "McAfee.com" folder from Program Files. But "McAfee" was still being used by another program and therefore: Access Denied. In the end I clicked on "McAfee" and highlighted everything, right-clicked, and Delete. I kept doing that for all folders in "McAfee." In the end I had only four folders in "McAfee" that had Access Denied.

     During all this the McAfee Vault was still running in Windows Explorer>Libraries>Documents. Tried Deleting but Access Denied. So I created a "New Folder," stuck McAfee Vaults in it, tried to Delete, but Access Denied. So I right-clicked on "New Folder," opened up Properties. In the New Folder Properties window, I selected the "Security Tab," clicked on "Advanced". Under the "Permissions" Tab, I clicked on the " Change Permissions" button, deselected "Included inheritable permissions from this object's parent" clicked "Add", selected "Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object." Clicked "Apply", OK and so forth. Right-clicked on "McAfee". Lo and behold! DELETED! McAfee Vaults still showed up in Start>Computer>Other(1). But the McAfee logo was gone and a regular default icon (white page, open window, with two rows of icons) was in its place so I figured I was safe.

     At this point the white flag icon for Action Center popped up in the Taskbar saying Windows Defender was out of date and Windows could not find an anti-virus program and check online for a program.

     At this point I created a new Restore Point labeled "Pre-McAfee Installation" since I was going to run "McAfeeSetup" a THIRD time. Ran "McAfeeSetup". Installation successful. BUT all the initial problems I listed at the beginning of this post are still there:

1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 2 of 7

Re: Why is my Total Protection 2013 window almost the size of my computer screen?

Jump to solution

The new interface is designed to be compatible also with Windows 8/8.1 andtouch screens hence the new design.   Your screen resolution may be too low which would make it appear extremely large, what resolution is your screen set at?

The lowest compatible with the software is 1024 x 768.

If the software is malfunctioning after an upgrade it's possible it became corrupted in the process.   First try running the Virtual Technician to see if it will fix anything:  http://mvt.mcafee.com/

If that fails to help then I recommend the following:

Uninstall all McAfee via Control Panel > Programs, reboot if asked.

Then run the MCPR  cleanup tool and reboot.

Reinstall from your online account.

.

Message was edited by: Ex_Brit on 17/11/13 8:06:30 EST PM

View solution in original post

6 Replies
exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 2 of 7

Re: Why is my Total Protection 2013 window almost the size of my computer screen?

Jump to solution

The new interface is designed to be compatible also with Windows 8/8.1 andtouch screens hence the new design.   Your screen resolution may be too low which would make it appear extremely large, what resolution is your screen set at?

The lowest compatible with the software is 1024 x 768.

If the software is malfunctioning after an upgrade it's possible it became corrupted in the process.   First try running the Virtual Technician to see if it will fix anything:  http://mvt.mcafee.com/

If that fails to help then I recommend the following:

Uninstall all McAfee via Control Panel > Programs, reboot if asked.

Then run the MCPR  cleanup tool and reboot.

Reinstall from your online account.

.

Message was edited by: Ex_Brit on 17/11/13 8:06:30 EST PM
obolox
Contributor
Message 3 of 7

Re: Why is my Total Protection 2013 window almost the size of my computer screen?

Jump to solution

Wow. Thanks for letting me know about Total Protection also being compatible with Windows 8 and the screen resolution. Unfortunately the highest my Screen Resolution will go is 1024X600.

Now that I know that the problem is McAfee and possible re-installation corruption I really don't want to use MCPR2 again and go through the nightmare of uninstall.

If anything else goes haywire, I'll just restore back to "Pre-McAfee Installation" without having to go through the nightmare of manually deleting files MCPR2 misses.

Also, during the time I was logged on to post my problem, I was away from my laptop for a while and I was logged out. When I came back I edited my post to include that Step 2 was I ran Virtual Tech and it fixed 2 minor issues. And also tried connecting with a live tech, but since my internet connection was Wi-Fi they said they couldn't help. Step 5 was I downloaded and ran Stinger but it found no threats. I posted but since I was logged out automatically, it only saved what you see above. Since I was dealing with this all day and it was almost 6 in the morning, I said OTHWI and just posted what I was able to recover.

On a side note: Why doesn't McAfee just make a sole program for Windows 8 alone without messing with subscriptions people have who don't have Windows 8 or tough screen? Or at least have "McAfeeSetup" automatically scan the computer it's trying to install on and detect if it has Windows 8 or if it's a touch screen?

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 4 of 7

Re: Why is my Total Protection 2013 window almost the size of my computer screen?

Jump to solution

The software is compatioble with all current versions of Windows from XP upwards so they have to compromise.

MCPR2?   I hope you aren'y using that as it's old, MCPR is the tool.

If you use that low screen resolution then the software isn't compatible with your machine so remove it and use someone ele's.  Customer Service do refunds if needed.

See Useful Links at the top of this page.

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 5 of 7

Re: Why is my Total Protection 2013 window almost the size of my computer screen?

Jump to solution

Edit: sorry I double posted due to a board malfunction.

Message was edited by: Ex_Brit on 18/11/13 9:44:35 EST PM
obolox
Contributor
Message 6 of 7

Re: Why is my Total Protection 2013 window almost the size of my computer screen?

Jump to solution

To do software removal I was directed to the MCPR download link on McAfee and MCPR2 was what was downloaded for me. So that was what I used.

This wouldn't have hapened if McAfee didn't try to multi-task between different systems. Once the so-called download was implemented I tried to remove it but the upgrade wiped the Total Protection file from Control Panel>Programs and Features which started me on the whole excursion into manual file deletion as stated in my original post.

Thanks for the advice on using someone else besides McAfee. I've already been looking into that. You simply confirmed I was on the right track.

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 7 of 7

Re: Why is my Total Protection 2013 window almost the size of my computer screen?

Jump to solution

OK, well good luck then.

How Many Badges Can You Collect?
Ready for a little competition? Members like you are earning badges and unlocking perks for their helpful answers. Are you? Click here to find out.

Community Help Hub

    New to the forums or need help finding your way around the forums? There's a whole hub of community resources to help you.

  • Find Forum FAQs
  • Learn How to Earn Badges
  • Ask for Help
Go to Community Help

Join the Community

    Thousands of customers use the McAfee Community for peer-to-peer and expert product support. Enjoy these benefits with a free membership:

  • Get helpful solutions from McAfee experts.
  • Stay connected to product conversations that matter to you.
  • Participate in product groups led by McAfee employees.
Join the Community
Join the Community