So a 2.5 year old would be a dual core CPU correct? Can ypou post your specs most here have P4s and having the issue ( ready to be slammed) but that was my impression.
I am getting the impression that in order to use McAfee it is necessary to have a fairly new computer with a dual core CPU. If one ONLY has a P4 then McAfee is not going to work properly! So this would mean that to keep using McAfee one would have to discard an otherwise perfectly satisfactory P4 computer and get a new one!
My wife and I both have P4 computers, mine has a 3MHz CPU and 2GByte Ram, my wife's older machine has a 2.25MHz CPU and 1.5 GByte RAM.
About two or three years ago a McAfee update prevented my wife from accessing the internet (even after FULLY uninstalling and then reinstalling McAfee). My computer was not affected by this update.
As a result, I kept McAfee and my wife got a different Internet Security Suite (the AVG one). After the recent (for me) turn of events regarding mcshield.exe my computer is on the whole slower and sometimes much slower than hers (despite the faster CPU and larger RAM).
I do have a few more programs on mine than on hers but we both have Windows XP Professional SP3 and MS Office 2003 kept up-to-date and use Firefox and Thunderbird and IE (if we have to) and also have some graphic and other programs. So both computer are fairly similar.
I was thinking of changing to AVG but think there are now better internet security suites. Also AVG does not have a network map facility (to show all the devices on the network on one screen with their IP and MAC addresses), a facility which McAfee does have and which I have found quite useful at times in sorting out networking problems. I think BitDefender, which is well reviewed, has this but I do not think there is a free trial for home users. Kaspersky is also well reviwed but I don't think it has a network map facility so I am still looking for a possible replacement for McAfee.
However, at present McAfee seems to be working well for me - as long as I don't use IE.
So I am still considering what best to do as any change involves a fair amount of work, not only uninstalling McAfee and installing a new program but also getting familiar with and customising the new program.
Derek
Message was edited by: DerekShaw on 14/04/12 10:07:21 CDTamd athelon IIx3 400e processor 2.20 ghz
4gig ram
windows 7
64bit operating system
at the moment seems to be behaving itself again
I just wish it would let me know what is causing the slow down so I can chose to end it!
Ditto I am wanting that as well and I do not get the issue.
I can't believe that this thread is 7 pages long. I read the first post and immediately knew what the problem most likely was. Is it lost on everybody that Derek is trying to use brand new software on a 10 year old, single core machine? Some people alluded to that as a possible problem, but I submit to you that it is the problem.
It's funny. I skipped around a lot, so I didn't get to everything. But I did see Derek repeatedly post the specs of his dinosaur machine, and in the end it appears that he figured out the obvious. Derek still resists, however. He seems upset that Mcafee doesn't engineer software to work with machines that almost nobody uses (P4), and he says that his machine is perfectly good condition.
A good metaphor for this would be a 90 year old man wondering why he doesn't seem to be able to run a marathon anymore. He's 90 years old, but he thinks the shoes (Mcafee) are the problem. Stupid shoes!
The analogy I would use is rather that of a fit 60 year old not being able to walk a SINGLE step because his/her ankles have been tied together. Since February mcshield.exe was frequently taking up 100%CPU for NO reason. This particularly affected IE although Firefox was not affected or at least only slightly. I now know that McAfee was having a general effect on the speed of my computer.
Please note the "was".
I have cured ALL my problems by replacing McAfee with another internet security suite.
The effect is like having a new computer. Everything is very much faster: all the programs I use open within seconds except one graphic program which takes a bit longer, copying files (especially across the home network), internet browsing, OCR and printing.
Indeed I can now view TV with the BBC iPlayer smoothly both in IE and Firefox and in Firefox I can even do this in HD, although I acknowledge that that is pushing the P4. In short the computer is performing as fast as I need for anything that I wish to do. It was CLEARLY McAfee that was slowing it down, often to a complete standstill
I don;t really see why I should get a new computer when the one I have now does all I want.
Derek shaw
That is what I see as well with My daughter's Celeron 1.6Ghz. It is above spec but get teh mcshield issue all the time. Mcafee is looking into it they have my logs and we shall see what happens now.
Any Dual core is fine.
What did you replace Mcafee with?
My wife has been using AVG Internet Security for a couple of years after a McAfee update made it impossible for her to connect to the internet. For some reason my computer which is set up in a simiilar way to hers was not affected by that problem. (Both use Windows XP Professional SP3). McAfee admitted that this problem was their fault.
I used Google to search for reviews of internet security suites. The one which seems to have the best reviews is BitDefender, but I also got the impresion that it might be incompatible with Trusteer Rapport which I use and find useful for my set-up. The next which has good reviews is Kaspersky but as far as I could see they do not offer 24/7 telephone support, only normal office hours Monday to Friday - at least in the UK.
So I installed a free trial of AVG Internet Security 2012 which also has good reviews and have now bought a licence.
If you don't use Trusteer Rapport then BitDefender would be well worth trying (a free trial is also available for this but you may have to telephone them to get a link for the free trial version), but I am pleased that I have changed to AVG.
All three of these programs are rated much highrer than McAfee at present in a number of reviews.
Derek Shaw
Except that it doesn't do everything you want, hence this entire thread. With a new computer, you probably wouldn't have had this problem and you wouldn't have wated all of this time. This will happen more and more as you upgrade software.
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