slow startup after installing mcafee

[rpfarrell]

I'm very new to this, please bear with me. I hope I'm even in the right forum. I recently installed Comcast's Mcafee Security, and ever since I did my computer has been starting up really slow, with the hard drive light showing busy for 4 or 5 minutes during startup. When I initially installed it, it seems I recall setting an option to start Mcafee scan upon startup, or something like that, and I've been trying to find that option again to reset it to run perhaps when I shut down instead, or at least to just see what other options are available, but have had no luck in finding those options. I guess my question to anyone is: Are there any settings I can change in Mcafee to help my computer load and startup quicker, and if so how do I get to them? Before installing Mcafee, my computer would start up in about 2 minutes or so, now it's taking 5 or 6 minutes. I'd appreciate any help anyone could give me concerning this matter. thank you.

[exbrit]

Not knowing what components of the software you installed I can only hazard guesses at some things. First if you are in the habit of storing emails in your Inbox, rather than removing them to specialized folders setup for storage, scans will occur at every startup, notably by Anti-Spam and by VirusScan.

For the first while startups are often slow as the Security Center and Firewall get used to the processes.

To adjust scanning do the following:

Double-click the taskbar icon to open Security Center
Click Advanced Menu (bottom left)
Click Configure (left)
Click Computer & Files (left)
Click Advanced (right)
The default scanning time is 4.00am, which is probably why it starts the minute you startup.
Click Scheduled Scan (left) to alter that. Also make sure that you are using the minimal resources setting, see thumbnail below (click).

[rpfarrell]

Thanks for your reply! I've installed all components except for parental controls, and no, i don't normally keep e-mail messages in my inbox. I usually move them to a folder or delete them right after reading them. I went ahead and changed my scheduled scan to a later time as you suggested. (however, it was set previously to scan only one day a week, which I kept.) I especially liked your comment that it may take some time for Security Center to get used to the processes. I'm hoping that this is the case, and that it will eventually get faster as time goes on. (It's only been about 3 or 4 days so far.) I'll just give it some more time and see how it goes. Hopefully it will get better. If you happen to think of anything else I could do, please let me know. Thanks for your help!

[exbrit]

I'm glad I'm not alone regarding storage of emails. I got told off by one poster for telling her that storing 3500 emails in her inbox was not a good idea. She suggested that I sort them out for her and you can guess my answer.

Other reasons for slow downs can be competing software. Is there any?

Also did you clean out any older versions using the removal tool when you installed it the last time?

[rpfarrell]

It seems you were right about startups being slow the first few days as McAfee gets used to the processes. I didn't really do anything different, but now my startup is down from around 5 1/2 minutes down to about 2 minutes! ..What a relief!

[exbrit]

I guess it was settling in...LOL. Glad it's better than it was. Can I mark this solved then?

[rpfarrell]

I'll keep my fingers crossed, but yes, the problem seems to be solved. thanks!

[exbrit]

OK then, good luck.