Installation, real-time scanning, and file quarantine questions.

[Marikhen]

I recently installed the McAfee security software provided by COX Communications in order to test it out and compare it to AVG as an anti-viral solution and in the last two days that I've been using it I've had a couple issues crop up that.

#1a:  Is the option to select the installation directory on a timer?  After I initiated the installation process for this software I had to go AFK, and when I returned it was already installed without me having even dictated an installation directory.  My PC has three hard drives and the one I have my OS on has a 50gb partition specifically for the OS and any other files that are absolutely required to be included.  In order to prevent that partition from being filled and to enhance system performance I routinely install applications to a different hard drive.  As such not having been able to direct the installation software where to install this application is a bit annoying.

#1b:  In the event that the installation software automatically installs this product wherever it desires without input from the end user would it break anything important if I were to manually move it to a different hard drive?  I'm really not keen on having more applications than necessary on my OS partition and if the McAfee SecurityCenter can recover from being moved to a different drive I'd like to do so.

#2a:  While looking though one of my drives to find a file McAfee started automatically quarantining files that it claimed were infected.  These files are, to the best of my knowledge, completely clean and were utterly ignored by AVG in the past.  The problem is that every time I restored them McAfee automatically re-quarantined them.  I sat there for 2 minutes restoring the same file half a dozen times as McAfee quarantined it repeatedly.  My question is this.  How do I get the software to stop doing this without disabling real-time scanning?

#2b:  When this first happened I tried to go through the built-in process to submit the file for analysis by McAfee and the program claimed there was an error and that the process could not be completed.  Why is there even an option to submit files via the SecurityCenter program if it doesn't even work?  I had this problem with AVG and now with McAfee and it really feels like a slap in the face to have this option sitting there but be completely useless.

#3a:  When I started to play a game on my PC patched to bypass "security" measures which require the CD/DVD to be inserted in the drive McAfee determined, falsely in my opinion given that I've used it dozens of times and have had it installed for nearly a year with no ill effects, that one of the altered files was infected and automatically quarantined it before the game could load it thereby rendering the game inoperable.  This was the final straw and I determined that disabling the real-time scanning was the only solution to McAfee randomly quarantining clean files.  After doing so, however, the McAfee SecurityCenter would generate a popup at apparently random intervals telling me that my system was at risk.  Furthermore it would continue doing this after I clicked Close and even after I opened up the SecurityCenter and told it to Dismiss the problem.  My question is this.  How do I get it to stop generating these annoying popups?  It's the software's fault that I had to disable the real-time scanning and I don't like being punished for its' mistakes.

#3b:  Why does real-time scanning auto-activate itself?  I recently had to reboot my machine for technical reasons, and after I logged back into Windows I received to consecutive pop-ups about how my PC was at risk, due to the real-time scanning being inactive, and after closing both of them I went about my business only to later on fine that somehow the real-time scanning software had suddenly, and without my authorization, reactivated itself.

AVG's recent "upgrade now" popup campaign hit me like an extortion racket.  Their "once every 4 days" popups occurred on one of my PCs every day for nearly two months.  After that sort of frustrating treatment I am looking to change security software despite the fact that AVG has yielded quality protection for every PC in my apartment for over 4 years.  Because this security package was offered through my ISP I decided to give it a shot, and in all fairness I'm trying to give it a good shot.  However these issues are going from annoying to very annoying and possibly crippling.

I cannot use any security software that will, apparently at randomly, remove files from my general access any time I even open the directory they're in.  Likewise I have no use for software that cripples my games and other applications simply because they either function in a questonable manner or because they were altered in a way that mimics viral infections without giving me the option of preventing their quarantine.  In an effort to not just write McAfee off in frustration and try something else I'm here to resolve these issues, hopefully in an equitable fashion.

For the sake of clarity, and because apparently my style of writing confuses some tech support personnel, I'll recap my questions.

#1a:  Is there an option to select where the McAfee SecurityCenter, and included, software is installed to?

#1b:  If not will it cause any irreperable damage to the software if I manually move it to another hard drive for drive space and performance purposes?

#2a:  How do I stop the real-time scanning software from constantly quarantining files that I know are clean?

#2b:  Why is there an option to submit threat files when it doesn't work?

#3a:  How do I get the McAfee SecurityCenter to stop annoying me with pop-ups about how the real-time scanning is disabled?

#3b:  Why does McAfee SecurityCenter generate two "you are at risk" pop-ups on reboot for one problem, and why did the real-time scanning automatically restart itself after said pop-ups even though when I previously disabled it I selected the "Never" option for when it should reactivate itself?

Thank you for your time.

[Aldrin]

Sorry for the deferred response, please find my comments inline:

#1a:  Is there an option to select where the McAfee SecurityCenter, and included, software is installed to?

# Sorry to say that we don’t have any option to select your own installation directory for installing McAfee

#1b:  If not will it cause any irreperable damage to the software if I manually move it to another hard drive for drive space and performance purposes?

# No you will not be able to move them to a different drive or location

#2a:  How do I stop the real-time scanning software from constantly quarantining files that I know are clean?

# It’s not recommended to trust a file which is been continuously quarantined, since AVG is an free version it may not have this infection’s variant in their database. Moreover, It would be great if you give us more information about that file so that we shall check the same in our end as well

#2b:  Why is there an option to submit threat files when it doesn't work?

# Not sure why it gave you that error message but what was the file type that you tried to upload? (what is the file extension)

#3a:  How do I get the McAfee SecurityCenter to stop annoying me with pop-ups about how the real-time scanning is disabled?

# Disabling real time scanning is really not an recommended option but again it depends upon the game and from where you have downloaded it, if it’s really an infected one then it would be either quarantined/ cleaned/ deleted by McAfee

#3b:  Why does McAfee SecurityCenter generate two "you are at risk" pop-ups on reboot for one problem, and why did the real-time scanning automatically restart itself after said pop-ups even though when I previously disabled it I selected the "Never" option for when it should reactivate itself?

# Have you disabled it permanently, because there are couple options like enable after 5mins, 10mins, 15mins, after reboot, never…. So not sure what was the option that you have selected !!!

on 7/1/11 1:06:19 PM IST

[Marikhen]

# It’s not recommended to trust a file which is been continuously quarantined, since AVG is an free version it may not have this infection’s variant in their database. Moreover, It would be great if you give us more information about that file so that we shall check the same in our end as well

Be that as it may some anti-viral products have heuristic scans that aren't the most accurate.  When AVG went from version 8 to version 9 their software suddenly started to detect a threat in a program that I'd been using quite literally for years with no ill effect whatsoever.  Given that the files that McAfee, in my opinion erroneously, twigged to were a DRM workaround (a.k.a. "no disc patch") and a "trainer" program for a video game I'd be inclined to believe that something about the nature of the programs caused them to register as trojans.

Also, I never said I was using AVG Free.  They do have a subscription product as well as their free anti-viral package.

# Not sure why it gave you that error message but what was the file type that you tried to upload? (what is the file extension)

I believe that one file, the DRM workaround, was a .dll and the other, the trainer, was a .exe.  I tried multiple times with both files and with both files I received an error message indicating that the program was unable to send them.  This was especially frustrating as I had the exact same issue with AVG.

# Disabling real time scanning is really not an recommended option but again it depends upon the game and from where you have downloaded it, if it’s really an infected one then it would be either quarantined/ cleaned/ deleted by McAfee

Yes, I understand that, and believe me I agree with it, but when it results in me having to be concerned over which folders I open lest it quarantine who knows what and force me to back out of them before I can un-quarantine them and then spend time trying to figure out why it did so it has to go.  Either way that doesn't answer my question.  It's very annoying to get the same warning message every few hours, especially when it's the intrusive sort that will take focus away from whatever application I'm using.  I've been posting messages on forums and it's taken focus away from that instance of IE8 while I was typing.  I've had games drop from full screen mode because of the warning message.  I'm just thankful that it hasn't yet popped up when I'm playing one of the many games I have that can't recover from being minimized like that.

So is there any way to permanently tell the software, "Yes, I know you think this is a problem, now don't bother me about it?"

# Have you disabled it permanently, because there are couple options like enable after 5mins, 10mins, 15mins, after reboot, never…. So not sure what was the option that you have selected !!!

Well, as I said, I selected the "Never" option when I disabled the real-time scanning.  I did this twice in fact as I turned it on to verify that it would, in fact, be capable of randomly preventing me from playing my games, and both times when it gave me the option of letting it automatically turn on after a set time frame I selected "Never."  It's conceivable that the scroll wheel on my mouse may have been moved before I clicked okay and that may have changed the setting, but I've only seen that happen 2-3x in 5-6 years of using mice with scroll wheels.

Please bear in mind that I recently reinstalled Windows 7 x64 and haven't reinstalled the McAfee suite since due to these issues so I'll be unable to do any sort of "well how about trying this" type tests.  I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but until the software can run to my satisfaction, which is to say warning me of issues and letting me dictate the response instead of arbitrarily taking action without my direct input, I won't be installing it again.