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bill_k
Former Member
Message 1 of 3

Recent Update to "Real-Time Scanning" Slows Computer

Within the past two weeks, McAfee downloaded a new version of its Total Protection software onto my computer. (I had no say in the matter.) And now one of my programs (which I personally wrote and compiled) takes six times longer to run than it used to. (I've confirmed this by temporarily disabling Real-Time Scanning.) This is code I wrote and I want it to run without McAfee's tremendously annoying overhead. All my program does is read in a couple hundred lines of text from an .ini file. That's all! And McAfee slows it from taking less than 2 seconds to taking more than a dozen seconds. I want to exclude this .exe from McAfee's real-time scanning, since I'm 100% certain it isn't a virus. (I wrote it!) Indeed, in my case it's McAfee that is the virus (e.g., it's the program that takes over my system and slows it to a crawl against my wishes--the definition, in my book, of a virus). I chatted online with McAfee and was told blankly that there's no way to exclude programs. (I used to exclude this program and others in McAfee's earlier version.)

I dumped Norton Anti-Virus after several years because it was taking over my system--it wouldn't let me turn off background scanning--so I switched to McAfee. Now McAfee is doing the same kind of thing--hogging my resources and slowing my system down. Makers of Anti-Virus don't seem to get it: I bought my computer to run the software I want to run; I didn't buy it to run the software McAfee wants me to run. I get fed up with all of these companies--Microsoft, McAfee, Norton, Adobe, Java, you name it--that delay the start of my computer so they can endlessly check for updates and patches and all sorts of unknown gobbledygook for programs that I rarely, if ever, use. I just want my system to run fast and free of hassle. Can't some company manage to do that for me? Instead I get grit and mud dumped into my system--oh yeah, and I get to pay for McAfee to do it, too. Please, McAfee, fix this "improvement" to your software!

2 Replies
JaiPrakash
Former Member
Message 2 of 3

Re: Recent Update to "Real-Time Scanning" Slows Computer

Hi bill,

At McAfee labs we test our software to perform best with an end users available system resources , but at times there might be a conflict with certain applications that is triggered due to a  third party device , which our support needs to troubleshoot and take it up higher if required. Could you please click on Useful links at the top of this page and click on Technical support so as our technicians can help you with this issue .

Regards,

bill_k
Former Member
Message 3 of 3

Re: Recent Update to "Real-Time Scanning" Slows Computer

Thank you for the reply. I had already spoken with McAfee tech support via on-line chat. I was told there was no way to exclude individual programs, but I would be called back with the issue escalated to the next level of the tech team. (I've yet to receive a call back, but it hasn't been two full days yet.) But that's not the point: anti-virus software will probably always have problems with some combination of programs and drivers and hardware, especially with the frequency with which anti-virus companies update their software. What I want is to be able to have "Real-Time Scanning" ignore the execution of individual programs which I select. Yes, I suspect McAfee thinks that is too risky, but that's what this customer wants. Why? Because McAfee is behaving intrusively and sluggishly in this instance.

By the way, I have since taken the time to rewrite my own code and have my program read in all of the .ini file into an array on start up, and then have it read the data from that array instead of from the hard drive. And now there is no McAfee slowdown when I click on that particular button. The program worked fine as it was, though. (I have another computer with a free version of Norton on it, and Norton doesn't cause it to slow down at all. It's my laptop, and I never leave it running unattended long enough for Norton's pesky background scan software to start slamming my hard drive.) But the point is that I shouldn't have had to spend two hours rewriting code simply because my anti-virus software has a performance bug somewhere. I'm not asking that McAfee be perfect; I'm just asking that I be allowed to throttle it back on my own computer if I want to.

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