Can't uninstall SiteAdvisor!

[theaverageuser]

I spent two hours with Firefox's support team yesterday, trying to figure out why my browser wasn't working. I had to make a new profile and reinstall it, and finally it worked. Unfortunately SiteAdvisor was also installed, without my permission. (Why isn't there a prompt asking if I want to install it first?) I suspect this extension is what crippled Firefox, so it's disabled for now, but I can't seem to uninstall it. The uninstall button in the add-ons menu is greyed out, and it's not listed under Add/Remove Programs. I also looked under the McAfee heading in Add/Remove, and it wasn't listed as a component there either. There is a SiteAdvisor folder on my hard drive with an uninstaller in it, but I can't run it from there. It gives me this error: "Failure: Couldn't start McAfee SiteAdvisor install." What else can I do? This feature is absolutely unnecessary, unstable, and I just want it gone. I'm running Windows XP with service pack 2 and Firefox 3 if that helps.

[exbrit]

You would have had to physically install it in the first place, either as part of a larger security suite or directly from SiteAdvisor.

You can't uninstall it from the browser. Go to Control Panel/Add or Remove Programs (Programs/Uninstall a Program in Vista) and look for McAfee SiteAdvisor, or if you have one of the larger suites click the McAfee Security Center and then "Uninstall" at which point a menu will appear asking which components you wish to remove.

If you can't find it then you will have to run our removal tool which is listed in my signature (MCPR Removal Tool).

Warning: This will remove all McAfee Home Products!

[theaverageuser]

Well, as I just said, I looked in the Control Panel under Add/Remove programs and selected McAfee, and it isn't listed in the following menu of things to remove, such as the firewall, virus scan, etc. that typically comes with McAfee Security Center. So there's no option to separately uninstall SiteAdvisor while still keeping Security Center?

[exbrit]

No there isn't if it's not listed as a separate item. Something has obviously messed up the installation - use of registry cleaners is often a cause of this.
I would first enable your Windows Firewall for protection then do the following:

1. Uninstall all McAfee programs through "Add or Remove Programs" in Windows "Control Panel".
2. Use the MCPR tool, see this article: How to remove supported McAfee consumer products using the McAfee Consumer Products Removal tool (MC... This will remove all McAfee remnants from your computer. (you must have Windows Vista, XP or 2000 SP4 to use this tool)
3. Launch Windows Explorer and delete all McAfee files in "Program Files" but especially in "C:\Document and Settings\<user>\Application Data" and "C:\Document and Settings\All Users\Application Data". You have to set Windows Explorer to show all hidden files and folders (Tools > Folder Options > View tab). Just delete the McAfee folders even if they are empty in all the "Application Data" folders. Can be more than one!
In Vista: C:\Program Files, C:\ProgramData and C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming
4. Reboot and redownload/reinstall your McAfee products directly from your account at the McAfee web site, not from any CD that you may have.