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Lifeblood
Contributor III
Message 1 of 3

McAfee SiteAdvisor IE Toolbar Won't Stay Put...AGAIN!!!

I updated McAfee AntiVirus Plus on 03/18/2011.

It seems to have updated from SiteAdvisor 3.3.0.176 to SiteAdvisor 3.3.1.129 automatically, which I find absolutely infuriating.

SiteAdvisor should have settings that allow me to choose between automatic and manual updates.  And, if it should find an update, it should give me the choice going through with the installation or denying it.

Now, in Internet Explorer, because SiteAdvisor updated to this corrupt installation, the SiteAdvisor Toolbar won't stay where I set it.  If I unlock the toolbars, then move the SiteAdvisor toolbar to where I want it, then lock the toolbars again, it moves and takes up an entire toolbar for itself.  SiteAdvisor had this problem before a couple of years back.  I can't believe they made the same mistake again.

I uninstalled and re-installed SiteAdvisor 3.3.1.129, and it didn't fix the issue.

So, I uninstalled SiteAdvisor 3.3.1.129 again and re-installed the previous version, SiteAdvisor 3.3.0.176.  This fixed it, but I suspect the next time I try to update McAfee AntiVirus Plus it will probably just re-install the corrupt version, SiteAdvisor 3.3.1.129, again.

It is very frustrating to have SiteAdvisor automatically update and install without my ok.  And, why they took away the ability to disable it through the drop down menu I will never know.

I tried to delete the key

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Toolbar\WebBrowser\ITBarLayout

Which does delete the remembered positions of the toolbars, but it had no effect on the SiteAdvisor toolbar issue.

After digging through the registry I figured out two ways to disable SiteAdvisor without having to uninstall it.

Go to Start, and then Run.

Type in, regsvr32 /u"C:\ProgramFiles\McAfee\SiteAdvisor\McIEPlg.dll".  This un-registers McIEPlg.dll, which is the McAfee Internet Explorer Plug-In, and keeps it from loading.

Or if you wish to take a less drastic approach, navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Toolbar\{0EBBBE48-BAD4-4B4C-8E5A-516ABECAE064}

And, rename {0EBBBE48-BAD4-4B4C-8E5A-516ABECAE064} to -{0EBBBE48-BAD4-4B4C-8E5A-516ABECAE064}. Note the minus sign in front of {0EBBBE48-BAD4-4B4C-8E5A-516ABECAE064}.  That is what deactivates it.

It appears to me that the problem is occurring within the McIEPlg.dll.

When it updated from SiteAdvisor 3.3.0.176, with McIEPlg.dll version 3.3.0.153, to SiteAdvisor 3.3.1.129, with McIEPlg.dll version 3.3.1.131, it caused this problem.

Unfortunately I don't know how to edit a .dll, so, I guess, all I can do is wait for McAfee to fix McIEPlg.dll version 3.3.1.131.

I hope to God they didn't do this on purpose, because it is intolerable.

I also happened to notice a file named saupkeep.dll in the SiteAdvisor program files located here

     C:\Program Files\McAfee\SiteAdvisor\saupkeep.dll

I'm wondering if this is the .dll that is responsible for automatically updating SiteAdvisor.  The name seems to suggest so, but I wouldn't know for sure.  I found it in several locations throughout the registry, but the one that strikes my interest is at

     HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\McAfee\SiteAdvisor\Modules\SaUpKeep

I'm wonder if deactivating this key will stop SiteAdvisor from automatically updating?  I don't know.  I wish I could verify it with McAfee, but trying to get them to respond is damn near impossible, and even if they did, they wouldn't share that information with me anyway.

They have become so Nazi-like.  First they take away the ability to manually disable Anti-Virus Plus, then they took away the ability to trust false positive detections in Anti-Virus Plus, then they took away the ability to manually disable SiteAdvisor, and now they are forcing automatic updates in SiteAdvisor.

The inflexibility of their products is really getting frustrating.

If anybody here would please contact McAfee and make them aware of the problem, I would greatly appreciate it.  I made out the uninstall survey, but I don't know if they will respond to that.

2 Replies
Hayton
Reliable Contributor
Reliable Contributor
Message 2 of 3

Re: McAfee SiteAdvisor IE Toolbar Won't Stay Put...AGAIN!!!

I can move the SiteAdvisor toolbar around and it stays where I put it. That's in IE8 under XP. Perhaps if you can't it's because your browser or OS is doing some kind of auto-adjustment.

If we get a whole slew of people with the problems you're having, then we'll raise the issue with McAfee, but for the moment you're the only one who's raised this. I see nothing to suggest that there is a 'corrupt installation' on my machine, which has also received the updated versions. If you don't want updates to install automatically, all you have to do is check the 'Notify me when updates are available' box in Security Center/Updates/Settings.

If you really want to mess about in the registry changing and deleting registry keys, that's up to you. It seems to me like an unnecesarily drastic reaction. If you don't want SiteAdvisor, you can always uninstall it. It's not compulsory, you know.

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 3 of 3

Re: McAfee SiteAdvisor IE Toolbar Won't Stay Put...AGAIN!!!

Changing registry keys will only bring grief in the end and result in you having to uninstall everything, use the cleanup tool and reinstall.

What operating system and service pack & version of Internet Explorer is this and is SiteAdvisor the free version or Plus - included with Total Protection?

I think a lot depends on where exactly you were trying to move it to.

The version of SiteAdvisor you mentioned was released specifically to accomodate IE9 and in 'Compact View' as in my IE9 it's well out of the way of anything else at the top far right of the screen.

saie9.JPG

Even in regular view it is easily moved to where I have it in this picture; the Menu bar...

Capture.JPG

Possibly another add-on is interfering with it in your case.

Message was edited by: Ex_Brit on 20/03/11 6:57:30 EDT AM
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