I have a workaround to that horrific 2.8 issue.
First, I have to attribute this idea to Acadia (
see this post)
The procedure is to install System Safety Monitor, a HIPS program (Host Intrusion Prevention System . . . a program that will notify you of any attempt to install new software, like the 2.8 update, and block it if you so choose), then
uninstall the 2.8 Site Advisor using Revo Uninstaller to dig out all the registry remnants, then install Site Advisor 2.6.
System Safety Manager is a free HIPS, that can be downloaded at
http://www.syssafety.com/ . I chose this because it is a free program, and I didn't know if it would work, so I didn't want to pay right away. However, you can choose any HIPS program.
Note: HIPS programs are notoriously difficult to use and understand, unless you are an experienced user. That's another reason I chose System Safety Monitor, because it has a "learning" mode and it picks up rules from your daily use. The GUI is also easeir to understand than some others, and there is a forum link on the System Safety Monitor wep page.
There is an interesting discussion on System Safety Monitor on the Wilders forum
here , but it's mostly on the retail pay version.
I downloaded Site Advisor version 2.6 from the Major Geeks site
here because I didn't want to go to the McAfee site and perhaps have it do the 2.8 download.
BTW, there was a security concern expressed by jopa66
here . I checked my Documents and Settings\Local Service\Application Data\SACore\Cache, and indeed there was a list there. But it must've been stored by 2.8 when it was on my machine, because I deleted it and 2.6 didn't put anything back there (and I tested it by Googling when in 2.6). Interestingly, Revo must've missed that folder.
Now when I installed 2.6, I checked the version info:
and it showed that I did in fact have 2.6.
Clicking on settings showed that by default, the "Participate in product improvement program" box is checked:
That may be the setting that triggers the 2.8 push when it's still in beta, so I unchecked that just in case.
Since I was probably "protected" against any update without my authorization (with System Safety Monitor), I decided to take a chance and click on "Get latest version" in the Site Advisor drop down. To my surprise, it showed that 2.6 WAS the latest version and that I didn't need to do a reinstall:
Now I have my old 2.6 back, it works fine, is NOT buggy like 2.8, and I can manage the toolbar on it, and if Site Advisor attempts to push out an update to 2.8, my HIPs will let me know and I can block it.