I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I
reboot my PC.
I have a Dell XPS 8700, i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, with 2 TB hard drive and
16 GB RAM, 64-bit operating system running Windows 7 Home Premium.
I have a process manager named Process Lasso Pro which is handy in that it
shows CPU and RAM usage, but it also shows the RAM use of each and every
running program and its location on my PC. Sometimes, I will notice that
McUICnt.exe is using a fair amount of RAM and that it will run continuously
unless I reboot.
I googled McUICnt.exe and found articles on mfefire.exe, which is apparently
McAfee's Firewall.
I ran McAfee McAfee Virtual Technician and it was unable to correct one
problem.
In the Problem Log (MVTHealthCheck_Deviation.html), under the Personal Firewall section, it said:
Product Name : Personal Firewall
Product Version : 17.4.159
Language : en-us
Partner :
Health Check Details
Registry | OK
File | OK
Process | OK
Service | 1 service(s) incorrect
Expected Service State Incorrect
Expected : The Service is Running
Existing : The Service is Stopped
Service: mfefire
COM | OK
Top Issues | OK
SYSTEM | OK
In the Diagnostic Log (MVTHealthCheck.html), under the Personal Firewall section, it said:
Process | OK
Expected process running
C:\Program Files\Common Files\mcafee\systemcore\mfefire.exe
Expected process running
C:\Program Files\Common Files\mcafee\systemcore\mfemms.exe
Service | 1 service(s) incorrect
Expected Service State Incorrect
Expected : The Service is Running
Existing : The Service is Stopped
Service : mfefire
Expected Service State Correct
Service : BFE
Expected Service Present
Service : BFE
Expected Service Present
Service : mfefire
Expected Service State Correct
Service : mfemms
Expected Service Present
Service : mfemms
If I click on Services then select McAfee Firewall Core Service and right-click
on Properties, in the General tab, the status is Stopped and the Startup Type is Manual
and the Path to exectutable is "C:\Program Files\Common Files\McAfee\SystemCore\mfefire.exe"
When I click on the Dependencies tab, it says This service depends on the following system components:
McAfee Validation Trust Protection Service
[sub-component:] McAfee Inc. mfehidk
If I click on Services then select McAfee Validation Trust Protection Service and
right-click on Properties, in the General tab, the status is Started and the Startup Type is Manual
and the Path to executable is "C:\Windows\system32\mfevtps.exe"
When I click on the Dependencies tab, it says This service depends on the following system components:
McAfee Inc. mfehidk
Also in the Dependencies tab, it says The following system components depend on this service:
McAfee AP Service
McAfee Firewall Core Service
Notably, the lead statement on the Dependencies tab is "Some services depend on other
services, system drivers or load order groups. If a system component is stopped, or
is not running properly, dependent services can be affected."
In both Services > McAfee Firewall Core Service and Services > McAfee Validation Trust Protection Service,
if I right-click and select Properties, Manual is grayed out as a Startup Type.
I have to go to Services and start McAfee Firewall Core Service manually every time I
reboot my PC.
One odd thing is that my McAfee console will mark my Firewall as being on even
when McAfee Firewall Core Service mfefire.exe is stopped in Services.
Performing a search on mfehidk in C:\Windows\system32\ I found
OS (C:) > WINDOWS > System 32 > drivers > mfehidk.sys
So, is my firewall on before I Start mfefire.exe in Services? Or is it only kinda sorta on?
Solved! Go to Solution.
The McAfee Virtual Technician reports my installation is OK ( https://mvt.mcafee.com/ ) so I assume that is normal.
I was suggesting you contact TS only if you want it clarified.
Hello Steven
McAfee by default wouldn't allow you to change this settings. Could you try changing the startup type of McAfee Firewall Core Service to Automatic or Automatic (Delayed Start) and see if it works. Please post back the outcome.
Discussion successfully moved from Service and Support to Personal Firewall
Chinthanai Selvan P wrote:
Could you try changing the startup type of McAfee Firewall Core Service to Automatic or Automatic (Delayed Start) and see if it works.
Where do you mean? In Services, Manual is selected and grayed-out: I cannot Select a Startup type, as shown below left (the pic at right is for the sake of comparison):
I have to Start the firewall service manually after each reboot.
You have to disable Access Protection first.
Open the software interface and go to General Settings and Alerts > Access Protection and turn it off by unchecking it and clicking Apply.
Keep this open so you can reverse the change afterwards.
Then try the above.
I just checked my computer and Core Services is set to Manual by default and not normally started.
Maybe Technical Support could explain this to you? It's free of charge.
If it is normal for Core Services to be set to Manual by default and not normally
started, why do I have to contact Technical Support for a reason beyond that?
Or is it possible that it is *not* normal and that it should not be occurring on your
PC either? Are you *sure* it's normal?
I'm just surprised that no one has asked about this issue before (or have they?).
The McAfee Virtual Technician reports my installation is OK ( https://mvt.mcafee.com/ ) so I assume that is normal.
I was suggesting you contact TS only if you want it clarified.
When I ran McAfee Virtual Technician prior to my posting to this forum, here are the results I had gotten.
From MVTHealthCheck :
From MVTHealthCheck_Deviation :
I rebooted and ran McAfee Virtual Technician just now, though, and it found no errors, even though
when I look in Services, I still see McAfee Firewall Core Service stopped and set to Manual.
My mfefre service is showing as stopped. MVT shows no issue. My firewall is showing as on.
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