Entered CNET Catalog: 09/17/2007
SKU: VSF08EMB3RUA
Manufacturer: McAfee
Manufacturer description
With the wide variety of viruses, hackers and blended threats lurking on the Internet today, you need more than a simple anti-virus program to keep your PC and files secure. McAfee VirusScan Plus AntiVirus, Firewall and AntiSpyware provide the essential protection you need to surf the Web and download files safely. With McAfee VirusScan Plus powerful integrated technologies work together to combat and defeat even the most sophisticated multi-pronged attacks. McAfee's trusted PC protection blocks and removes threats automatically, and identifies spyware and adware before they can run on your PC. Plus, to keep things extra simple, the McAfee SecurityCenter gives you at-a-glance control over all your McAfee applications. Get the confidence you need to surf the Web, knowing McAfee is always on, always updating and always protecting you.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 10/11/2007
Editors' note: On March 5, 2008, CNET revised its antispyware review ratings to emphasize a product's ability to remove spyware. The new ratings are based on the following formula: Installation (20 percent), Features (20 percent), Performance (50 percent), and Support (10 percent). In most cases a product's rating went down, expanding the range between highest and lowest rated.
Many of improvements within McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 are in the code, which is where you want them to be. McAfee has gone ahead with a silly marketing campaign emphasizing that it alone will protect your desktop, protect your Web browsing with Site Advisor, and will also protect your mobile phone for one price. Which makes us suspicious--why tack on the extras? Two of three "triple play" protections were actually offered last year, and, at the time of this writing, the mobile component still wasn't available for testing. Instead of repackaging itself, McAfee should have pared down the system resources it uses, enhanced its firewall more, tweaked last year's interface, and switched to a more streamlined download and installation process. As it stands Mcafee VirusScan 2008 looks and feels like warmed-over last year's product, with too few "must haves." Bottom line, for solid, award-winning antivirus protection, without the gimmicks and the ever present up sale to more expensive suites, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2008 remains our Editors' Choice for 2007.
Setup
McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 includes one PC license at $39.95, but McAfee also offers three-user licenses for $59.95, and additional licenses for a mere $10 each. By comparison, BitDefender Antivirus offers its three-user license for $29.95. Kaspersky offers its single license at $49.95, but matches McAfee on its three-user price. McAfee VirusScan 2008 runs on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, while Norton AntiVirus 2008 only works on XP and Vista.
McAfee continues to use a bootstrap method of downloading code to your machine, and then installing it module by module. This year the process was much faster in our informal tests. There's the security center, which you download first, then, depending on the product you purchased, the product itself is downloaded from McAfee to your computer. McAfee claims it can offer the latest build; the alternative is to install the product, then immediately update. What's curious is that McAfee didn't scan our computer (which other AV products have also stopped doing) yet VirusScan Plus insisted our computer was secure on first load (other AV products prompted us to initiate a scan right away). This may be an interface bug or perhaps reflect McAfee's overenthusiasm for its proactive, real-time anti-malware heuristics. It would be nice if it prompted us to run a scan.
Should you want to remove McAfee VirusScan Plus, unlike most antivirus products we've seen this year, there is no uninstall option for McAfee in the Windows All Programs listing. Instead, you'll need to use the Windows Control Panel Add/Remove Software option. Unlike last year--when McAfee left a mess--after our reboot, we were pleased to find no evidence left on our machine. In comparison, Norton AntiVirus 2008 leaves behind registry files and some system files.
Interface
The McAfee Protection Center interface has not changed since last year. It still offers a left-hand navigation for all tools, with a right-hand window pane for system status. Unlike Norton, which uses individual tabs for products such as Norton AntiVirus, McAfee's has fully integrated its Security Center. We like this better. There are two tables of contents: One lists basic features while a second lists more advanced tools.
We do like that McAfee has blended its various tools--security, utility, networking--together so that the overall product feels more integrated and whole. Norton still feels like several standalone applications repackaged. This year McAfee VirusScan Plus appears to have rewritten some of its code; it doesn't feel as heavy and clunky as last year's edition. That said, in our performance testing, McAfee remains in the middle of this year's pack of products in terms of overall performance.
One additional quibble is that by using the same interface for all its products, McAfee will list Attention under some of the nonused subheadings such as Parental Controls. To turn on Content Blocking, for example, we're told we'll need to buy McAfee Internet Security or McAfee Total Protection. This kind of up sale is unnecessary, and somewhat deceptive (maybe we don't want content blocking, or have it from another product). If you just want an antivirus product, you should be able to buy just an antivirus product.
Features
McAfee bills VirusScan Plus 2008 as its six-in-one security solution. Included within are many interesting tools such as the system diagnostic tools to shred deleted files and defragment your hard drive; various network monitoring tools; and McAfee's own antisphishing tool, SiteAdvisor. Although SiteAdvisor was included last year, it lacked the antiphishing component.
New this year is a free McAfee Virtual Technician an optional plug-in which, when downloaded, will diagnose the state of your McAfee product and computer health and then make recommendations how to fix it--for free. It seems unnecessary, but then again you can't argue with the price. Symantec offers a Norton equivalent, but it'll cost you $69.95 per use.
New is the ability for McAfee to scan links within IM messages and rate them. We found that this feature works with latest versions of AOL IM and Yahoo Messenger, two of the most popular IMs today; Norton offers similar protection but only for older builds of Yahoo and AOL.
Also new is a feature McAfee calls "State Aware," in which movies, slide shows, and even games play uninterrupted by security alerts or scans whenever you're in full-screen mode. It's a feature we've seen in other antivirus products this year; Norton doesn't offer this.
Enhanced over last year is the integration of antivirus, antispyware, firewall, and antiphishing. The heuristics, or System Guards, have also been improved.
Missing are more frequent updates of signature files and programs. Kaspersky updates hourly, while McAfee promises only daily updates (although it might, in an emergency, deliver more frequently).
Performance
McAfee VirusScan Plus stays in the middle of the pack, sometimes trending toward the upper end of the middle. On our iTunes test, VirusScan Plus placed solidly in the middle of the pack at 271 seconds. In our Microsoft Office test, VirusScan Plus trended toward the high end, taking home the second-longest score at 1,519 seconds. In a test scanning a single folder with compressed and media files, McAfee scored 446 seconds, again, toward the high end of our middle group. And in terms of boot speed, McAfee was third-longest at 38 seconds. To find out how we test antivirus software, see CNET Labs' How we test: Antivirus software page.
In terms of whether or not McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 will protect your PC, we cite results from two leading independent antivirus testing organizations. In the latest test results from AV-Comparatives.org, for on-demand scans McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 earned an Advanced (second-highest) rating, catching 93 percent of all malware tested and tying with Norton AntiVirus 2007. For the Retrospective/Proactive test, McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 also earned an Advanced (second-highest) rating (PDF). From CheckVir.com, McAfee VirusScan Enterprisewas earned an Advanced rating, which includes both search and antivirus removal.
For antispyware protection, McAfee remains solidly in the middle of the pack in our latest CNET antispyware tests. CNET labs conducts three separate tests using spyware found to be bundled within free applications rejected by CNET Download.com (as part of its software policies, Download.com does not host applications containing known spyware). In the first test, active detection, McAfee discovered about 60 percent of the spyware; in the second, on demand test, McAfee detected about 55 percent of the spyware; and in the final, removal test, McAfee removed about 60 percent of the spyware placed on our infected machine.
Support
McAfee has improved its technical support over last year but still doesn't offer context-sensitive help like Kaspersky or Trend Micro, meaning you will have to search for specific help. McAfee does, however, provide an exhaustive 217-page manual. By comparison, only Kaspersky offers a complete 321-page manual; none of the other major AV companies provide these any more. McAfee Virtual Technician is the product's first line of defense. If it can't help, then you'll be directed toward the online FAQ, and, finally, chat or e-mail. If you try to jump ahead to chat or e-mail, you'll be directed back to the Virtual Technician first. It's as though McAfee doesn't want you to contact it directly. Missing is telephone support. Or, rather, telephone support is listed under Fee Based Support, with a variety of per-minute or per-incident plans starting at $2.95 a minute or $39 per incident. a robust user forum, and toll-free telephone support. There is an active community forum as well.
Conclusion
McAfee VirusScan 2008 and other McAfee products are bundled with various hardware systems; for the purposes of protecting your PC, they'll do just that. Plus you'll get the manufacturer's technical support. But for the discerning user looking to get the best protection, we suggest you try another product. The lack of a quality technical support from McAfee is stunning given that smaller antivirus companies do a much better job supporting their customers than this venerable giant in the industry. Rather than putting its energy into marketing gimmicks like "triple play," it would be nice to see McAfee take the lead next year and offer a truly solid antivirus product like Kaspersky or even Norton.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
1/10
Its value is proportional to the price & it's cheap.
Pros: It is inexpensive and helps keep some of the spyware off.
Cons: It has let several viruses past it, and can't remove them. For an additional $85 fee McAfee says that they will remove them. At this point I don't trust them to do anything.
User Rating: 1/10
Don,t buy this product
Pros: none could be found
Cons: killed my hard drive and I had to buy another one, computer never worked right again needed support from dell, microsoft just to save my documents and pictures. There wasn't any problem with my computer I just want to update it virus software
User Rating: 1/10
McAfee never worked.
Pros: It was awful! Repeated calls to their "service" center did not resolve the problem, and I ended up purchasing Norton (after only4 months).
Cons: I liked nothing about this product; it certainly didn't do the job that I purchased it for.
User Rating: 
2/10
ABSOLUTE GARBAGE
Pros: NOTHING GOOD.
Cons: The new version of Mcafee is a joke!!! Completely seizes up your processor & downloads when you don't want it to. Someone needs to be fired for this pathetic program. I've used it for several years but no more!!!
User Rating: 
5/10
Protection good, but user interface and control bad
Pros: Product appears to do an adequate job of scanning for viruses, worms, trojan horses and whatever, and updates are daily.
Cons: It's difficult to use the Security Center to set options. Things are not arranged in an intuitive way, and, although McAfee provides a way to choose which drives to scan for manual scans, but scheduled scans always scan everything in My Computer.
User Rating: 2/10
This new version is a resource hog...
Pros: It has done it's job as far as being a virus protection...but other than that I can't think of anything positive.
Cons: Slows everything down something terrible.
User Rating: 1/10
AWFUL-McAfee name all over internet pages-like advertising
Pros: ? It used to be non-obtrusive while protecting laptop.
Cons: Worse than virus--they put their name all over whatever webpages I am viewing.
I contacted them over 2 weeeks ago via email and was assigned a number but no one has contacted me since.
User Rating: 5/10
Seek alternatives to this product
Pros: $10 discount to past subscribers. Convenient online download of products through McAfee installer. Courteous tech support chat feature.
Cons: Tech support left me wanting. Installing over past McAfee installations causes problems. Did not remove well known spyware.
Installation: The McAfee download included the McAfee installer. This piece of software led me to believe that it would handle the entire removal of my old McAfee software, in addition to the installation of my new updated software. When installation was completed by the installer, I noticed very strange behavior, specifically that the security center showed that my firewall was protecting my computer, but the system tray icon showed that the firewall was disabled! Not knowing what to believe, I began the support trek. A clean installation probably would have ran great, but the misleading installer information had me frustrated. Boooo!
Support: You can immediately tell that McAfee designed their tech support to be streamlined, so that if you arrive at the person-to-person interaction, you must have exhausted all prior means. I could understand and appreciate the thought that went into this part of support. First, the McAfee security center support pointed me to the McAfee Virtual Technician, which is a downloadable module that can diagnose and fix many problems related to my McAfee product. For problems it can?t fix, it collects information and is supposed to make Search and Chat more effective. McAfee Virtual Technician did not find anything, so my next stop was to create a service request. I documented my percieved problem and submitted a service request online, then waited a short period of time to online-chat with a service rep. I lost my confidence with the whole process when tech support began chatting. Although the representative was courteous, and thanked me for every bit of information and response that I provided, they clearly did not read my service request submission! I thought that the Virtual Technician module was supposed to ease this part of the suffering. After I criticized the Virtual Technician, criticized the service request usefulness, and re-explained the issue I was having, the rep proceeded to resolve my installation issue. I expected the support people to know my issue before I began chatting with them since I submitted the explanation in the service request beforehand. That was a bit annoying. I was happy, though, that my issue was resolved.
Product performance: The initial virus scan detected several trojans and spyware threats. It quarantined the threats and gave me a good feeling that my PC was clean. I later discovered that a spyware was still on my PC! It was a hijack type spyware that wanted me to buy a spyware removal tool, bla, bla, bla. Why the heck was McAfee not detecting and removing this? I went to the McAfee forums and actually found a thread on how to remove the spyware, but the removal had nothing to do with my newly purchased McAfee virus scan plus software. The thread was over a month old, so I was left wondering why it was not included in the latest updates. I was very disappointed in this.
This may be unrelated, but I don't know because I have yet to test the scenarios. I upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 around the same time I installed McAfee virus scan plus. After the installation of both, my computer ran sooooo SLOW! I'm currently in the process of reformatting my computer and starting over. I hope that the culprit of the slow performance was IE7. If McAfee is slowing my PC, I'm asking for a refund.
User Rating: 2/10
Won't run correctly; customer service is no help
Pros: There is nothing positive about this product.
Cons: Will not run correctly on my machine. On line trouble shooting procedures do not work. McAfee removal tool does not work. McAfee wants me to pay for telephone support to fix their defective product
User Rating: 
10/10
Great, self ********** program
Pros: Auto-Update, Firewall, Virus Killer
Cons: None as of yet
I would recommended any one who reads this to discard some peoples ideas on certain things... Many of the people who put down products are people who don't know anything or very little about computers. If you get a virus while using this program its your fault for doing something wrong...Its not the programs fault that your a noob.
User Rating: 
3/10
Difficult to trust this product.
Pros: Free after rebates; Firewall seems to work;e-chat with tech support
Cons: Updater fails to tell you that it failed to update
Tech support kept telling me that my proxy server was the problem, but I do not have any proxy server- i am just a home user.
What really bothers me is that in my scenario, the product does NOT even tell you that the update process failed. Poor product design.
If you have ever used Norton Antivirus product, they had a solid update process. It tell you which updates are available and shows you the install process.
Bottomline, my first experience was very bad and still unresolved. They have a 30-day money back return policy.
Updated on Dec 24, 2008Last year when I had problems, it was due to Ad-Aware software already on the system. Because of this, the McAfee Updater service never got installed. McAfee 2008 was not compatible with Ad-Aware. Once you removed Ad-Aware, McAfee installed correctly - Shame that their tech support did not know this until I had spoken to the 10th support rep. What also bothered me at that time was that the McAfee install process did not check for AdAware already on the system - should have warned you about incompatible programs. What really troubled me was that, the McAfee installation continues "successfully" but yet you have a hole in which the updater service never got installed and the McAfee software did not even catch it's own mistake of not installing a service. - wow. Anyhow, a year later, I am trying 2009 version. A quick installation of this shows that the McAfee 2009 install process now "checks" for incompatible programs. Will write a separate review for Total Protection 2009.
User Rating: 10/10
I would recommend this program for any user using vista
Pros: Has gotten rid of viruses no other virus scan has decteted, easy to use, pretty fast scan, scans where thorough.
Cons: none I feel completely safe with this product
User Rating: 2/10
Absolute resource hog
Pros: It may catch some viruses and Trojans.
Cons: Hogs resources (memory and CPU)
User Rating: 1/10
CALLASSA MEDIA tests McAFEE very poor result
Pros: lots of hype, expectation
Cons: failed to find advertising cookies
It needs more R&D. Needs something, other than billboards (McAfee Park) outside football stadiums, in our opinion. Because such things do not detect infections! Do not buy McAfee Virus Scan Plus.
User Rating: 1/10
Technical support nightmare
Pros: Never worked consistently enough to observe any pros
Cons: Uncorrectable error message about every 30-40 days which required uninstalling & re-installing each time. Thech support is terrible!
User Rating: 5/10
Does not protect against all viruses
Pros: Can't think of any
Cons: Not effective in detecting all viruses
The second problem I have with McAfee is that I cannot schedule a virus scan via Windows Task Scheduler. The McAfee built-in scheduler will start a scheduled scan even when the laptop is running on batteries. This will drain out batteries fairly quickly. The Windows scheduler allows me to stop virus scan from starting if laptop is on batteries. I contacted support and they said "sorry but this feature is not available in consumer versions of McAfee". How stupid.
After installing McAfee Security center and turning on all protections, I happened to look at the process manager. I was amazed to see at least 10 processes started by McAfee. Maybe that is how it works. I am looking for another AV solution but the CNET reviews fail to tell me which AV is most effective in detecting and removing viruses, adware, spyware and trojans.
User Rating: 
8/10
Rating 9 - Editor's Review in error
Pros: 2008 product less resource hungry
Cons: Tutorial would be nice
Whilst a tutorial would be nice for each product, there are indeed online manuals and most definitely a Forum, which has been around for years and recently "moved house" to http://community.mcafee.com
