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Entered CNET Catalog: 08/01/2006
SKU: CNETMCAFEEINTERNETSECURITYSUITE2007
Manufacturer: McAfee
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 01/17/2007
Setup and installation
We installed McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007 directly from the Internet. The updated McAfee Internet Suite sells for $49 for a single license and $69 for three users, matching Symantec Norton Internet Security 2007 in three-user pricing (Symantec no longer sells a single-user-license edition). Look for online promotions that may further reduce the price or include other McAfee products within the original price.
McAfee uses the intermediary Download Center, which you must first download to access the final application. McAfee defends this two-step choice saying that it can better update the content on its back end, which is true. However, other vendors download a version of the application first, then query the vendor for any new updates. Either way, you get the latest version, but we prefer to have the application protect us ASAP, then update.
Unfortunately, our copy of McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007 stopped installing when it detected another installed security product. Unlike Norton, which allowed us to keep the free copy of ZoneAlarm installed and running, McAfee demanded that ZoneAlarm be uninstalled first. Rather than give us a chance to do so, McAfee automatically rolled back the current install, and we lost about 20 minutes. Once ZoneAlarm was removed, we performed the McAfee installation a second time without a glitch. It would have been nice if McAfee had scanned our machine first and informed us of any known conflicts before it initiated the installation. After our second, successful installation, we rebooted.
The interface for all of McAfee's security products has been simplified and standardized. This is good if you plan to purchase other McAfee offerings. Last year, the McAfee Security Center was a separate window, an annoying feature if you were inside the antivirus part and wanted to access to the firewall part. This year, everything is integrated in one window through a left-hand navigation system. McAfee offers one table of contents for common tasks and another table of contents intended for advanced users. We think one table of contents would have worked better, with an option to drill down within a topic for more advanced users.
Should you want to remove McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007, you'll find there is no uninstall icon within Windows XP All Programs, so you'll have to use Windows Control Panel's "Add and remove programs." Even after selecting the McAfee suite for install, you'll still need to check each application you want removed; there are seven in McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007, so don't miss one. After the program's uninstall and reboot process completed, we found only a handful of system registry entries but no leftover files within system folders, which we did encounter with Trend Micro. Of the Internet security suites we reviewed this year, only ZoneAlarm Internet Security offers clean uninstallations.
Features
McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007 includes backup-and-recovery and system-maintenance features not found in other security suites we've seen. But there's also superfluous eye candy, such as the Virus Map feature. Yes, there are a lot of features, but not all of them are meaningful or unique to McAfee.
We like the backup-and-recovery system built into McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007; none of the other Internet security suites we've reviewed have offered this. McAfee offers a choice, letting you burn the backup to a disc or save to another drive volume or to a network. We think this feature is a definite plus, as part of security is having a good backup ready in case disaster strikes. And as you configure the system for scheduled antivirus scans, you can configure it to perform scheduled backups, as well.
The Maintain Computer feature is another good idea that could stand to have more McAfee-specific tools in the future. McAfee QuickClean clears cookies and junk from your Internet browsers and removes deleted applications from the system registry. It is no longer available as a stand-alone application and finds a new home here. However, the other two items on the computer maintenance page are Windows utilities that are already available within Windows XP, Disk Defragmenter and Task Scheduler, both of which you can run for free from the Start menu in Windows. On a separate page, under Advanced, is the McAfee Shredder, a valuable security feature for writing over deleted files with 1s and 0s to ensure that no one can read what you've deleted. Here, too, there are free options are available, including Eraser, but it's nice to see the feature included within the suite. In the future, we'd like to see the Maintain Computer feature dispense with the Windows apps and combine the McAfee-specific QuickClean and Shredder on one page.
The traffic monitor, a visual interpretation of your firewall activity, is valuable, as are the virus information library and HackerWatch, McAfee's site that logs recent Internet attacks. However, some of the other features are of questionable security value. The Virus Map is superfluous. It's a real-time map showing where virus outbreaks are occurring, according to McAfee. And McAfee Visual Tracer is a Traceroute-like application with a map of the world so that you can see who it is that's attacking you (although the end point isn't necessarily the origin of the attack, just the last hop that's traceable through McAfee's servers).
Operating behind the scenes are some useful new tools: McAfee SystemGuards and McAfee X-ray for Windows. McAfee SystemGuards are behavioral monitors that check for unusual system activity and enlist the appropriate protection when necessary. McAfee X-ray for Windows detects and removes rootkits, malicious code that hides deep within the Windows system kernel. McAfee's current approach to both the behavioral analysis and rootkit prevention is conventional, and perhaps future releases of McAfee Internet Security will include more advanced enterprise technology from Citadel, a recent McAfee acquisition.
Speaking of acquisitions, we like McAfee SiteAdvisor, a superior antiphishing tool McAfee acquired last year. SiteAdvisor plugs into both the Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers. In informal testing, SiteAdvisor was more aggressive than the native antiphishing tools within Firefox and Internet Explorer. For our tests, we looked at five recently identified phishing sites posted on DSLReports.com/phishtrack; Firefox and Internet Explorer both identified four of the five as suspicious, but SiteAdivsor identified all five, as did our control application, the stand-alone Netcraft toolbar. McAfee SiteAdvisor is available as a stand-alone application either for free or with additional features for a fee.
McAfee's Parental Controls feature includes new methods of discerning and blocking offensive images from e-mails. Despite the name, even households without children may have use for this feature. Norton makes its parental controls optional, via download, but ZoneAlarm includes them within its suite.
Despite the increasing popularity of wireless networks in the home, none of the Internet security suites we've reviewed this year has included the ability to configure WEP or WPA protection on common household wireless routers. McAfee comes the closest, however, selling a stand-alone McAfee Wireless Protection app. We see little point in this product selling on its own, although it is included the much more complete McAfee Total Protection package. It belongs within the Internet suite.
Performance
McAfee VirusScan improves its scores on our CNET Labs' performance tests over those of last year in all cases, except in our boot-time test. On our iTunes test, VirusScan Plus gained ground compared with last year, taking 196 seconds as opposed to 243 seconds last year. On our Sorensen Squeeze test, VirusScan Plus also improved, taking 329 seconds compared to 337 seconds last year. McAfee showed the most improvement with individual file scans, taking only 116 seconds this year as opposed to 368 seconds last year. But in terms of boot speed, McAfee lost the most ground, taking 88 seconds--the most of any antivirus product we tested; it took 62 seconds last year. To find out how we test, see CNET Labs' How we test: Software: antivirus page.
To determine how well a product will protect your PC, we refer to test results from two leading independent antivirus testing organizations. In the latest test results from AV-Comparatives.org, McAfee VirusScan 2006 earned an Advanced (second-highest) rating, catching 92 percent of all malware tested, and from Checkvir.com, McAfee VirusScan 2006 was one of eight products to earn its Standard (highest) rating.
Check back to read about CNET Labs' tests of the McAfee firewall and antispyware protection in the coming weeks.
Suppport
Like Symantec, McAfee put its resources into improving its technical support. Unlike Norton Internet Security 2007, McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007 doesn't offer any downloadable manuals. And unlike both Trend Micro and ZoneAlarm, McAfee doesn't include a tutorial. What McAfee does provide is a contextual knowledge base, asking you a series of questions. Should the knowledge base fail to answer your question, you're taken to another window where a remote scan will attempt to diagnose what is wrong. If none of these solutions work, you're given more options, including online chat, user forums, e-mail, and finally live technical support at $45.95 per incident (one of the highest technical support fees we've seen).
Despite the interface redesign, McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007 feels like a grab bag of security and system performance tools. By refocusing its product line on antivirus plus firewall, Internet security and total protection, McAfee is on the right path, but McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007 feels heavy, resourcewise, without having any new technologies added. The code for next year should be leaner, should run with fewer processes across all computers, and should include some advanced rootkit and behavioral monitors, such as those found in Norton Internet Security 2007. And McAfee needs to simplify its interface even more next year, dispensing with the two tables of content and submerging the eye candy in favor of the tools that are most useful. In our opinion ZoneAlarm Internet Security 7 remains the only Internet security suite that strikes the right balance between overall ease of use and the right tools for today's threats.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46
User Rating: 
2/10
fills registry with rubbish
Pros: installs well if it is the only security product on machine
Cons: no clean uninstall option and no removal tool
User Rating: 2/10
Horrible Customer Support/Impossible to Download/HELP!!!
Pros: Did not slow my machine down like Norton did
Cons: Useless free tech support, Even downloading is hard
User Rating: 
3/10
Mcafee is a Disaster
Pros: Easy to use and lots of new features
Cons: System hog, Incompatible and Weak firewall
The antispyware does a good job at blocking spyware but its removal is not as good as Spyware doctor or Spysweeper.
The antispam is effective at keeping out of spam and very limited false-positives.
The updates are completely automatic.
CONS:Firewall is weak and malware can get past it and disable it.The privacy and parental controls are average.System guards are too over protective and interrupts users too many times.No behavioral based detection.Mcafee uses all the system memory and leaves nothing for other programs.Incompatible with all the existing security software.Doesn't support the latest version of Firefox yet.Still slow scanning, it took more than 1 hour to scan my entire system.Whenever a user open Mcafee, it say gathering protection status and takes more than 5 minutes to open the interface.Removing Mcafee is tough.It leaves all the quarantined files behind and doesn't remove its own registry files.
CONCLUSION:Mcafee 2007 is worse any all the previous versions of Mcafee.Installing Mcafee will do more harm than protect your system.If you are a Mcafee user then continue updating your current version but do not install the latest version yet.
User Rating: 2/10
Whoops Mcafee Did It Again
Pros: Can Be Uninstalled
Cons: Difficult to unistall, frequent crashes, Poor support, Bad Company
I always kind of set my level of fear gage based on history. I don't believe anyone will debate the fact, that history repeats itself. The company who is trying to force the search engines to accept it's site advisor results as authoritive, has a shady past. That's right folks, They're a bunch of crooks.http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/2006/01/mcafee_settles_.html Remember all that money that folks lost in the tech bubble, well Mcafee was leading the pack in misleading, lying and stealing from it's share holders. I can hear you all out there now, saying that was so long ago. Well it seems that ever since then Mcafee has been stealing from the Stock Holders.http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2028241,00.asp
Sure Heads did roll, but when does it end. If a company wants the search engines to enforce it's rating system on the world, don't you think that first it should quit breaking the law, and even if they don't, get better at it. Now I'm sure we're to the point where you say, isn't it possible for the company to be crooked and not abuse it's power as the internet.
Well I decided to check out how it works. It took me Two Minutes to become a site reviewer. Next I wanted to find out what a site reviewer does? So I went straight to the top, to see how the crack Mcafee Reviewer did their jobs. I ended up at reviewer Dean?s page. Not even Mcafee knows who he really is, because you don't have to provide that information when you join. The first thing I noticed was, he had 45 reviews a day. Wow I thought he must really work hard to review that many sites. Then I noticed that all of his reviews were cut and paste. Many were attacking products that compete against Mcafee or offer software at low prices. There was a post about a Trojan at a site, but when I clicked to read the review, Mcafee itself opened 30 windows on my computer and almost crashed it. I know I don't want dean shaping the Web, his agenda is obvious and dubious. To be number one, even if it means posting lies.
Now let's talk about the technical aspects of the Mcafee software. I called in last week and it seems that Mcafee had downloaded a patch in their software that made it impossible to connect to the internet. Their solution was to give you an URL, where you could download the fix for their patch. Having worked for CA in the past, this didn't surprise me. Before I worked for them, I beat them out as an independent contractor, because they didn't have people with enough experience to do the job. Let's not stop there. Mcafee is poorly engineered. It chews up even powerful computers. It's killed more computers, than small pox has killed people. Here's an example of poor design. McAfee scans data as it comes into the computer, and every time you open it there after. If it wasn't infected on the way in, when did it become infected? After it destroyed years of my emails, I sent the problem to Microsoft, and they informed me that the vendor Mcafee, was working on the problem. This was probably caused by my large number of emails and that Mcafee scans all those emails each time it opens Outlook. Anytime I see some one trying to take over the world, I get afraid. Especially if that company has repeatedly broke the law. Uses unfair business practices, and last but not least, is technically incompetent.
Be afraid, Be very afraid.
User Rating: 
1/10
WARNING DO NOT BUY
Pros: There are no pros
Cons: Destroyed operating systems
I addition, the Dell technician indicated that this is a known problem. He indicated that he gets at least one call a day with McAfee 2007 damaging the operating systems. I'm using Windows XP Home. I can't stress this more, if you want to trash your computer, buy this product! I've used McAfee for 5 years and will never buy a product again from them.
User Rating: 2/10
Spamkiller just broke! Support experience was literally an absolute nightmare!
Pros: easy to install
Cons: not compatible with any adware removers (Spybot, Adware, etc); support is non existent, SpamKiller not effective
User Rating: 
4/10
Could be improved big time!
Pros: At least acts like a firewall and antivirus
Cons: Laggs System, Slow virus scan
It focuses waaaaay too much on other features that windows or other software could better deal with and thus overall lowers its performance
User Rating: 
8/10
I think it is almost excellent.
Pros: I think it is easy to use and it does not take up too much system resourses and hard disk space.
Cons: It may take a slightly longer time to boot up.
It provide very good protection and site advisor is great.
I have no problem with my Mcafee Internet Security 2007 which I purchased at Funan. It has auto upgrade to the latest version (2008) and it is compatible with all my standard software. I have removed (using removal tool) other security suite from my PC before installing Mcafee Internet Security suite and I do not use other security suite in my PC now. Hence I have no problem and I am very happy with this product. I think Mcafee Site Advisor is great.
User Rating: 1/10
Avoid this product at all costs!!!
Pros: Not a single one
Cons: Everything about this software is a con
User Rating: 8/10
Nice user interface and fairy easy to install
Pros: Easy install . Nice User interface
Cons: 2007 slows PC slightly from 2006 version.
Note!After install is completed shut down
the PC then restart the computer to make sure files are initiated properly.
I had no problems on the internet and my
Ham Radio DSP and Logging Apps ran normally!
install took about an hour at 768k DSL!
I dont know about all the bad reviews on this site? My boot up time was about the same as mt 2006 version which had only AntiVirus and Firewall..
User Rating: 
9/10
Excellent product
Pros: This product is really great and offers much more features and security than NIS 2007 does
Cons: NONE I have seen till now
User Rating: 3/10
Poorly designed backup program, poor customer support
Pros: Siteadvisor anti-phishing tool is really neat, most other apps seem fine
Cons: No way to stop/delete scheduled backup job, poorly trained customer support
User Rating: 8/10
Works as Advertised
Pros: Very Good all in One Suite
Cons: For tech savy people, no problems. Harder for newbies.
User Rating: 2/10
All in all, a poorly designed product.
Pros: Lots of options
Cons: Lots of options, and poorly designed interface.
User Rating: 1/10
An installation/upgrade disaster
Pros: Can't think of any, sorry.
Cons: 10 hours recovering; 4 on the phone with Dell support after this fiasco.
I have a year-old Dell E310 XP MCE and nothing all that unusual installed on it. Plenty of memory; no spyware.
I was prompted by a McAfee pop-up to download their Internet Security Suite upgrade. I did so, and almost instantly my internet access was shut down. The ISS interface is a labyrinth of menus and whether I set to defaults, or customized, I still could not get consistent internet access. Prompted a Winsock error and a repeating Windows Installer popup on each reboot. No McAfee support. And as others have said, it's very difficult to shut the thing down fully.
I managed to get intermittent internet access back up and after several stop-and-starts with Dell Live Chat (thank you warranty) finally permanently deleted this thing and fixed most of the bugs. I lost Word Perfect for good (no big loss); fixed the Windows Installer Roxio pop-up problem with a patch from the Roxio site. But, it was the *absolute worst* experience I have ever had with software. I am looking for a new solution and will abandon the last 2 years of my prepaid subscription -- I just wish they could give me back my wasted weekend. I don't think I will be using anything by McAfee in the future.
After recovering from the McAfee nightmare I did some research and went with ZoneAlarm's Security Suite; after *carefully* following the forum's instructions for purging the remnants of the McAfee from my registry files, I had a successful, clean install. ZoneAlarm even uncovered a virus McAfee had missed.
User Rating: 1/10
Stay away!
Pros: There are none.
Cons: Everything about it
User Rating: 2/10
never got it to operate properly
Pros: not one I can think of.
Cons: inoperable after four attempted downloads
User Rating: 4/10
Will Not let Go
Pros: excellent Protection
Cons: Will not Uninstall without a fight and maybe a technician
Disrespects all who install it because it knows it won,t leave unless it gives you gray hairs or cost you money to call someone unless you have a masters in computer tech!or work for a major internet service!!!!!!
User Rating: 3/10
Not sufficient protection
Pros: user friendly interface
Cons: insufficient protection
Also, I repeatedly set the Program Permissions to Outbound-Access only, yet every time I check they are back to Full Access (like Internet Explorer). I can re-set them as many times as I want, but they will always go back to Full Access (inbound/outbound).
After reading the reviews and user opinions on C|net.. I went and purchased the Zone Alarm Security Suite, and I can't say enough good things about it. It has everything I could ever want, and does everything I need.
I will never buy or download anything from McAfee again.
User Rating: 1/10
Wrong on basic principles
Pros: don't know, will not look further
Cons: Does not provide ability to Exit!
McAfee has chosen to let you "disable" Security Center modules, but not to exit all of their program(s) entirely. It cost me $20 of their paid support line to find this out.
Of major concern to me is having a program which will not allow exiting. Sure, you can go into Task Mgr or "Run" another system command, but why? And to get charged to find this out undoubtedly left a bad taste.
Ocassionally, when cleaning or defragmenting a hard drive, or installing new software, running diagnostic software, etc. it is best when all open applications - whether "resting"/active or harmless/potentially interfering software should (or MUST) be exited competely.
So my review is brief, I will look no further into the product, because I perceive this as a design flaw of great consequence theoretically and great inconvenience in practice.
Look elsewhere for a security product(s), I am.
User Rating: 2/10
2006 was great! What happened?!
Pros: ...pros? none
Cons: Too Complicated; Virus Program Failed to install
I loved 2006, what happened?
User Rating: 
7/10
A complete Internet Security Suite
Pros: One big thing about the new MIS 2007 suite, is that you wont ever need to invest in any other security software for your PC at all. This version has built in spyware, and virus protection.
Cons: Conflicts with other security software, and you may need to learn the new interface of this application.
User Rating: 1/10
DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT
Pros: ABSOLUTELY NONE
Cons: Resource hogging, unstable, incompatible rubbish
That said, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND this latest product to my worst enemy.
After spending many hours talking to McAfee support I concluded that the software was of unusable quality and proceeded to uninstall software from my system.
This led me to discover further problems with McAfee Security Suite, the software DOES NOT uninstall completely without using the McAfee Uninstall Tool available here http://ts.mcafeehelp.com/faq3.asp?docid=71525
If this tool is not used, all other AV software installations will FAIL ...
Unfortunately I did not know this or was made aware of this problem by McAfee and spent countless hours trying to figure out why other AV software would not install.
Eventually, through my own research I found the above tool and was able to remove all remnants of McAfee and get AVG Anti Virus installed onto my system. I have had abolutely no problems since, Top marks AVG !
For all the above reasons I will NEVER EVER BUY ANOTHER PRODUCT FROM McAFEE AGAIN.
McAfee you are a disgrace !
Note Readers of this review: My system specs are: centrino 2.0ghz processor, 2Gb ram, 100Gb h/d, ATI X600 graphics.
User Rating: 1/10
This product should is TERRIBLE
Pros: None whatsoever
Cons: resource hungry PIG of a programme
The only way to get your PC running normally is to switch off all the protection options.
If you do not believe me go ahead and buy it, but I guarantee you will regret it !
DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT
User Rating: 2/10
Nice try for all-in-one but don't put your faith into the backup and restore functions.
Pros: Ummm....I guess the home networking and file/printer sharing wizard is cute.
Cons: Antivirus scan is painfully slow. Bad Graphical User Interface. Fatally flawed Backup/Recover program. Technical Support is horrible.
User Rating: 1/10
A Very BIG step back
Pros: Lots of new features
Cons: So many to list - read full opinion below
Pros: Lots of new features.
Cons: A lot more features that essentially sucks up all your system resources, spawning a host of system processes (mine went from 31 with the 06 version to 42 with the 07), unintuitive navigation, poor explanation of various settings and essentially slowed down several ordinary tasks & operations: web surfing, online gaming, email, downloads etc...
Basically, this version is too smart for it's own good and forces a lot of unnecessary things down your throat. And whatever settings you had previously were not imported so you have to reset everything all over again.
I chatted online with their technical support which tried to pawn me off to customer support. I insisted that this was a technical issue. We went through a series of steps that essentially did not do anything to alleviate the leviathan that is the 07 version. He kept insisting how this is the best version and the best available product out there.
I told him if all I needed was a simple cell phone to make calls why would I want to pay $3-400 more for a phone that has a built in camera that takes both pictures & video, touch screen, web surfing etc... It's that simple, all I needed was an Internet Security that works like the 06 but I was "forced" to upgrade to 07.
User Rating: 2/10
Don't waste your money
Pros: There are none
Cons: Extremely slow/sluggish
User Rating: 7/10
Worst Costumer Service in the world
Pros: Make good stuff protecting PC
Cons: It's mail-in-rebate service is worst in the world
But it's Costumer Service is terrible thing.
I always have problem with mail-in-rebate from this company.
Never trust them when they say: "free after rebate".
It takes years to get back anything from them.
User Rating: 3/10
Avoid this cumbersome dog.
Pros: No redeeming features.
Cons: Poor, outsourced (India?) Tech Support
User Rating: 2/10
the worst piece of software I've ever installed on my computer
Pros: Protects from viruses
Cons: Hijacks your system, crushes CPU and hard drive resources, will not let you turn it off temporarily
While it apparently did a fine job of keeping viruses out, it also prevented me from installing a couple pieces of software and there is no way to temporarily disable it. And when it scans for viruses (supposedly in the background) my computer nearly came to a halt. I could barely get firefox to open (It took a couple minutes) and again, there was no way to pause the search.
That was the last straw. I've uninstalled the software (hopefully fully, but I doubt it) and I will never ever buy McAfee software again.
User Rating: 2/10
Garbage Garbage Garbage
Pros: It Was Worth What I Paid--Nothing
Cons: Full 'o Bugs
And the morons who developed this decided to take away the ability to just turn it off (which would be infinitely useful given how often it interferes with other programs, even ones I've allowed).
I'm going to have to just uninstall this POS and buy Norton.
User Rating: 2/10
A beast resource hog
Pros: Price. Nothing else.
Cons: Resource hog; Slows down your system
User Rating: 1/10
Worst Product Mcafee has EVER Made!!
Pros: None that I have found.
Cons: Install had issues, Resource hog, techsupport is a knowledge base. To uninstall the program you had to manually set each of the services to manual and restart the computer.
To be perfectly honest, this product just sucks in every way possible.
When trying to uninstall the product it said to shutdown the service(s). I tried shutting down the services manually, but they kept restarting. I had to manually set each of the McAfee services to manual and restart.
This is **** Poor Programming on McAfee's end and should be recalled.
Take my word for it, or waste valuable time and money like I did.
User Rating: 1/10
After Upgrade Conflicts with everything
Pros: None after recent upgrade
Cons: McAfee has slid so far downhill it's ridiculous.
User Rating: 9/10
Spectacular product
Pros: Only cost me $8.00 from Bestbuy.com Have lots of feature.
Cons: have not encounter anything bad about McAfee ISS07
User Rating: 7/10
Better than 2006 version, no problems at all. Will renew my subscription.
Pros: Quicker to load than other tried programs, useful features, unobtrusive when running
Cons: User interface can be confusing and it is not always easy to find what you want
This new 2007 version though I have found a lot better, the only thing I have found that is quicker to load is AVG which I have now moved to my other PC as I liked the more comprehensive features this product offers.
I have tried a lot of security suites (AVG, Computer Associates, ZoneLabs, Kaspersky) after upgrading to the 2006 version as I didn't like it but this new version has definitely brought me back to McAfee and I will be renewing my subscription when it is due.
I would recommend this product, it might not be the cheapest and there are other products which are equally as good but I like the way McAfee works and I think out of all of them it has had the least impact on system performance.
User Rating: 3/10
Many features
Pros: Apparently has more features than Norton Internet Security Suite 7000
Cons: updates repeatedly interrupted because of error message instructing reinstallation of the program. After I reinstalled and tried to update again, the same message appearedage advis
User Rating: 2/10
The worst McAfee package ever
Pros: No pros whatsoever
Cons: It is meant for dummies.
User Rating: 1/10
Infuriating
Pros: None, horrible.
Cons: No Exit. You're stuck!
User Rating: 4/10
Stick with the previous versions...
Pros: Nice package for the money; added some new programs
Cons: Uses more resources than '06; lack of customer support options
User Rating: 1/10
Avoid avoid avoid!
Pros: None that I noticed
Cons: Hours of wasted productivity
I wasn't thrilled to have to purchase a new version of the product instead of an annual subscription for virus definitions because McAfee no longer supports the old product. Nor was I thrilled that when I tried to purchase the product, the Web site tried to bundle the product with other products I did not want.
After trying to uninstall the old Virus Scan and Security Center, I downloaded and tried to install Virus Scan Plus, but the software would not install. After navigating a maze of Web pages to locate a phone number for technical support to try to get a live person, I realized I had to pay for phone support. So I tried using the free Chat support.
Three chats and four hours later, Security Center would still not uninstall and allow me to install the new software. After each chat, I had to reboot and start a new chat, which took several minutes to try to locate the link on McAfee's Web site. Then when I reconnected with a new Chat support person, they could not locate the transcript of the chat using the Chat session number I gave them, so I had to reexplain everything and they often took me through many of the same steps I had already performed. Free chat was to no avail.
The result was a half day of lost productivity. My time is worth $100 an hour, so that was $400 of lost billable time. I got so desperate I actually called the pay phone technical support, but terminated the session when I realized that, at $3 an hour, I could easily be paying over $100 (I had to reexplain everything yet again and the call was going no where), just to install a piece of software I just purchased from McAfee!
I had to have my computer consultant come out and fix the problem for over $100. Apparently, McAfee really wreaks havoc with your registry when you are trying to install this product. In total, I'm out $500.
To add insult to injury, McAfee had the nerve to send me an email promotion for a Registry Cleaning product - apparently mine is not an isolated problem.
I also send two complaint emails to customer support about my experience. They did not reply to either one.
I will never purchase McAfee products again.
User Rating: 2/10
BEWARE - You can do a lot better than this elsewhere!
Pros: Very few if any. Decent anti-virus protection, but that's about all. Definitely NOT recommended.
Cons: Not compatible with some s/w vendors (Lavasoft). VirusScan wouldn't install. Firewall installation problems. Extremely difficult to uninstall completely and cleanly.
1. McAfee ISS 2007 is not compatible with other s/w vendors. In particular, during installation, VirusScan will ask you to remove Ad-Aware from your system. Not disable, but remove (uninstall) completely.
2. After installing their firewall, I could not connect to the Internet to complete configuration. In fact, I couldn't get any web page to load. Funny, I was just upgrading their own firewall from a previous version. Probably only a simple problem but since I couldn't get to McAfee's online help, grrrrr.
3. OK, I'll try once again and just install their Privacy Service. Found out that they had loaded it with many new features of questionable value including a backup tool, registry cleaner and file cleaner. The last thing I want is McAfee messing with my system registry!!
4. Extremely difficult to get rid of. Even after uninstalling with add/remove it still wanted to phone home! Had to edit the registry to completely remove all traces of it.
This story does have a happy ending after all, I managed to remove all of the McAfee products that I had been using over the past year from my system. Never did like the way it slowed my system down and tried to take over everything but I had become familiar with it. I have replaced their anti-virus with Avast! and their firewall with Lavasoft (Outpost), don't need their spam-killer and the privacy suite is a joke (get CCleaner). My system now runs better, faster and is more secure (IMHO) than it did before. Do yourself a favor and do not install this junk. Now if I get my rebates back from McAfee, I'll only be out a few bucks and a lot of frustration. Ever wonder why software that retails for 70 bucks can be had on Ebay for literally pennies on the dollar, especially when it's just been released? Now you know. End-Rant.
User Rating: 2/10
Mcafee V11 is a very bad BETA with bugs bugs bugs!
Pros: none I can see
Cons: 100%CPU usage, no email, no internet, dead slow system response...
I am SO UPSET!! Save your money and time, try something else before Mcafee. Trust me, you'll be happier without the mess they forced down my throat. They can have my money if they want it that bad. I'll consider it a costly lesson learned. Maybe V12 will be better
User Rating: 2/10
I paid for harrassment?
Pros: Solid performance, when fully subscribed
Cons: Expensive. Becomes a virus/worm/whatever when you don't renew
User Rating: 2/10
the worst possible Internet suite
Pros: scans very fast thats it
Cons: turns pc into a big crawl
User Rating: 1/10
INCOMPATIBLE
Pros: I cant find anything good about software you pay for and will not install.
Cons: Incompatible
A word of warning, there is a big list of incompatible software (check their web page)and the policy of sneaking this update stinks.
I have used Mcafee for years at home and work but will not use them any longer.
I dont see how to delete the post so this will have to suffice.
