My laptop with Windows 10 came with a trial of McAfee. Those who use it, are you comfortable that it has good protection? Thanks, -rich
McAfee does well in the AV lab tests although FPs could be better: https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/malware-protection-test-march-2023/ https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-feb-mar-2023-factsheet/ Top persistent complaint is it's a bugger to fully uninstall.
The mcpr.exe removal tool from the McAfee website will also remove it. You have to hunt for it on the website, it's about halfway down the home page. Then use the free Voidtools Everything removal utility to get rid of any residual McAfee files, restart and McAfee should be gone for good. Hibit will find leftover files too. Just watch out for what is being removed so it doesn't delete any files you need to keep.
It provides decent protection, but is not as good as most of the big name antiviruses, so I'd recommend removing it, using their own removal tool. https://www.mcafee.com/support/?articleId=TS101331&page=shell&shell=article-view[/QUOTE]
McAfee used to big in the late 90s and early 2000s but it lost most of its market share to its competitors afterwards. It did not help the matter that its original creator turned against it, and advised people to uninstall it, as it had become a bloatware. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee Today, McAfee is not bad, its just not good enough to purchase, as you have better choices available to spend your money. But McAfee still has considerable market share, mostly in the corporate world. See here for a list of McAfee customers, (only the top three are displayed the rest are subscription only) https://www.appsruntheworld.com/customers-database/vendors/view/mcafee/records/desc/50/1 Also all Samsung Galaxy devices, cell phones and tablets etc. (for the last 9 years), come with an unlimited subscription of McAfee security software, and there are a lot of Samsung devices out there. So, in short, if you are getting it for free, its not bad, but I would not spend money on it.
Thats a loaded question! And the thing is that this question is one of those questions that are unanswerable. I would recommend that you browse the links in post#3, all of the listed vendors are good and should provide adequate protection for a typical home user. You did not mention your OS, but since you bought a new laptop, I can imagine it is Windows 11. (Sorry, I need to get my eyesight tested! You did mention you had Windows 10). The built-in Windows defender with Windows firewall should be more than good enough for a typical home user, so you do not need to spend any money on anti-virus/firewall nowadays. All you need to do is to find a good frontend GUI for both. There are others here who use them, and can guide you to the ones that are good. I personally use Symantec Endpoint Security. But I don't pay for it. If I had to spend money, I would most likely use Windows defender that is free.
Thanks for that information. I read about that program and it seems more than adequate for my home needs. The Windows Security Page has all of the information about the program. Why the need for a "front end GUI?" -rich .....
Frontend GUIs are not necessary for operation or protection, and a typical home user does not need them. They just provide easy access to some of the more advanced functions of both Windows defender and Windows firewall, that are otherwise either hidden in registry or Group Policy, or buried deep in the settings page. If you are satisfied with the options available under the Windows security settings, then you do not need to worry about any Frontend GUI.
I do. But it's one of many antiviruses I have installed on a test computer to mess around with and licenses are very cheap. But I don't think I've ever used it as my main antivirus.
