Rating: 
Summary: Big disappointment
Review: I was a happy McAfee customer with my previous purchase - version 6.0. My update period ended, so I opted to upgrade to the current version - 8.0. I have been unable to get it loaded. The installation process hangs up. It is a known problem, they have a solution posted on their web-site. Evidentally, the old version does not completely uninstall, preventing the new version from installing. But the steps they suggest don't work. I tried their online chat support FOUR times. Each agent gave me additional steps to try - deleting more and more information from the Registry. It still doesn't work. I gave up. I am going back to my old version 6 until I can get Norton's software ordered. I don't do anything fancy on my PC. When software loads, I let it follow its default settings. So with this "standard" set-up, why don't installs work? What a huge disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: STAY AWAY
Review: I would advise STAYING AWAY from all McAfee AntiVirus products. It hogs up to much resources on the computer. It makes way longer boot up time. And to make things worse.......They cut off my updates after only 8 Months. I paid for the 1 FULL Year of updates. I emailed them but they could care less. I am now using EZ Armor AntiVirus & Firewall. They work great and boot up time is way faster. STAY AWAY FROM McAfee !
Rating:
Summary: Problematic Software
Review: I've been a big McAfee VirusScan Software user for years. I even use this on my sister's and mom's computers. I decided to upgrade to version 8 with firewall version 5. This was a decision I lived to regret. My machine would lock up solid upon visiting certain web sites (the main reason I stopped using version 7). McAfee support was a nightmare trying to get an answer. Then whenever new mail comes in, the computer locks up solid and you can't do a thing until McAfee checks your email for viruses. I have not had any of these problems with the trial version of Norton AntiVirus, so that is where I am going next. Be careful too on the rebate for this product. It must be mailed within 15 days. After waiting for Amazon to ship it and by the time I realized it was a problem, I'm stuck paying full price.
Rating: 
Summary: long time McAfee users will like
Review: I've been using McAfee's products for over 10 years. VirusScan has protected me whether I was connecting via phone, cable modem, or DSL. The software has caught every virus and attack before any harm could happen. I've also never had any problems updating from one version of the software to another. If you have an older version of VirusScan, I'd recommend upgrading to this new version that is bundled with Personal Firewall instead of just resubscribing thru your McAfee instant updater.
Rating:
Summary: McAfee has forgotten how to write software
Review: I've used McAfee for years, and liked it better than Norton. However, Version 8 is an absurd step backwards. Unlike previous versions (and all other virus scanners I've seen) you cannot configure automatic scans to not scan network drives or specific directories. There doesn't seem to be a log of what was scanned so there's no way to check what has happened. The script blocker doesn't have any mechanism to specify some scripts as ok to run.Overall this is pretty ridiculous release.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Good Package With Excellent Customer Support
Review: I've used McAfee products for several years and have always found them to be excellent programs. I'm pleased to say that VirusScan 8.0 and Personal Firewall 5.0 excellent products that offer a true value for the money. After I upgraded to the new versions; however, I did have a problem with the software. VirusScan wouldn't update its DAT files. Through the support chat room, a very helpful support tech quickly found the source of the problem, which turned out to be a user error and not a problem with the software. After some very frustrating experiences with other companies' support services, my encounter with McAfee support was a breath of fresh air.
Rating:
Summary: horrible
Review: If you are a novice computer usere or you ever need help from McAfee, don't purchase from them. Their customer service is HORRIBLE!
Details:
I first recieved McAfee with my new Dell computer - loved it for the first 90 days. Had no problems, download smoothly. Like other users, their asking price for another year of virus scan, firewall, privacy service, and spam killer was too much. So I purchased the Internet Security suite, followed the instructions and when I tried to register, it didn't work. I attempted it again, only to find that they didn't have the bundle listed as an option. So I registered them all separately since Customer service didn't answer. When I did, it wouldn't let me load updates for virus scan and wanted ADDITIONAL money for a year subscription. On the 3rd email, I asked them 3 questions and they the only question they answered was one I DIDN'T ask and that I already knew the answer.
Rating:
Summary: Staying with Symantec
Review: MY SYSTEM:
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AMD Athlon 1.4(overclocked to 1.5)
Asus A7V333 Mobo
Corsair 512MB PC2700CAS2 DDR
Windows XP Professional SP1 INTRO:
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I'd been using Norton Internet Security 2003 for over a year, but my subscription ran out. I have been reading such horror stories about the 2004 version and it's activation woes, that I decided to return to McAfee for a try. After just week, I've decided that one product truly stands out above the other. Mind you, I'm not happy about any software company using the activation process, so I really did want to like the McAfee offering. So what happened? Security Center Screenshot:
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http://images.mcafee.com/common/screenshots/msc_vso_696x540.gif THE GOOD:
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• Easy installation
• Easy automatic product update
• Nice looking interface and icons
• Inexpensive (though, with rebates, YMMV) THE BAD & THE UGLY:
===================
• You cannot uninstall McAfee Security Center and cannot use VirusScan without it.
• McAfee seems too desperate with their attempt to integrate all of their products into their McAfee Security Center. They have a security "index" in which they attempt to make the user aware of how secure they are. But the indexes are skewed and I believe they are trying to breed fear into the user to get the user to purchase their other products. Even though you may only have installed VirusScan and Personal Firewall, the Security Center still shows Privacy Service and SpamKiller tabs. Any curious joe would wonder what were in those other tabs. And the curious joe would find offers for 30-day trials on those other products. Once you install the trials, your security index miraculously improves.
• Though the GUI is nice and pretty, it's slow and painfully unintuitive.
• Start-up splash screen cannot be disabled.
• I'm unsure which of the two is the culprit, but either VirusScan or Personal Firewall seriously slowed up my web browsing with Internet Explorer 6.0. Once I uninstalled them both, IE6 was back to normal. I would guess Personal Firewall caused this with some proxy issue.
• VirusScan does not provide time stats on how long a full system scan takes. I find Norton's stats to be useful for when I want to fire up a manual scan and know when I can come back to the computer. SUMMARY:
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What I was hoping for was an efficient software product to protect my computer from viruses and trojan horses. What I found was that while it did protect my computer, it did it in a way that was not very efficient. As I said, I despise activation schemes from software companies, but I despise ad-laden software even more. If I'm paying for a product, I expect not to have to see any ads, PERIOD. I personally would recommend Symantec's line of security products over McAfee's. However, you can decide yourself. Both Symantec and McAfee have 15-day trial periods for virus software and I believe both do as well for their firewall products.
Rating:
Summary: McAfee personal firewall 2004 v. 5.0 review 2/1/04
Review: Re: McAfee personal firewall 2004 v. 5.0 I am using Windows XP. Bought McAfee Firewall because it had the best consistent ratings. Symantec Norton anti-virus came with my system. Norton works great and is easy to use, especially getting updates automatically. Bought new computer 3 months back and had been only using XP firewall. Have been lucky. McAfee is very easy to install. Even left XP firewall enabled with no conflects. First time Norton anti-virus and 3 other utilities needed online updates, McAfee asks info about each, enters info, then no futher questions, when doing updates. Although I don't have McAfee anti-virus installed, McAfee firewall gives up dates on newest versions of viruses. Then I can cross check with Norton. I also use online Port Checker to keep McAfee firewall honest. Always checks out positive. Firewall works for me. Happy Camper - Salem Oregon
Rating:
Summary: You are now UNDER MY SPELL!!!!
Review: This is horrible. I have been a user of McAfee products for the last 6 years now and have been reasonably happy. Until I bought this piece of junk (yes, I'm seldom this vociferous about my feelings for software). Anyway, in the past one of the things I liked about VirusScan was that it kept me, the user, in control of things. I bought VirusScan and ONLY used VirusScan. I disabled all the other fancies McAfee shipped with the product since I did not need them. NOW with VirusScan 8, I cannot uninstall (or even disable) Security Center. It runs and tells me things I am not interested in, takes up PC resources and pops things up when I least need them. I also tried to modify my update options to "manual" instead of automatic, but the software does not update DATs manually (gives some Registry Read error). Its as if they have got me under their spell (in keeping with the "Lord of the Rings") Anyway, this is the LAST McAfee product I am getting and I highly recommend you buy a Symantec product instead. Since I last wrote this, I discovered another abomination from McAfee Support itself. Even though there is an option for "manual update", one cannot actually update the DATs manually. One HAS to do so automatically via Security Center. So after one year, one HAS to buy another subscription to McAfee if one is to remain protected from viruses. Hope this helps.
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