McAfee Security - Does anyone know? (1 Viewer)

Teasy2007

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Hi, another little problem. Our McAfee security is about to run out and I have been offered 50% off from McAfee (£25 approx) to renew with them. I notice that on Ebay they have "SEALED Full McAfee Internet Security Suite 2009 LATEST " at only £9.50!

Can anyone tell me what is the catch? could this be a 'proper version'? The one I have at the moment came with the Sky Broadband package, so was not in a fancy box, but it is the full version.

I dont want to waste money if it is not a proper McAfee, but then again saving half the price by buying from Ebay is very tempting.

Ginny and Mike
 
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sinbad1

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why pay ?

Never paid for any protection plenty of freeware just as good
 

pappajohn

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you are obviously pleased with McAfee or you wouldnt be asking.
personally i got rid of it,along with norton, and went for the free version of AVG which has never let me down.
ok...it has some of the functions disabled but thease are mainly administrator controls which i wouldnt use anyway.
the background virus scanner, anti spyware and email scanner ect do the same thing as the paid for version with a user defined update and scan schedule and you can select which files, folders or drives you would like to scan at any time.


john.

 

C.L.S

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Bee using AVG for a good while , no dramas here :roflmto:

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Apr 27, 2008
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Likewise, plenty of good free stuff available. Getting rid of the stuff that came 'free' with your computer can be a problem sometimes:thumb:.

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Apr 27, 2008
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I had a bit of bother with AVG a while back, probably incompatible with something odd. I find Avast! excellent, daily updates automatically and all you have to do is re-register it annually free of charge.
 
Jun 18, 2008
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Hi, another little problem. Our McAfee security is about to run out and I have been offered 50% off from McAfee (£25 approx) to renew with them. I notice that on Ebay they have "SEALED Full McAfee Internet Security Suite 2009 LATEST " at only £9.50!

Can anyone tell me what is the catch? could this be a 'proper version'? The one I have at the moment came with the Sky Broadband package, so was not in a fancy box, but it is the full version.

I dont want to waste money if it is not a proper McAfee, but then again saving half the price by buying from Ebay is very tempting.

Ginny and Mike

This is my opinion, others are bound to feel differently....

I wouldn't buy software off eBay, especially software designed to protect the user.

There are 2 approaches to computer security / safety that you need to consider - stopping illegal access to your system and protecting your system from viruses.

The latter can be taken care of free of charge by downloading (and keeping up to date) AVG.

The former is only slightly more difficult - you just need to decide which firewall you want to use, for example -

  • Option 1: Windows' own firewall - it's ok but very unforgiving.
  • Option 2: Do you use a router? - it will have it's own firewall settings.

Which level of security are you getting from McAfee? I should point out that I have nothing against them, in fact I use McAfee to protect one of my systems at work.
 

RuthRv

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i also use avg and its free, no problems so far (over 12 months use) :Smile:

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sinbad1

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personally i use AVG8 which provides virus/spyware protection , never used windows firewall (waste of time) only use the inbuilt firewall of my netgear router.

As a general rule only have

1 antivirus

1 firewall

1 realtime antispyware (if not included with your antivirus program)

( running 2 AV and or antispywware programs will clash and may cause problems)


And the best protection COMMON SENSE

Regards

you may want to check this site to see how secure your pc is https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
 
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vinyl-artz

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i`f been building pc`s for years,
i use two free programs
1....AVG (FREE VERSION)
and for the spyware ,keyloggers,hyjackers,etc etc..
i use
2....superantispyware ( free version )

never had a problem

number 2,cleans the little beggers out ...:thumb:
 
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Teasy2007

Teasy2007

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This is my opinion, others are bound to feel differently....

I wouldn't buy software off eBay, especially software designed to protect the user.

Which level of security are you getting from McAfee? I should point out that I have nothing against them, in fact I use McAfee to protect one of my systems at work.

I have always used McAfee, this was the system used to protect all the computers in my school (I was a teacher) and I trusted and have used it when I retired.

I have heard horror stories (a friend of mine lost all his data from a virus he inadvertently downloaded just before Christmas) I just could not consider leaving my computer open to that possibility, which is why I have asked the question.

Do AVG etc really protect your computer as well as McAfee??? that is the question, if the answer is - most of the time - then I will have to consider the risk involved.

Ginny

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Apr 27, 2008
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Try the link Sinbad gave. It won't test your antivirus but is a good test of your firewall, mine is 100% stealth and I haven't spent any money on it:Cool:
Any antivirus solution will not necessarily be 100% as new virus's are being produced all the time, however the free one's are used by many thousands without problems, and are updated at least daily.
Your main protection is always common sense, don't download suspicious software and don't open dubious emails.
 

ourcampersbeentrashed

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I used to use mcafee but didnt find it very effective. I now use avg and zonealarm which are far better and far less problems and they are free

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S

sinbad1

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Backing up your data is one of the most important thing you need to do, the best software for your peace of mind is acronis true image 11 [ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acronis-True-Image-11-PC/dp/B000VLZCEW]Acronis True Image 11 (PC): Amazon.co.uk: Software[/ame]

As you see the product is relatively cheap, imagine taking a photograph of the whole image of your computer documrnts ,photo's everything as it is.

Now something goe's wrong with your pc viruses / corrupt registry / etc etc , everything you had on your computer would be gone ahhh !! usually you would need to reinstall windows all your data would be gone .

But hey i've taken an image with Acronis 11 , within minutes my pc is exactly as it was when i took tthe picture

highly recomended

Regards
 
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Hi Ginny and Mike,

Some great advice on anti virus and spyware programmes for you above.

What I would add to the information is it all depends on what you use your pc for. If you are just a casual personal user then many of the suggestions will solve your problems. AVG free will do what you need.

If like me you are running a business and receive hundreds if not thousands of emails a day, then you will begin to realise that you need something a little more powerful.

Over the years these different packages become better and each one in it's own right will become the best. In my opinion McAfee whilst it may do the job, will slow your pc down, but that was with 2007 and 2008 version, who knows without testing if the 2009 version will solve the problem?

AVG free was, in 2007 recommended as one of the best anti virus programmes available and was only beaten into first place by its paid for equivalent! I found early in 2008 that the paid for updates started to slow my pc's down. So I tested and bought Panda which has worked very well.

However, towards the end of last year Panda was slowing us down as well, so we have been using Uniblue for spyware and pc tuning. I also couple this with Tune Up Utilities and have used 2007, 2008 and have just downloaded 2009 which is running on one of my laptops on trial as we speak.

So without getting confusing I agree with others that if you are a personal user then download AVG free and it should resolve your issues.

As to buying software of eBay! Forget it! It is very likely to be a pirate version anyway.

Best regards

Chris
 

Brisey

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Hi all

Very interesting reading, my new laptop came with a free 60 day trial with McAfee which is just about to expire. They want £59.99 for a 2 year extension, so I think I will go for the free AVG suite.
Will I have to uninstall McAfee before downloading AVG.???
I also have a free trial of Windows Office which will expire soon unless I pay up.
I am happy to use Open Office which is ok for my purposes, should I delete this program as well.

Brisey

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Aug 14, 2007
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Hi Brisey,

Do an uninstall of McAfee. If you cannot find the uninstall button on your pc, then they should have it on their website. They certainly used to a couple of years ago.

As to Office. If it does not cause any problems I would be tempted to leave it. You never know what sort of offer you may get in the future. To be honest if you are doing any learning at all you can go for a students licence which is peanuts!

Regards

Chris
 

American Dream

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Hi all

Very interesting reading, my new laptop came with a free 60 day trial with McAfee which is just about to expire. They want £59.99 for a 2 year extension, so I think I will go for the free AVG suite.
Will I have to uninstall McAfee before downloading AVG.???
I also have a free trial of Windows Office which will expire soon unless I pay up.
I am happy to use Open Office which is ok for my purposes, should I delete this program as well.

Brisey

Hi Brisey,

Yes.It is very unadviseable to run 2 antivirus.Download AVG Free first to a download file.Then uninstall McAffee and install avg while offline.

I find Openoffice a great alternative and it is even more compatible with office now.

I've been running AVG FREE For some years now on Residential Customers PCs and its a good product.

That, along with Windows Defender and Malware Bytes , seem to do the job.

Use Zone alarm free if you need the firewall, just bearing in mind to open relevant ports for services as required.If you experience problems with connectivity, running Zone alarm, try turning it off first and restoring default settings.

Steve.

Office will reduce functionality after the expiry date if not activated.

BTW I really rate Kaspersky Internet security provided by Barclays free if you internet Bank with them.
 
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sinbad1

Deleted User
Its always best to uninstall programs you do not use, particulary antivirus programs as your registry will have entries that could effect other simular programs .

This should be done using the add and remove or the programs own uninstaller ( NB if uninstalling Norton AV you will need a special uninstaller available on the web).

Even using the above method of uninstalling there will allways be bits left over in the registry

I uninstall the program then use a very usefull FREE little program called ccleaner CCleaner - Home this is a two fold general pc cleaner which removes junk files and also cleans the registry, it also makes a backup of any changes made too the registry just in case ( never needed to do this) just delete all it finds.

Whatever you do backup all your important data see my earlier link to acronis.

Regards Roy

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Jun 18, 2008
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I have always used McAfee, this was the system used to protect all the computers in my school (I was a teacher) and I trusted and have used it when I retired.

I have heard horror stories (a friend of mine lost all his data from a virus he inadvertently downloaded just before Christmas) I just could not consider leaving my computer open to that possibility, which is why I have asked the question.

Do AVG etc really protect your computer as well as McAfee??? that is the question, if the answer is - most of the time - then I will have to consider the risk involved.

Ginny

I agree that McAfee is very good, that's why I use it to protect the on-line box office at the theatre where I'm responsible for IT (the system has to be accessible 24-7). I don't use it at home since my router and wifi offer me plenty of protection.
 
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Teasy2007

Teasy2007

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Hi Ginny and Mike,

Some great advice on anti virus and spyware programmes for you above.

What I would add to the information is it all depends on what you use your pc for. If you are just a casual personal user then many of the suggestions will solve your problems. AVG free will do what you need.

AVG free was, in 2007 recommended as one of the best anti virus programmes available Chris


Hi, I have just been on AVG Free (3 different sites) and each one took me to a section where I had to enter my email address and name, and then state which method of payment I wanted to use?? Do you have to pay to join AVG? or am I going into the wrong section??

Ginny
 
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sinbad1

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it is a free download try here

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The link you have given takes you to a different site not avg which is then asking you to purchase a different antivirus to me itt looks suspect ? i may be wrong
 

johnny K

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McAfee. ?

Hi I had mcafee installed on a new lap top I bought from Dell, when it expired a changed to freebe, but then I had problems because there was two anti viruse working and this caused freezzing. The problem was we couldnt get McAfee completly deleated. So we went back to McAfee and I joined via a US site paying in Dollers and this rate was quite good. I dont know about the ebay deal. Johnny K

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camcondor

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This is my opinion, others are bound to feel differently....

I wouldn't buy software off eBay, especially software designed to protect the user.

There are 2 approaches to computer security / safety that you need to consider - stopping illegal access to your system and protecting your system from viruses.

The latter can be taken care of free of charge by downloading (and keeping up to date) AVG.

The former is only slightly more difficult - you just need to decide which firewall you want to use, for example -

  • Option 1: Windows' own firewall - it's ok but very unforgiving.
  • Option 2: Do you use a router? - it will have it's own firewall settings.

Which level of security are you getting from McAfee? I should point out that I have nothing against them, in fact I use McAfee to protect one of my systems at work.

The £9.50 McAfee offered on ebay is absolutely genuine - I've checked one out personally - its a full years licence which is validated via internet connection to McAfee. There is no difference to the £25 offering from Mc Afee direct except you don't get the fancy box. The disc is sealed, its an OEM product (sold directly to manufacturers in bulk to install on PCs they are selling) and is perfectly legitimate as the seller posts a tiny piece of "hardware" with the disc to legitimate the sale.

There are other products like Avira etc which are free and excellent, but for people wanting a mainstream product like Mc Afee, this is a genuine bargain. As for not buying software from ebay - whyever not??? :RollEyes:

Also, some of the old tried and trusted free products like Sygate personal firewall are not compatible with Vista, so be careful to select a compat product.

Laurie
 
Jun 18, 2008
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. As for not buying software from ebay - whyever not??? :RollEyes:


Laurie

This is my opinion, just as my original reply was. -

Because I've spent too much time fixing PCs that have had software installed which the user obtained from, shall we say, 'unusual' sources. Some of this software has been in sealed packaging complete with certificates of authenticity and install codes (an easy thing to duplicate). As for accessing the net to authenticate - I can't think of a better way to allow a PC to transmit data to another user :whatthe:

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