Replacing Anti Virus software

[Lowfellboy]

Help or advise please.

May be a simple question for those in the know.

I have a new laptop wit Mcaffee on a 30 day trial.

My old laptop has Norton IS, but has a 3 user licence with 9 months to run, (download, not CD) so I can have Norton on a 2nd PC for another 9 months.

I know a lot of people who post on this site are not keen on Norton, but to be honest it has done it's job the last 15 months.

My understanding is that if McAffee is running it will not let me download Norton.

Is it a case of un-install Mcaffee on then install Norton on the new laptop?

If so, is there a risk of infection whilst Mcaffee is gone and installing Norton?

Thanks in adavnce.

[john111]

just disconnect from internet while uninstalling mcaffe, then agin while installing norton if your that worried.

[Starbuck]

Hi Lowfellboy,

 

Downloading Norton shouldn't pose too much of a problem .... it's installing it when McAfee is still on the system that will cause problems.

Easiest way to achieve this without any problem would be:

• Download Norton and save it to your desktop.
  
• Download the McAfee removal tool from: http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe
  save this to your desktop.
  
• Uninstall McAfee
  
• Run the McAfee removal tool (just to make sure there's nothing left)
  
• Install Norton.
  

You shouldn't have any problems then.

 

If McAfee won't uninstall because it's still running ( this is a pig of a program at the best of times)

you may need to disable it:

To disable your McAfee security programs please refer to the clip below.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v666/sUBs/mcafee_disable.gif

Edited November 23, 2010 by Starbuck

[Lowfellboy]

John, Starbuck, thanks for the replies.

 

Please excuse my ignorance. I got confused between download and install.

Can I take it that I can DOWNLOAD Norton from the web and save to desktop or flash stick with McAfee still on. (Can I download to a flash on another PC then install from flash to new laptop)

Then INSTALL from desktop or flash once NcAfee has gone.

 

Thanks again.

[Starbuck]

Hi Lowfellboy,

 

Can I take it that I can DOWNLOAD Norton from the web and save to desktop or flash stick with McAfee still on.

That's right.

You can download Norton without any conflict with McAfee .... it's only if you then try to install it with McAfee present that problems will occur.

Installing the new AV the way i suggested means that you will not have to use the internet without an AV running.

[RandyL]

I believe that is correct as long as you are getting the full download file. Once you install it you will need to activate it in order to get the the latest virus definitions. Without that it won't do you much good. Of course that means you need to pay for it.

 

With some programs and I think Mcafee may be one you can only download the setup file as a saved file. This is not the full program. Once you run the setup file it will download the full program and install it.

 

The best thing to do in order to avoid conflict which some AV's insist on before they will install is:

 

Uninstall all previous AV's. Starbuck advised you on that.

 

Immediately download, subscribe and update your new AV.

[RandyL]

Sorry about the cross posting Starbuck. Starbuck is an expert in this field. Listen to him.

[Starbuck]

I was working on the assumption that it would be the full download.

But as RandyL pointed out, it may only be a set up file.

 

My old laptop has Norton IS, but has a 3 user licence with 9 months to run, (download, not CD) so I can have Norton on a 2nd PC for another 9 months.

That should suffice for 9 months.

 

I know a lot of people who post on this site are not keen on Norton, but to be honest it has done it's job the last 15 months.

My brother has used Norton for the last 5 - 6 years and wouldn't dream of changing.

If it works for you .... that's all that matters.

[cliff60]

Ur better off avoiding noton if u can. I used and it didnt find any viruses at all. When i installed a free version of PCcillian it found 200 viruses that norton didnt detect. But that was when i used win 95. I had norton, Mkafee and Ms essentials pre installed on my win 7 pc and it was always crashing. so got rid of all of them and put kaspersky on and that made win 7 stable. It took ages to get rid of makfee though. Had to download 3 diff removale tools to get rid of it. From all the reviews ive read only kaspersky and AVG r worth getting. PCcillian was the best but that was only for win 95 and 98.

[Starbuck]

Mkafee and Ms essentials pre installed on my win 7 pc and it was always crashing.

I'm not surprised.

 

It is not recommend that you have more than one anti virus product installed and running on your computer at a time. The reason for this is that if both products have their automatic (Real-Time) protection switched on, then those products which do not encrypt the virus strings within them can cause other anti virus products to cause "false alarms". It can also lead to a clash as both products fight for access to files which are opened again this is the resident/automatic protection. In general terms, the two programs may conflict and cause:

1) False Alarms: When the anti virus software tells you that your PC has a virus when it actually doesn't.

2) System Performance Problems: Your system may lock up due to both products attempting to access the same file at the same time.

[cliff60]

I got rid of all the pre installed anti virus as soon as i found out there was 3 installed lol. Think most PC makers get paid for having anti virus installed so they put more than 1 on the system when they sell it. Ive only got kaspersky now and the system is now stable. Or it was till The linux OS i had in a partion got infected with a worm after being hacked by microsoft. The worm somehow got across the partion and destroyed win 7 as well and the bios. It was confirmed by acer that it was microsoft who planted the worm in the linux partition and r suing microsoft to pay for a new PC for me as my pc is un repairable due to their actions. Well thats what they told me on the phone a few days ago. Kaspersky has blocked all updates from microsoft on my XP system due to worms in the updates. Think microsoft r trying to force ppl to upgrade to win 7. I would go to linux full time if i could get games to run on it. But im stuck using windows for games and linux for everthing else.

[Dalo Harkin]

Lol - M$ wont be the ones exploiting your Linux OS, bear in mind that Linux although it has been around a while is still not a polular choice of OS'

There are more MAC users than Linux, why didnt M$ target them??

 

Regardless what you trace the virus/malicious to it will NOT be M$

[wellies]

Think most PC makers get paid for having anti virus installed so they put more than 1 on the system when they sell it.

 

I think that putting trial software on the computer does make money for whoever is selling it. However, it probably also helps to keep the price down to the customer.

 

Or it was till The linux OS i had in a partion got infected with a worm after being hacked by microsoft. The worm somehow got across the partion and destroyed win 7 as well and the bios.

 

I think Microsoft won't have done anything. I believe what's described isn't possible anyway.

 

It was confirmed by acer that it was microsoft who planted the worm in the linux partition and r suing microsoft to pay for a new PC for me as my pc is un repairable due to their actions.

 

Pehaps get that doubly confirmed. A misinterpretation of what was said by Acer maybe? Microsoft aren't as devious or malicious as you think they are.

 

Kaspersky has blocked all updates from microsoft on my XP system due to worms in the updates.

 

There aren't worms in Microsoft updates. I think you need to look for a different reason.

 

Think microsoft r trying to force ppl to upgrade to win 7.

 

Not by using the above methods they're not, although they can't be blamed for encouraging people to move to Windows 7. That's no different to the manufacturer/supplier of any other product.