McAfee AV (Nov-25)
Don Trauger – Kennett
McAfee’s Antivirus is highly rated in its anti-virus protection. It does its job well but it has a
significant downside in its marketing aspect.
Visual prompts, let’s just call them ads, are pressuring the user to get their credit cards out
and pay for a full subscription to McAfee anti-virus. This is while you have a free trial. The
pressure reads like this: “Extend your subscription today and stay protected against
scams, viruses, identity thieves, and more.” You are presented with 2 choices, one is
“Accept risk” or “get protection”. “Accept risk” is almost a lie. I’ll explain that below. “Get
protection” is the pay-for route. You’ll often see these types of ads when you purchase a
new Windows 11 computer. You get 30 days of a free trial of McAfee’s.
“Accept risk” button is the alternative. There is no risk involved here. That’s why I call it
almost a lie. What happens if you click on “Accept risk”. First, you will save some money
by not purchasing McAfee. However, if you don’t desire to purchase McAfee You need to
uninstall McAfee. This will activate Microsoft’s free Windows Security to automatically
jump into action and protect your computer now that McAfee is gone. To uninstall McAfee,
type Control Panel in the Search box then click it in the window. In the upper right of the
window, change the View by: by selecting the little down arrow so it shows large icons.
Next, click Programs and Features, locate McAfee and click it once to just highlight it then
click Uninstall at the top to rid the computer of McAfee. If you see any additional McAfee
programs uninstall those also. Wait until the previous uninstall completes.
Although, Microsoft’s Windows Security is very good, it doesn’t quite match Norton or my
favorite, Bitdefender Total Security at bitdefender.com.
I do not have any financial or other interest in any company mentioned in my articles.