Question Is McAfee crap now ?

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fcar1999ta

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Apr 24, 2014
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I have had McAfee Total Protection for probably a decade, but lately it has become more of an annoying pop-up generator trying to sell me more stuff.

Is there anything out there better that works across PC and Android?
 
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fcar1999ta said:
Is there anything out there better that works across PC and Android?
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Windows has its Defender and device security measures. Besides running an occasional free Malwarebytes system scan, unless you're notorious for clicking unknown shortened url's, I wouldn't worry about using anything else.
Android is linux based, using a completely different permissions system, so again -unless you're clicking something you shouldn't be or have installed a questionable app.. There's no need.
 
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fcar1999ta said:
I have had McAfee Total Protection for probably a decade, but lately it has become more of an annoying pop-up generator trying to sell me more stuff.

Is there anything out there better that works across PC and Android?
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McAfee has been crap for AT LEAST the last 15 years, and IMO, far longer than that. Putting that garbage on your system is like intentionally installing malware. Just run Windows Defender/Security, don't visit shady sites, don't open email attachments from people you don't know and keep Windows up to date, and you'll be fine.
 
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Both Windows defender/security and Bitdefender scored 18 out of 18 on independent antivirus and malware testing of all the top antivirus and malware protection utilities.

www.av-test.org

Test antivirus software for Windows 11 - April 2025

The current tests of antivirus software for Windows 11 from April 2025 of AV-TEST, the leading international and independent service provider for antivirus software and malware.
www.av-test.org www.av-test.org

And Windows Defender/Security HAS to be there anyhow so there is really zero reason to ADD additional code bloat, use additional resources, take up additional disk space or add unnecessary registry entries when really there is nothing to gain.
 
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The issues in focus were anti-malware/anti-virus, not the entire "security suite."

That's right. Compare the independent results. Look at your own sources of information and experiences. Decide for yourself. You don't have to trust strangers' judgments.
 
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Cilantro7536 said:
The issues in focus were anti-malware/anti-virus, not the entire "security suite."

That's right. Compare the independent results. Look at your own sources of information and experiences. Decide for yourself. You don't have to trust strangers' judgments.
Click to expand...

Agreed, however, I've frequented a number of intensely community driven AV and security sites and aside from what I know myself, I've seen a lot of people in that industry who know a great deal more than you or I on the subject, directly recommend av-test.org who've been around a very a long time and are not primarily commercially driven on those sites. I've never seen av-comparatives.org recommended on any of them for comparisons based on direct testing. A brief search shows av-comparatives.org has also been around a while, but I trust who I know I can trust because of their track record AND the fact that they are not primarily financially motivated.
 
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Darkbreeze said:
I can trust ...
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When it all comes down to it, we are going to make subjective choices. But let me present the "differences" differently. If you compare the following two result pages, overall, they are not that much different:
That is, if you filter out vendors that either didn't include, and pay attention to av-comparative's results with at least one star, you end up with the "same" list of "good" vendors, including Microsoft itself. As a consumer (with cash and resources), however, I might be interested in which ones would give me an edge. Perhaps because I share computers with my kids, or because I have a larger risk profile, etc. "Based on what I know," I still think products like Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, ESET, and Kaspersky offer some advantages, however slight, over Microsoft.

Disclaimer: I have no financial, professional, or personal interests in promoting these products and sites. I am only presenting alternatives based on the OP's question and what I know.
 
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I have been a pc geek for 24 years , i used norton for a very long time until it became power hungry.
I used kaspersky a long time but dumped it when ukraine got invaded.
I now use ESET and it is without a doubt the best i have ever used.

With regards to McAfee which is what this posting is about , i used it for about 3 weeks.
A workmate gave me a bootleg copy of the companies CAD software ..... yes i know it was wrong.
I scanned it with McAfee and it found nothing but because i am geeky i scanned it with malwarebytes and it found keyloggers , and about 7 Pups that i googled and they were all genuine threats.

I told my workmate and he said at least i know why my work pc's keep crashing , the problem is we could not tell the company owner about what we found or he would have wanted to know how we found them.
 
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I agree with everyone here. Windows Defender is now as good as most third-party AVs. Just run with that and also do a monthly or so scan with Malwarebytes as an extra precaution.

And McAfee is probably one of worst things you can install on a PC. Very hard to get rid of everything it installs when you want to remove it. It's almost a malware on itself.
 
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USAFRet said:
No one, in the history of Ever, has been able to "set it up right".

Norton is as bad as McAfee.
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I've managed but there's always room for improvement. I might pull their documentation again and read it just to make sure I'm not missing anything. That's always a good idea. In my experience, McAfee was once better, twenty or twenty-five years ago, but the Norton 360 Deluxe product line is definitely better than McAfee these days and has been for years. Just an opinion. One person's opinion.
 
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ex_bubblehead said:
None of the products named in this thread have been worth a tinker's damn since the DOS days some 30+ years ago. And even then the Norton products (after Peter Norton sold out to Symantec) were no good.
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Since "none of the products named in this thread" are worth "a tinker's damn" in your estimation, what would you suggest a PC user do to get security for their system that is better than the products named in this thread which include Norton and McAfee's best products?

As I'm always looking for better solutions; I genuinely want your recommendation.
 
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American2021 said:
Since "none of the products named in this thread" are worth "a tinker's damn" in your estimation, what would you suggest a PC user do to get security for their system that is better than the products named in this thread which include Norton and McAfee's best products?

As I'm always looking for better solutions; I genuinely want your recommendation.
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A) It's not estimation.
B) What is built into Windows by default is good enough, though using that thing between your ears for more than just a hat rack is the best there is.
 
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ex_bubblehead said:
What is built into Windows by default is good enough
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I cannot say I agree that Windows, by default, is good enough for security. Also, I've met plenty of people who do not use "that thing between their ears" well enough. That said, I do agree with you that our minds have the potential to be the best that there is. A complex wonder with about 86 billion neurons interconnected through trillions of synapses. Without a doubt, you are right about that. But, then I was deployed on amphibious ships which are but targets in your view haha. Have a great day ex_bubblehead.
 
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American2021 said:
I cannot say I agree that Windows, by default, is good enough for security. Also, I've met plenty of people who do not use "that thing between their ears" well enough. That said, I do agree with you that our minds have the potential to be the best that there is. A complex wonder with about 86 billion neurons interconnected through trillions of synapses. Without a doubt, you are right about that.
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Not 'Windows', but rather the AV tool, Windows Defender.
 
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