It would be very dangerous for you to just surf safely without an AV. Have you asked for a service request from mcafee? In the mean time you can use some other AV like MSE or Avast free untill you sort out the problem and if you dont want to change AV then use some light virtualization softwere like returnil for surfing etc.
Re your comment
You have been provided with various ideas of what to do..so it looks like i'll have to be careful while surfing the internet
BTW > If your McAfee is "crippled" it is NOT a wise idea to use the internet without protection.
One needs to be ever aware even when one DOES have / use AV Software.
problem has been solved, did some digging through my computer over thanksgiving break and discovered that my McAfee subscription ended without them notifying me that it ended. Had to log into the McAfee site and renew my subscription.
Thanks for reporting back to us.
Safe surfing!
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