McAfee now hoses Vista

Borg 386 · 14 Sep 2010

Night Hawk said:

To avoid that several I know simply grab the free versions of other av programs with AVG being the most popular. Others are simply too lazy and then wonder why their machines are running as they should be until a bug sweep is performed and loads of them are found!

I think that's it, when someones machine is only giving them a "little" problem, or no apparent one at all, they assume everything is fine & that the AV is working.

I've seen it, done sweeps on peoples machines & they are surprised when 3, 5 or several bugs are in there. Usually they say "Well, it was running OK except for a problem every now and then". Most ask "Wouldn't there be all kinds of massive problems if I had a virus?". Maybe.

Viruses/worms used to make a big show when they got into a system. Some still do, but for the most part, they want to stay as quiet as they can to avoid detection so as to stay on that machine as long as possible and grab any info they can or remain on a bot net.

But as they say $$$$$$$$ talks and crud walks!

So what you have is a situation like at our college. The AV is ineffective, the virus was apparently on there for a while until people who had good AV's at home started noticing every time they came home from school, they were infected. Yet, the school continues to use McAfee, because they get a discount or they don't want to go through the trouble of replacing it. But more then likely, it's a $$$$ issue.

And yes codyw, they do offer the pay-for-AV services on my ISP, but it's McAfee. I'm curious if they are going to be forced to switch soon, probably not because most people are satisfied with the AV as long as their pc is, apparently, running well.

Keiichi25 · 14 Sep 2010

Well, you also have to understand, which most people do not understand, is that AVs are only as good as the company that updates them. And no AV system is going to be super effective to the ultimate Virus/Malware, the Human being.

I say that, mostly because it is the human being that will still override the computer and say, "No, do it." And then wonder why the computer gets hosed so badly because the computer's AV didn't stop it, not realizing that the user can override an AV system's protection or make it easier for a virus to slip in because the AV hasn't gotten a chance to get the latest definitions and the user is just blindly accepting things before it can be stopped.

And yes, the university will be cheap tightwads about their AV... Again, to my understanding, they are state funded and will have budgets, especially when the economy is not doing well. But at the same time, unlike at home, your university computers have thousands of people doing things they shouldn't. While lock down policies should be there to restrict or hamper that from happening, at the same time, said policies would also restrict and hamper student and faculty needs.

Mind you, I am at a university right now, as Staff. In the 5 months I have been here, I have seen the following:

1) Multiple Departments - IT is not 100% unified across the board. Colleges within the University have their own IT division, and even different groups do different services so levels of security are all over the place.

2) Varying age of systems and implementations - There are machines that are from the 90s, mainframe (As in big honkin, takes up a room single computer machine), software that were written for legacy purposes that haven't been updated for years or decades.

3) Many different thoughts on how best to do things - Again multiple departments, many people butting heads on how things should be done.

If Universities were run like companies... Well, actually, the problem also exists in companies. I used to work for a small company that was a subsidiary of a larger one. While we did have some underlying guidance for some things, we were the ones mostly responsible for our own internal Antivirus and paying for it. We were also responsible for our own development of programs and the like until I heard recently some of that has changed, but only to a degree.

But again, the biggest computer virus will always be the human... And short of keeping them off the computer, a person can still, somehow get a virus on a computer.

Borg 386 · 14 Sep 2010

Good points Keiichi25

In the labs some run XP, some run Vista. Or Linux.

Strange thing though today, apparently the converted ALL the machines to XP, said something about having problems with Vista. Odd that I know 2 people who's Vista's got hosed by McAfee and now they do this. And, they run McAfee.

I know they are trying to keep the costs down, but what surprises me is that they aren't running MSE, it's free and obviously more effective then McAfee. It runs well in conjunction with McAfee...or for that matter most AV's. Gathering from what I've seen on various posts, it plays well with almost all AV's.

They are a MS institute so there shouldn't be a problem with running MSE on multiple machines. They said they get to run the software on multiple machines for cheaper being a MS Institute.

(I hope they become a COMPTia test center soon, to take my tests for the certs, I had to drive 2 hrs each way to get to the closest test center)

But again, the biggest computer virus will always be the human... And short of keeping them off the computer, a person can still, somehow get a virus on a computer.

Yeah, got that right, don't know how many people doing who knows what or going to which or what site.

Night Hawk · 14 Sep 2010

The last part is more true then you even realize now! A good 99% of the problems are user related issues either not having any real protections inplace or disabling this or that in order to do or go to this or that where they end up getting stuffed by something!

Before buying the present av(retail) and trying out the MS Security Essentials that went on after AVG was first removed and then reinstalled right afterwards without any other clashes seen while "MOST" av program "Will Require" that you removed any other protections to allow the installer to work.

MS didn't want a hassle of complaints from people who still wanted or paid for retail av programs when wanting people to try out the new av/malware protection they now had to offer. The obvious conclusion was to make wide range cooperative and user friendly to the various other av products available without fuss.

As for goof-ups we've all made them at one time or another! With the first release of the MS SE along with AVG I had left the optional IE security toolbar option in the recent AVG releases disabled and a search on Whatelse but Bing! The first link in the results saw a nice little trojan placed on the drive and pointed out by the MS SE. If the IE addon had been enabled an AVG alert would have come up on that particular site.

The next step was obvious! Find something that offered various protection to start with including web filtering that works without the need for any addon toolbars mind you which do no good when not in IE either! Full system coverage was the consideration regardless of which browser was open at the time.

Granted no one program will always be 100% or could expect to be while the present seems 98% compared to the next best seeing only 80%! But if you allow a strange site to be added to the exceptions at some point... "SURPRIZE!"s are guaranteed to be waiting for you!

It goes to show the better the web filtering the less likely you will even run into any garbage sites to begin with since these sites are always becoming more clever at concealing themselves from the experienced user as well as any novice. It's no longer a matter of smart browsing and common sense but "Smart Browsing, Common Sense, Plus other effective web filters".

You won't find any of that in Mc(made2)A(plus at)F(ailure)eee

Symantec's Norton as far as the older version always saw the "BLOATED" rep when Symantec attempted to roll up several features in their bundles and why other software companies elected to sell certain protections as separate products rather then offering any all in one which typically would prove futile in most cases.

Despite regular updates the architectures were too outdated in a fast hurry. Most typical users would never even pay any attention to this however and simply run what costs the least or grab a freebie and run with that. And that's where one company has swindled the ISPs quite well into providing the installed or addition trial cds along with the initial setup package seen when first signing up with a new ISP.

For the "ISP Provided" equipment like modems, combo modem/residential hub, or the newer WiFi modem/router combos the software package is guaranteed to one or more other trial versions of bundled in with the hardware application/drivers. Some offer a discount rate if they use such for the initial setup charges. Again McAFoobarU slips in once more!

codyw · 15 Sep 2010

I can't help but wonder if McAfee is missing something in their codes when they write their definitions. So far, XP, Vista, and 7 have all been affected in some sort of way. Because Windows 7 is still slightly new out, I was surprised to read here on the forums that someone had problems with McAfee on 7. My suggestion would be if you still take viruses home on your USB drive, then take a snapshot of the warning message, the quarantine folder (from the AV solution you use) and take it into your school or college and say that there's something wrong with the computer systems because of what was found. I am watching my USB because my one school I go to recently upgraded to Windows 7. All of the 20-30 computers upgraded in the lab have NO virus protection on them. Action Center is yelling because the system is vulnerable. I have to sit there and shake my head at that. Surely there are viruses out there "trying" if not already targeting the 7 platform.