Need help uninstalling Mcafee

I'm helping someone remotely and found Mcafee on-access scanner and Mcafee firewall are running.
MS Security Essentials and Windows firewall are also running.

I'm trying to completely disable and remove Mcafee.

Nothing is listed in Programs and Features for Mcafee, so I can't uninstall Mcafee from there.
I can't disable or stop the Mcafee services/processes, or change them from autostart in Services.
I tried Msconfig, Autoruns, Control Panel Services ... (Access denied or options are disabled)

I'm guessing Mcafee came preinstalled on the Toshiba laptop, someone uninstalled it in Programs and Features, and then installed MSE...
It's also possible Mcafee was installed from the ISP (TWC), I don't know...

So, is this the best website/tool to use to try and completely remove Mcafee?
Services and Support for Home and Office
How to uninstall or reinstall supported McAfee products using the Consumer Products Removal tool (MCPR)
Has anyone had problems using this Mcafee removal utility?

I did some testing and found Teamviewer can run in Safe Mode.
If I can get the person to boot in Safe Mode with Networking, is that a better approach to fix this?
Then I might be able to disable Mcafee autostart in services, before using the Mcafee removal utility?
Is it better/safer to run the Mcafee removal utility in Safe Mode?

Guess my biggest concern is this person does not have an external (or other HD) where I can create an OS system backup image before making a change like this...
I don't want to run this removal tool, and find the PC can not re-boot.
I did get the Manufacturer recovery discs created, so that is a fall-back possibility...

How to uninstall or reinstall supported McAfee products using the Consumer Products Removal tool (MCPR)

That would be the best way to remove it.

Thanks for the reply HAVOC.

That's the utility I found and want to try, but I'd like to make sure I don't run it and this person can not boot their PC.
I don't want to run this on someone else's PC, and then find they say "the PC will not boot up"!

I've never used this utility, or had MSE, MS firewall, and Mcafee (AV+firewall), all running real-time at the same time...
I don't want to shoot myself in the foot, trying to help someone...

I've used the removal tool on a new laptop of my neighbors, it wasn't in safe mode though.

Why do you want to stop the service if you are removing it with the tool?

Hi Derek,

I don't necessarily want to stop the services before using the removal tool.
I just don't know what I should do in this situation, and that is why I'm asking.

If it was my PC, I'd create a backup image and try whatever I wanted ...

I hear ya David, I'll wreck my own stuff quick.

I can't say I've been in your exact situation with this but it sounds like someone did uninstall from the programs and features but didn't run the tool.

Even running the tool they want you to remove it that way first, then run the tool.

If you want to put any faith in this,

How to Uninstall McAfee Security Center: 9 Steps (with Pictures)

The service only needs to be disabled if you aren't using the tool.

derekimo said:

I hear ya David, I'll wreck my own stuff quick.

Yea, me too and if only everyone knew backup images are best thing since sliced bread

derekimo said:

The service only needs to be disabled if you aren't using the tool.

Thanks! That's the kind of info/help i need...

Jacee said:

You need to stop all McAfee processes (using Task Manager) before uninstalling! :)

Just out of curiosity, what if that wasn't done?

I didn't do that when I uninstalled McAfee off my neighbors laptop.

Not questioning your expertise, just curious. :)

Thanks Jacee !

In my situation, I did not install or uninstall Mcafee or MSE - AV, Firewall, etc...
So, I don't know how Mcafee was installed/uninstalled - I'm just gusessing with what I've said before...

I was on an unrelated phone call and this person mentioned they keep getting a popup message that "Google is going away ... why ... what to do ..."
I didn't understand and said Google is not going away ... can I connect to your PC to see the message you are seeing ...

When I connected via Teamviewer, the PC was painfully slow - trying to open any window/program took 1-2 minutes, if the window/program would open at all.

Eventually I managed to get into Task Manager, and that's when I found/realized MSE and Mcafee are running real-time at the same time.

I killed enough processes that I could somewhat navigate and try to see what is going on...

Eventually I did see the message about "Google going away", and tried to work on that concern...
It seems iGoogle is expiring on Nov 1 and this Toshiba laptop came preinstlled with iGoogle as the IE Home Page, so that's all this person knows about using the internet...
So, I tried to find out what is needed from iGoogle, and take care of that concern.

Anyway, I have not found any way I can disable/kill/stop the Mcafee processes from running, and those should be "Uninstalled"...
The PC Owner knows that Mcafee should have been removed (by someone else) ... so me doing whatever it takes to fix this is not a problem - The PC owner will do whatever I say - I just don't know what (best way) to do to fix this without maybe bricking their PC.