Solved Catch 22 with McAfee and Windows Updates

boweasel

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I recently reinstalled Windows on an Acer 64 bit desktop. I installed it from the Acer backup partition. Everything was fine except for my McAfee antivirus. Although I could install McAfee Security Suite itself, I could not get the antivirus bit to install. After the reinstall I did well over 1000 Windows updates, and there was nothing left but the optional Bing toolbar which I abhor.

So I contacted McAfee and let them take remote control. They couldn't get it to install either, and they navigated to Windows Updates where there were 4 important updates that were not there yesterday.. While they were still on the phone, but after they'd ended the screen sharing session, I downloaded those 4 updates. One of the updates did not install and McAfee told me that the lack of an updated system was why their antivirus would not install. They refused to help me anymore, saying that I should contact Microsoft. Right....

After I slammed down the phone on them I noticed that there were now 2 important updates to install. One of them was IE11. I tried to install that separately but got an error. I tried the other update. That also failed. I downloaded the offline installation package of IE11, That failed. I checked on just what version of internet explorer I was using - it was IE8. I downloaded the offline installation package of IE10, That also failed. I downloaded Firefox. That worked. I tried to uninstall IE8, but it didn't show up under view installed updates, so I unchecked it from Turn Windows Features On and Off, and tried to install IE11 or 10.

No go...

I actually don't know what to do at this point. McAfee is paid up through sometime late in 2015.
 

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
OS
Windows 7 home premium 64 bit
CPU
AMD K10
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 1444 (Socket S1G4)
Memory
3.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 532MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ATI AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 (HP)
Sound Card
Realtek
Screen Resolution
1366 x 768
Hard Drives
465GB Western Digital
Antivirus
MSE

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Employer provided Dell Latitude
OS
W7 Pro SP1 64bit
CPU
i7
Memory
8GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel HD Graphics
Hard Drives
crappy SSD
Antivirus
Employer mandated Symantec Endpoint Protection
Browser
Pale Moon 64bit, IE11 64bit & Chrome 64bit
Uninstalling McAfee is a good suggestion! ;)

There are free AV programs that you can use. Some of them are (in alphabetical order):

avast! Free Antivirus 2014
http://www.avast.com/en-us/lp-ppc-win-01d?cha=ppc&sen=google&ste=%7Bkeyword%7D&var=%7Bcreative%7D&omcid=EN-US_Search_Brand&gclid=CIjm3PT7gb4CFe87MgodsysAfQ

AVG AntiVirus Free 2014
http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

Avira Free AntiVirus
http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition
http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html

Comodo Antivirus 6
http://antivirus.comodo.com/download-free-antivirus.php

Microsoft Security Essentials
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download

Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 2
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/

It is best to install any of these from the company's website. Even so, be aware of any other program that installs automatically, if left checked. As an example, any attempt to install a toolbar or change your browser's home page and default search provider during the installation process. Uncheck those boxes before continuing, if you don't want them.

The above list in not all-inclusive, there are more free AVs...
 
Last edited:

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
An ol' eMachines
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium
Internet Speed
Fine for me...I'm retired!
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