McAfee update issues

Is anyone else using this? You should definitely run an update today. I tried upgrading yesterday, but there weren't any new definitions available. Then I clicked update today and suddenly there's nearly 2.5MB of new data 😲
Normally, I see maybe 100KB worth of updates daily, so I have no idea what's going on with this one today...

Yeah, well, it was a surprise... there really was quite a bit to update.

I used to rely on that for a while...
Nowadays, I just stick with Norton. It makes things so much easier—whenever I'm doing a clean reinstall of Windows, I don't have to deal with those massive, drawn-out updates. I just keep my updates tucked away in a zip file, point Norton to that specific folder, and I'm good to go. Simple as that.

Speaking of McAfee, I downloaded it from the web a few days ago and I've been trying to get it installed, but I keep running into this frustrating wall where it tells me I don't have sufficient user rights to install this particular piece of software. It’s quite a nuisance because I am the sole user on this machine, so I naturally assume that makes me the administrator. For context, I am still running Windows XP on this system. Does anyone happen to have any ideas as to what might be causing this hiccup?

Gerald Doyle18 said:Speaking of McAfee—I downloaded it from the web the other day and tried to get it running, but it keeps telling me I don't have enough user rights to install this piece of software. I'm the only user on here, so I figured I was the admin... I guess. I'm running Windows XP, by the way. Any ideas?

Clearly you aren't. Who set up the OS for you?
Maybe try logging in as "Administrator"—just leave the password blank.

Just a heads up! I used to run McAfee, and honestly, it was a pretty rough ride for me. I ended up deleting it because things were getting glitchy, but even after it was gone, the software kept interfering with everything I tried to do. For instance, whenever I attempted to launch Microsoft Outlook, I’d get hit with an error message saying something like "McAfee is...kernel..." and then the whole thing would just lock me out. So, if anyone is looking for a solid free antivirus, you might want to look elsewhere... Right now, I’m using Home! and it’s been great since it updates every single day and stays super easy to use...

It feels like all these antivirus programs (especially Norton) just love to cram themselves into everything, but I don't think a clean uninstall of McAfee should cause that kind of mess—not for me, anyway. With Norton though,

Joseph Gomez39 said:Fair warning! I used to run McAfee and had a pretty bad experience with it. I ended up deleting it because of some issues, but even after that, it kept interfering with my system. For example, whenever I tried to open Microsoft Outlook, it would throw an error saying something like "McAfee is...kernel..." and just block me entirely. So, if you're looking for a free antivirus, you might want to look elsewhere. Right now, I'm using Home! which updates daily and is very easy to use.

I doubt you actually needed to wipe McAfee, and if you did, you probably didn't do a thorough enough job cleaning it out...

Bryan Sanchez86 said:It’s pretty obvious you aren't. I mean, who actually handled the Windows installation for you?
Try logging in using the "Administrator" username, and just leave the password field completely blank.

Well, I was the one who installed them myself, you know? There isn't even a login prompt; there's just this single user profile, and since I'm the only one on the system, it doesn't bother asking me for credentials. I have a feeling that's an option you can toggle during the initial setup, and I honestly thought I had already checked that box. You don't even get a "switch user" option when there's only one account active, yet for some reason, McAfee keeps insisting that I can't complete the installation.

I don't currently have WinZip on this machine, so my plan is to download WinZip, get it installed, and then hopefully that will clear the path for me to install McAfee.

Edward Richardson36 said:Come on, I bet you didn't actually feel the need to wipe McAfee, and even if you did, you probably didn't do it the right way...

But what does "doing it the right way" even mean? I used Eraser and went through the Control Panel, but honestly, no matter how you try to scrub it, there are always little leftovers hiding in the Registry Editor, and some programs even find ways to embed themselves deep into the kernel, which is exactly what I was getting at with the McAfee thing...

Well, well, well...

😁

Gerald Doyle18 said:I went through the install, you know? There’s no login prompt—just one single user. Since I'm the only one on here, it doesn't ask for a username or password... I think there was an option to set that during setup, or maybe I just missed it. You don't even get the option to switch users when there's only one account, yet McAfee is still giving me trouble and saying it won't install.

I don't have WinZip on this machine, so I'll probably try downloading it first, getting it installed, and then seeing if McAfee behaves.

Look, being the only user doesn't mean there isn't another account. Windows XP sets up a default "Administrator" account by default. You probably saw the prompt during installation asking for a password for that one, too. You might need to disable the "welcome screen" and "fast user switching" settings if you want to actually get into that account.

Bryan Sanchez86 said:However, you’ll need to disable both the welcome screen and the fast user switching feature if you want to be able to access that specific account.

Could someone please walk me through how to do that?

John Palmer4 said:Oh, goodness me, no...

There is absolutely no need to shut anything down.

Once you reach that welcome screen, just give CTRL+ALT+DEL two quick taps, and you should be presented with the standard login dialog. You simply type Administrator into the username field—and if you haven't set a password, you likely won't need to enter anything at all—then just hit ENTER.

It isn't working; I tried holding down CTRL+ALT and then tapping DEL twice, but nothing happens. I even attempted pressing them all together at once, followed by another attempt, but still, no luck. Should I be doing this when the welcome screen is fully visible, or specifically during that phase where those little marching ants are circling underneath the Windows XP logo?

Quote: Feyd said:How?

control panel
user accounts
change the way user log on or off
you just disable both there--
log out
then you'll be logging in a bit differently: you'll get a dialog box asking for your username and password
that's where you enter what Equilibrium mentioned.
once you're logged in as an admin, fix whatever issues you've got, and then just undo everything I just described in reverse order.

ps. maybe check if your account is actually in the administrators group—if it isn't, you won't have the necessary administrators privileges, which is probably why you're having that trouble with AVG.