McAfee Internet Security 2008

I am thinking of trying a 90 day trial of McAfee Internet Security 2008. I have seen claims it slows the PC? I am using vista home premium would be interested in any comment

 

My personal experience with it is that, while the UI itself is sluggish, slow to load and rather unresponsive when you try to navigate it, general computer speed is left largely unaffected. My system is a (very old) 256MB RAM, Centrino 1.66GHz machine. Your mileage may vary.

 

Thanks for the feedback I have been researching it, good reviews at
http://www.download.com/McAfee-Internet-Security-Suite/3640-8022_4-10581371.html?cdlpid=10763992

I have a 2GHz machine with 2 gigs RAM so I am going to try it.

Regards

 

That is my experience as well.

I think you can still get Mcafee virus scan plus for free for a year. See the post below. Could save you a buck or two.

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1141390&postcount=33

 

Thanks for that I downloaded this. It downloads a manager that then downloads the file and it must be installed right away or it will have to be downloaded again, can't be saved to hard drive. It is very pushy I thought so will give it a miss as I am covered with present av for a few days more

 

You have to use McAfee's download manager for any of their products downloaded from them online. I use it quite a bit and it works just fine.

 

Well, I also have a CPU at about 2 Ghz, 512 MB RAM (I seem to have plenty of memory), but Windows XP, and I've found McAfee Virusscan Plus 2008 (supposedly lighter than what you want) very taxing, especially during the first couple of minutes when you turn on your computer ( I usually do that once a day). 100 % or near 100 % CPU cycles during those minutes. I'm sure Windows is phoning home too, but I think it's mostly McAfee.

Regarding those reviews at download.com: I suggest you select: latest reviews first (by date). Things may not look so good that way, but I've noticed that with many programs. Maybe the competitors do post some negative reviews ?

I'd also caution you on the privacy aspect: (the information is freely available online) McAfee shares information about you with Doubleclick, which shares information with Omniture (and Paypal?), which shares information with ...
Since I got this new McAfee Virusscan Plus 2008 program, I've noticed a change in the ads I see. I don't think that's a coincidence.

But maybe McAfee is good for you, it depends on you and your system, and what you want.

 

Can I turn it off? It is McAfee Internet Security 2008 I have. They all seem to phone home anyway.

How do you mean ads? How are they delivered? When you surf? Thanks for the input

 

I gave it a try on my computer. I didnt notice any slow downs at all.

 

McAfee ran light on both my desktop and laptop. But I had to give it up when it started corrupting my Windows Live Mail files and creating this huge Recovered Messages folder.

I am back with the old OC again.

 

Symantec and Kaspersky privacy policyy does not look too much different.Can this invasion of privacy be prevented ?

 

The best prevention is to not use the products.

 

Then how to protect the pc?

 

I use Dr. Web and Avira (alternate every few months) along with Prevx. I also recommend Acronis True Image (version 10). If anything gets by the AVs, you simply restore your computer to the state before the malware invaded. I make a full Acronis image each night before I shut down. If anything happens either by malware or anything else, you can restore your computer to the state it was in before the event.

Dr. Web4.44 and Avira Premium run light as a feather, and continue to receive high test results in the tests I think are statistically robust. Give them a try.

 

From the Avira privacy policy. I presume Dr web and Prevvx have similar. Not all that much different to McAfee as far as i can see. All these companies seem to collect info but not personally identifiable.

Please note that Avira will provide this company data to its world wide subsidiaries. Therefore, the personal data received from our customers can be forwarded to all our subsidiaries in the entire world. In some countries the collection, the transmission, the storage and the processing of the personal data will be performed from the Avira contractual partners.

 

Privacy policies are difficult to determine- in terms of the real world. One of the problems is clearly that we can only rely on what they say (Privacy Policy) and not know what they actually do. Therefore, you might find a vendor with a policy you like, but that does not mean they adhere to it. In other words, as in anything else, may the buyer beware.

 

I agree that is why I did not understand why you said do not use products in relation to McAfee. I think McAfee is no better or worse than any other in terms of tracking users

 

You can't turn it off. Maybe it has a privacy service that can make sure (?) that information will not be available outside the McAfee clique.

Aside from any Site Advisor script, McAfee runs a script on your computer.
In the 2007 version you could scan for cookies, but no longer. I can find very few cookies with my other security software. I'm sure they just distribute information in a different way, cookies are an outdated (but not irrelevant) way of sharing information. (An example of a more modern way are web bugs/beacons).

I once read that McAfee's privacy policy was an example of a bad 'privacy' policy, and after I had read it I concurred.

About the ads: when you surf, yes. I've noticed changes in the ads displayed after moving to the 2008 version. The Spy Sweeper also has an ad blocking service, but often I can see McAfee trying to circumvent it. It seems to get better at it !

There is a trend in the security industry: let us spy on you a little if we protect you.

But not all companies are like that.

 

If you don't like industry standard privacy policies, you would not be able to use virtually all software. This is because the vast majority of firms gather information (and use it) for xyz purpose. I would not use McAfee because I don't think they offer a good AV product relative to other choices.

 

If its slow, run quickclean every day and defrag every couple of weeks. It should not actually slow your PC down. If you are having problems installing, please post it here.

 

Erm, why and in what ways?

 

Medicore test results in retrospective test (heuristics) compared to Avira (81%) and Eset (71%)- for example. McAfee relies too much on signatures which will not help in zero-day attacks. 10 of the 17 programs tested have better % heuristic detection scores than McAfee. Again, there are better choices.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

 

However, the functions and stuff even it out compared to other products. You also have to consider the fact that mcafee has a HIPS.

 

i remember IBK stating that he thinks the next mcafee version is going to be a big improvement on the current one regarding detection.

 

Time will tell.