Are you among the skeptics who believe that uninstalling McAfee is long and arduous? Do many people think that removing McAfee can be difficult and time-consuming? But is this the case? Let’s take a look.
It takes about 17 minutes to uninstall McAfee, and the process is relatively straightforward, if not frustrating, as you have to follow the on-screen prompts carefully to complete the process.
In this article, we will look at why you should uninstall McAfee from your computer.
We will also explore the process of uninstalling McAfee, including the add-on called McAfee WebAdvisor, and how long it takes to complete.
Finally, we will provide some tips on how to make the process go more smoothly.
Should I Uninstall McAfee?
McAfee is one of the most popular antivirus programs on the market, but does that mean you should keep it installed on your computer? In most cases, the answer is no.
There are several reasons why you should uninstall McAfee.
For starters, it can be a resource hog, slowing down your computer significantly especially if you set up a hotspot and need to connect other devices.
Additionally, it often comes pre-packaged in new computers where the user is forced to use McAfee without a choice.
Also, its main aim is to provide comprehensive antivirus protection, but Windows Defender offers a similar level of protection for free. So why pay for something you can get for free?
Some people find McAfee’s various features and settings challenging to use. It can be confusing for beginners to set the program up without it causing everything to be blocked.
If you’ve decided that you want to uninstall McAfee, there are a few things you need to do first.
But make sure you have a copy of your product key so you can reinstall the program if you want to roll back and use it as your main antivirus.
Is it Easy to Uninstall McAfee?
Yes, it is easy to uninstall McAfee. To begin the process, open the Control Panel and select “Uninstall a Program.” Locate McAfee on the list of installed programs and click “Uninstall.” Follow the prompts to complete the process.
If you cannot uninstall McAfee using the Control Panel, you can use the MCPR Tool.
The Removal Tool can be downloaded from the McAfee website. Run the tool and follow the instructions to uninstall McAfee.
The main issue is that McAfee needs to make the process faster. Even some powerful security firewalls such as CISCO Umbrella have a more intuitive way of uninstalling the software.
It’s a frustrating ordeal that requires several reboots of a PC. Follow the prompts strictly to avoid the uninstallation failing or, even worse, leaving your computer in an unusable state.
You must also remove the background tool called WebAdvisor, a separate program that comes with McAfee and provides various features to help protect you from malware and phishing websites. Some of these include:
- Misclick Protection blocks malicious links and prevents you from accidentally clicking on them.
- Typo Protection helps you navigate safely by stating the correct web address.
- Safer Downloads scan your files and inform you if there’s a risk.
- Safe Browsing, which displays a color-coded list of secure links.
- Security Check, which checks your antivirus firewall before you surf.
Follow the same process and use the Windows uninstall-removal process.
Why is My McAfee Not Uninstalling?
There are a few potential reasons why McAfee might not uninstall correctly.
One possibility is that an active McAfee process is still running on your computer.
To check this, open the Task Manager and look for any McAfee processes. If you see any, end the process(es) and try to uninstall again.
Another potential issue is that it could conflict with another antivirus program installed on your computer.
In this case, you’ll need to uninstall the other antivirus software before you can uninstall McAfee.
Finally, some corrupted files or registry entries associated with McAfee could prevent it from being uninstalled properly.
In this case, you’ll need to use a tool like Revo Uninstaller free to help remove all traces of McAfee from your system.
Why is McAfee Still on My Computer After I Uninstalled it?
Without getting rid of WebAdvisor, you will always have McAfee installed on your PC, which is the last remnant of the program after the main suite has been removed.
Another thing to keep in mind is that uninstalling McAfee will not remove your subscription.
If you want to cancel your subscription, you must go to the McAfee website and follow the instructions.
Can I Get Away with Just Using Windows Security?
Windows Defender is a solid built-in security tool offered by Microsoft. It does an excellent job detecting and blocking malware, has decent antivirus protection, and is free to use.
The latest Windows Security suite also has good ransomware protection through its controlled access folder feature and is seen by many as a better password management tool than LastPass that’s has suffered breaches in its security over the last few years.
This feature can help prevent your files from being encrypted by ransomware.
However, Windows Security is not a substitute for a full-featured PC protection suite.
First, it doesn’t offer any protection against phishing attacks. Only subscribers to office 365 are protected from phishing.
If you’re looking for full-featured security protection, we recommend using a third-party security suite instead of relying on Windows Defender alone. Avast is one of the best around and has an excellent reputation for catching malware and viruses.
Conclusion
So, you’ve read the article and learned that if you want to uninstall McAfee, it takes around 17 minutes to complete, which is far too long.
You’ll need to go through a process of removing related files and programs, and even then, there may be some leftover traces that require several restarts to clear.
For the average person, we recommend using a third-party security suite like Avast, which offers full-featured protection and is much easier to manage.