Solved How to remove pre-installed anti-virus

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PeterOz said:
SSD drives do not need to be defragged. I need to check if yours is an ssd - should be.
Firefox Click on me

Have a read of this

Not really lets get another opinion
@Bruce
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no need to fire up the old PC every now and then - I mean you can if you wanted to, or you could keep it 'fresh' if you thought you would need to use it regularly.
but it'll catch itself up when you do turn it on the next time.

in other words, do you run it regularly and have it spend 5 minutes doing updates, or run it once every blue moon and let it spend 30 minutes doing updates.
personally, I'd be leaving it alone until the day you need to use it.
 
jxdama said:
Where do you find the place that shows windows defender is activated? I was trying to find out and didnt but i did read that when you uninstall the other anti-virus windows defender automatically turns on. Is that true?
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yes - if there is a 3rd party AV program install, Defender is automatically disabled.
once the is removed, in your case, McAfee, then Defender is turned on.

Defender is as good as any of the paid-for products. absolutely no need for anything else unless that software does something Defender doesn't do, like a password storage vault for example. but in this case, there are free alternatives for those as well.

one method to see the status of Defender is to run the following PowerShell command;

right click on Start, click Run, type in powershell and hit Enter.
paste in the below command and hit Enter.

Get-MpComputerStatus | select AntivirusEnabled,RealTimeProtectionEnabled,DefenderSignaturesOutOfDate,AntispywareEnabled|fl

you should see this;

AntivirusEnabled : True
RealTimeProtectionEnabled : True
DefenderSignaturesOutOfDate : False
AntispywareEnabled : True
 
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phillpower2 said:
The Run a quick scan in Windows Security info at the above link answers your question, hence the reason why it was suggested that you read the full article.
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I will, thanks. Is there a reason when i shut the comp off overnight i have to unplug the modem for 30 seconds for it to connect to the web? Its done that twice now. Im taking a pain pill so i may not be back till tomorrow am. Also, is it a good idea to leave it running or shut it off at night? Thanks
 
Bruce said:
no need to fire up the old PC every now and then - I mean you can if you wanted to, or you could keep it 'fresh' if you thought you would need to use it regularly.
but it'll catch itself up when you do turn it on the next time.

in other words, do you run it regularly and have it spend 5 minutes doing updates, or run it once every blue moon and let it spend 30 minutes doing updates.
personally, I'd be leaving it alone until the day you need to use it.
Click to expand...
It doesnt update anymore because of vista. I just thought if i dont turn it on now and then it might quit working
 
1685244411579.png


This is where i uninstall? I see 2 things for mcafee, uninstall both?
 
Before i fall back to sleep is there a toolbar that i can pin to the top of edge? In firefox you can right click in the blank area on top and pin the toolbar there. Also, its confusing on how to pin bookmarks to the left on edge. In firefox its easy, just hit cntrl-b they are permanently pinned on the left hand side. How can i pin in edge to the left side? Thanks
 
jxdama said:
Delete both of those mcafee things in the picture?
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YES! But use this method posted here: https://pchelpforum.net/t/how-to-remove-pre-installed-anti-virus.86920/post-176908

phillpower2 said:
McAfee product removal tool (MCPR) here
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phillpower2 said:
After McAfee has been correctly uninstalled, check to see if Windows Defender has auto enabled and allow it to update and carry out a full scan of your computer, How to run a Defender scan read the full article before following the Run a malware scan manually steps.

Once done, restart, test by using the computer as you normally would, post back with an update when you are ready.
Click to expand...
 
or in other words, once it detects McAfee is removed - it will auto enable.
you won't need to do anything manually yourself. :)
 
jxdama said:
View attachment 12113

This is where i uninstall? I see 2 things for mcafee, uninstall both?
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I guess im confused. When i read your link it says click uninstall on the top mcafee, does that uninstall the web advisor by mcafee as well thats on the bottom? Once they are both uninstalled then windows defender comes on automatic?
 
in that link above, you'll see the MCPR tool link.
to make that easier, here it is; https://download.mcafee.com/molbin/iss-loc/SupportTools/MCPR/MCPR.exe
click this new link and it'll download the removal tool for you.

go to your Downloads folder, double click the MCPR.exe file.
you'll see "Extracting Files, please wait".
then you need to click Next, Agree, Next, and then enter the Security Validation code (it's case sensitive) and hit Next.
it'll take about 5 minutes or more to go through all the installed McAfee products and remove them.

t the end of this process, McAfee should gone, reboot the PC and Defender will be enabled.
 
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