Customer Reviews

McAfee Internet Security 2005 7.0 [VirusScan, Firewall, Spamkiller, Privacy, Parental Controls] [LB]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had some crash/freeze issues with Norton, so I switched to McAfee. VirusScan and Firewall are really the most useful and seems moderately powerful in par with PCCillin or Norton. I have 1GB ram so have no problem running the programs in the background. Less buggy than last year's McAfee VS, and works well on both my laptop and desktop. Better to buy the VirusScan/Firewall 2-pack.

Pros:

Easy to configure

Intuitive menus

Fairly effective firewall

OK Spamkiller

Cons:

Expensive (comparitively)

Privacy Controls buggy

Bad customer support options

My opinion about McAfee's new Internet Security Suite Version 7.0 has changed little from my last years review of their Internet Security Suite Version 6.0, although I gave the newer version 2 stars instead of 1 star from last year.

Installed the software on my desktop as per the instructions and there still is an issue with the Privacy Service Component of the software. Contacted McAfee thru their web page support service. (You have to chat with them as before because it is the only free customer service offered, and telephone service is fee based.)

After installing all four components (Virus Scan, Spamkiller, Privacy Service & Firewall) I could not establish an internet connection. I discovered on my own thru trial and error and installing and re-installing each component one by one, that the Privacy Service Component was to blame. After going thru a lengthy procedure from McAfee.com to remove the Privacy Service Component (it's not as simple as Control Panel/Add or Remove Programs) and re-configuring my internet connection setting, and re-installing Privacy Service, I finally was able to establish the internet connection. Total time spent reading, researching, installing, re-installing, customer service, chatting, etc.... was approximately four hours. A little less time than last year but due to a different problem.

Some of the problems you will discover is that this software does not like Windows Service Pack 2 or any other additional security software to be installed on your computer. In fact, all other security software (including McAfee own last year's version of the product) must be un-installed before proceeding to install the new year's version. But, not a word of this is mentioned in the installation/Users Manual.

It seems the issue with Windows Firewall being turned on when installing has been resolved.

I did finally manage to get this software to function properly, but only after countless hours with customer support and trial & error of my own. And one good thing that resulted was I was already prepared for these issues when I installed this software on my laptop. This installation went flawlessly.

Last year I said I was switching to Norton's version of Internet Security Suite. I should have listened to my own suggestion.

This is horrible! It slows my computer down to a crawl. Not recommended, except to perhaps do a stand alone virus scan.

Says it all. If you have a standard XP pc you will be lucky to get this software installed. Four hours later, we resolved most problems but cannot get the Privacy Service to install. McAfee do not own up to this common problem and the Web is short on resolution advice too.

This has to be by far the worst software I have ever encountered. I purchased this software last week after my Norton (equally worthless) software failed to detect a virus and 37 adwares in my computer. I am very mindful of updating my security software and was very upset that Norton failed so miserably. So I gave McAfee my 60 bucks and went on to install. 4 hours later and $40 of phone support and still unable to install successfully, apparently, as per McAfees customer support, "Our software has a lot of issues with defective discs, its quite common" What!?!? She then directed me to free software I could download from the internet, so I paid 40 bucks for support for you to tell me where to get FREE help??? Ridiculous. I demanded a refund for the "support" call and will be returning this software. GO with eTrust EZ Armor, less expensive, less space on your hard drive and much easier to use. Big brand names mean nothing.

McAfee has been a good product over the years for anit-virus protection. However, the Spamkiller product does not measure up to their usual high standard. It is full of bugs and and should have been tested more before it was released. My experience with chat support on two different calls about different issues was a complete waste of time.