Customer Reviews

McAfee VirusScan 2005 9.0 and Firewall 2005 6.0 Bundle

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

 

 

McAfee's Personal Firewall Plus version 5.0 was almost unilaterally panned by everyone who reviewed it. The same can pretty much be said for McAfee's VirusScan 8.0. I'm not sure the latest versions of these programs are going to do much to quiet the negative reviews.

As I stated in my title, VirusScan 9.0 and Firewall Plus 6.0 are not much different from their predecessors. The only real change is the engines underneath the programs. Only time will tell whether or not the improvements in this area are enough to satisfy the critics.

Before I get into anything else McAfee related, let me review the actual programs themselves.

VirusScan 9.0:
Considering all of the time I spend on my computer, whether it be writing a paper, surfing the World Wide Web, chatting with friends on IRC or through instant messaging, it's amazing that I only encounter a few contaminated files and programs a year (I'm not complaining, mind you). Thankfully, I have had a McAfee virus scanner on my computer since day one. And to this day, I have never had a virus or trojan horse successfully infect my computer.

Installation is relatively easy (WARNING: Uninstall all McAfee programs AND follow the pre-installation instructions BEFORE attempting to install Virus Scan), taking less than 10 minutes to install, update, and adjust the settings. I have never had an installation or uninstallation issue with VirusScan, and McAfee has consolidated the number of settings (as well as how many levels you have to click through to get to them all) during the last couple of versions.

Personal Firewall Plus 6.0:
In May 2004, I finally moved out of the dark ages and moved from a dial-up connection to DSL. On the advice of a friend, I purchased a firewall program for the first time ever. Because I already used McAfee VirusScan (yes, I'm a glutton for punishment), I chose to buy Personal Firewall Plus version 5.0.

Unlike many of the reviews I read, I did not have any system problems as a result of installing or uninstalling version 5.0. So far, version 6.0 has not given me any problems either. The interface is very easy for me to use, the settings give me just enough adjustibility to do what I need to do, and I have never had a problem with the program starting itself when I boot-up my computer.

For someone like me, who is completely port illiterate, McAfee Personal Firewall Plus has done exactly what it is suppose to do: block the bad stuff from reaching my computer.

If I was rating the virus scanner and firewall only, I would give them a 5-star rating since I have never had a problem with the programs themselves.

Ah, but this is McAfee we are talking about. And when you buy a McAfee product, you also end up buying the stupidity of McAfee. There are three reasons why this McAfee VirusScan/Firewall bundle only gets a 3-star rating from me:

REASON 1: McAfee has a habit of messing up their programs through the update features, especially the Security Center pop-up advertisement, uh.... I mean feature, that automatically comes with all McAfee products. So far, none of their update bugs have affected me where Firewall Plus is concerned, but the same cannot be said about VirusScan.

REASON 2: As reported by many a reviewer, McAfee's customer service department is a joke. Their live instant messaging service has yet to ever resolve a customer's problem (an overstatement, I'm sure...... but not by much). And their paid service isn't much better. I know many people who refuse to purchase anything McAfee because of past experiences with their customer service department. Can't say I really blame them.

REASON 3: I cannot stand the blatant McAfee advertisement that is known as Security Center. The splash screen that appears everytime you start your computer (and for which McAfee refuses to allow us to turn off) is nothing more than a pop-up advertisement that you pay to have installed on your computer. This splash screen is oh-so-nice in telling you what McAfee products you have yet to install on your computer. It doesn't matter if you are using a competitor's product. Security Center doesn't bother to check to see. It just forever tells you that you don't have McAfee this or McAfee that.

Bottom line: If you are having problems with the previous versions, go ahead and buy these new versions. But I don't think the internal engine changes McAfee has made are worth the price (even a rebated price) to mess with upgrading now. Wait for the new versions to come out towards the end of 2005.

Until very recently I used the Norton products for my pc's protection (since 1998). After the installation issues I had with the 2005 version (I have WinXP), I tried out McAfee. I was surprised to find out that:

(1) The package is very easy and quick to install
(2) It's very stable, does not cause any conflicts
(3) The options are very simple for the novice user to understand and if an experienced user wishes to delve deeper into its customizations, its as easy as 1, 2 ,3!
(4) I tested the product on www.grc.com and on symantec's site, and it came up with the BEST RESULTS!

So, if you wish to have a CHEAP, NOT system resources hungry, stable, safe and secure package, look no further, try this one out. I am completely satisfied!

I've used Virus Scan 8.0 and Personal Firewall Plus 5.0 for the past year on my PC without any problems. Recently I installed VS 9.0 and PFP 6.0 (after first uninstalling the older versions), and now it seems although the new products are registered, I can't receive the updates. I am still prompted to register so that I can receive updates, however I receive an error message when I try to do so (probably because it's already registered). Needless to say, McAfee's support is horrible. Their online chat is the worst form of support I've ever encountered; it's slow, painfully slow. Get ready to waste hours, then have your session terminated when one of their idiot technicians tries to send you a pop-up. This is the only form of free technical support they offer, if you want to speak with a person on the phone you must pay $39. It's insulting to say the least. I installed VS 9.0 and PFP 6.0 on my new notebook without any problems, but trying to update my PC has become a huge waste of time. I can't imagine chat based support is more productive or cost effective than phone based support. Based on the support, don't buy McAfee!

I purchased this McAfee Kit that included both Personal Firewall and VirusScan to run on my WinXp P4, 512 system from a physical store (one of those fantastic discount warehouses) The software NEVER worked!

I installed the software from the disk as instructed; however, as soon as I went online it started attempting to verify my subscription. This process never worked; no matter what actions I took the product never appeared on my online MyAccount page and therefore never functioned as designed.

I contacted the McAfee online help desk which quickly informed me that they would only be able to resolve this issue over the phone. To my surprise (disgust) this phone help service is a PAID service. That's right, you need to pull out your credit card and pay just to talk to a help desk associate in some far off land. As a sucker that I am, I paid for a block of time to attempt to resolve this installation issue. It was like throwing good money after bad. This support desk promised emails back and never sent. Then on subsequent calls they promised call backs; which also never happened. After spending $30 on support calls I gave up!

I have serious doubts about this company as they DO NOT STAND behind their products. I suggest you look elsewhere when looking to secure your computer.

Also, don't get lured in by the promised rebates. After 5 months I am still waiting!!!

I purchased Internet Suite 2005 as an upgrade to 2004 - which incedentally worked very well. The same can not be said for the 2005 version. I have never come across a piece of software that is so unready for general release. The un-install is flawed and losses all previous settings. The software is full of bugs and inconsistances for which I have been on the phone for approx 2 hrs to attempt to fix (insist tha McAfee phone you back to save the £1 per minute charge)- e.g. - parms lost on update, permissions issues for XP sub users, un-install of previous versions does not work correctly leaving bits of the previous version arround causing problems with the install and the update of your registration - result - product can potentially unregister itself at the end of life of the previous version. Shredder does not work correctly - script errors. One of their fix instructions is to turn off the firewall and download a fix - so putting your pc at risk while the download occurs! I could go on and on. I'm sure they will update and produce fixes but at present the product, in my view, posses a risk.

I bought this software as I was getting more and more worried about the threat of viruses infecting my home PC. My workplace has always used McAfee and I had always found it very easy to use and we have had no problems with viruses so far. So I invested in McAfee at home. After a few niggles installing the Virus Scan and the Firewall Plus I must say I am very pleased. The software runs quietly on my PC, only alerting me if anything suspicious happens and the Firewall blocks tens of events entering my PC everyday. The Security Center has a full analysis of what exactly has been blocked from your PC so you can investigate further if you wish. If you value your PC, like me, you really do need to protect it and this software is a good place to start.

Internet Security 6, which has virus scan and firewall along with other programs, works very well. I am sure the new version is also just as well.
I have heard people knock McAfee. I have never had problems with their software. There have been many incidents in which people have accidentally sent me infected e-mails that were checked and not caught by Norton ( Symanctec ).
I have used Norton and found that it had an easy interface to use. BUT, that is part of the problem. Not much to configure and it leaves out a lot of areas or problems that you can not scan for. Also when I was finally able to get McAfee back on this computer, I found several spyware, adtracking, and trojan software that the Norton was supposed to detect and clean.
Also, McAfee is used by most e-mail servers including Postini.

Was quite disappointed that the program lacked the ability for parental controls. It implies it has them; and you can lock out specific websites - who has time for that. Their tech support could not provide a real answer, only an automatated answer that was not helpful. I would not recommend it.

Works fine for me and I am not very computer literate. Much better than my Norton, which I couldn't get to work right and had to uninstall. [...] I was plunged into a Kafkaesque nightmare of paperwork after sending in what I thought was exactly what they wanted, and am about to give up and kiss the thrity bucks goodbye.

This software is extremely annoying...every other day it pops up a notice that you need to "verify subscription". Until you do, it disables your software. Half the time the "verify" doesn't work, or, if you've purchased the suite, you're treated to five notices in a row.

If you're in the middle of something, you're forced to stop what you're doing, connect to the internet, remember your password and log onto McAfee, where you're treated to a marketing page.

If you don't verify, or click "cancel", then the software disables itself.

The firewall has two settings... allow access once or allow full access, and doesn't differentiate between your local computer and programs that need to access the internet. IF you have a program that you want to access your home network, but NOT have permission to connect to the internet, then you're outta luck.

The software uses too much resources, and can only work if your computer has IE or Netscape.

The only reason I have it installed, is because it came with my computer. As soon as the subscription runs out, it's going off my machine, AGAIN.
Do yourself a favor and get NOD32 or ZoneAlarm..