Should I Download McAfee VirusScan Plus Special Edition From AOL?

Question

I received a notice from AOL today alerting me that I qualify for the McAfee VirusScan Plus Special Edition exclusively for AOL. I am wondering, should I download it? Has anyone else downloaded it and were there any problems, or bugs with the program? What are your overall thoughts on this program?

I'd like to hear your opinions before I move forward, so if you can help me out, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank You!

Answer 1

McAfee has been around for a while but they have a checkered past. For example, they had a false alert not too long ago that literally crippled thousands of peoples computers.



What you need is the free Microsoft Security Essentials:



http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/



They have almost unlimited money, and know all of the Windows processes inside and out. The anti-virus is lightweight and free. You can install this software package and not need to worry anymore.



Additionally McAfee has a reputation of problematic updates resulting in problems where you can't install or uninstall their software. I avoid them, but its a personal preference.

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Hell no. McAfee is like a virus in itself. After like 2 days of it on your cpu, it'll tell you that your computer is at risk. It'll ask you to upgrade stuff all the time, and just be over all annoying. It's like having pop ups even when you're not browsing the internet. After about a month, it's damn near impossible to get off your hard drive without doing a complete reboot.



My advice: Get a portable hard drive, back up all your junk and programs, set a system restore checkpoint, and then whenever your cpu is so virus filled it's too annoying to go on with, restore to that checkpoint, and upload all your music / videos / files from the porta hard drive. that's what i do. been doing it since flash drives came out many years ago, and has yet to fail me.

Answer 4

Kermed's answer is a good one. Don't download AVG no matter what anyone tells you. And Norton's newer products have really improved, they don't slow your PC down nearly as much as the older ones did. McAfee is horrible and they have more false positives than actual detections.

Answer 5

NO. Do not download anything McAfee or Norton unless you want your computer to slow down. Try to get AVG or Malwarebytes instead and save you a lot of time and money.

Answer 6

They give you regular updates.