McAfee Security Center Won't Start

[DanG2015]

Recently, I've noticed that the McAfee Security Center Icon doesn't always
show up in the tray upon boot up. There's nothing specific that I can think
of that preceded this (i.e., not the day after installing XP SP2 or right after
a virus def'n update). Just noticed once that it didn't show up. And now,
it's about a 50-50 hit rate.

All I have to do is a reboot and half the time the icon shows up and half
the time it doesn't. Again, this is fairly recent and if I go back a month
or so, I have to say I never noticed that it was missing (I kinda look for
it as a "warm fuzzy" that it's running).

I've tried to get help from McAfee, but it's a joke trying to get past their
front line "is your computer turned on?" help desk.

I'm on XP Home, SP2. I have the latest McAfee, etc. I'm not so much
looking for specific help as much as where someone knowledgable would
suggest I start. I try to run a slim machine with unused services disabled
and I don't have a ton of stuff that happens at boot up. There are no
competing
anti-virus services, Win Firewall is disabled, etc. I'm pretty much stymied
as to what might be going on.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Dan

 

[John]

Dan,

Is it really not running (not in process list), or is just running without
the icon? Are you able to start it manually, and does that make the icon
appear?

Have you checked the system event logs? You might try rebooting until you
have re-created the problem, reboot again and then check the logs. You
might also want to check the disk for errors.

Also, forget about McAfee tech support, but you may find something in their
support forums (accessible from the web site).

Good luck,
John

 

[Dudhorse]

.... I have a similar problem - in my case I suspect it is caused by a
conflict between XP SP2 own competing security center or Ad-aware SE Plus. I
have coped by training myself to always after a reboot to make sure the
McAfee icon is red(have to manually enable it).

 

[DanG2015]

"John" replied:

Is it really not running (not in process list), or is just running without
the icon? Are you able to start it manually, and does that make the icon
appear?

I don't have a good answer on the first Q... I THOUGHT it was, but
then also checked a different time and didn't see it... but I had another
thought and was hunting something else, so I'd have to check for real.

To the 2nd Q... it always will start manually and show the icon. Always.

Have you checked the system event logs? You might try rebooting until you
have re-created the problem, reboot again and then check the logs. You
might also want to check the disk for errors.

Nothing jumped out at me, but then again, some of the stuff is a little
cryptic (I'm no newbie, but still...). Disk checks out OK, and FWIW,
it's the McAfee Security Center AND (for some reason) the audio tool
volume control that are both "sometimes starts, sometimes doesn't".
But nothing else is like that - no strangeness, no glitches, no crashes.

"Dudhorse" replied:

... I have a similar problem - in my case I suspect it is caused by a
conflict between XP SP2 own competing security center or Ad-aware
SE Plus. I have coped by training myself to always after a reboot to
make sure the McAfee icon is red(have to manually enable it)..

Hmm. All of this happened after I installed SP2... but not IMMEDIATELY
after. I probably had SP2 running fine for several weeks before I noticed
this. I use Ad-Aware, but only on a run-when-needed basis.

You mention manually enabling it... my problem is that I don't get the
red or black icon... when it chooses not to start, there is no icon.

Weird stuff like this makes me think virus, but NOTHING (McAfee, AVG,
Housecall) find anything. The only AV stuff running all the time is McAfee.
This bugs me so much I have to keep hunting :-(

Thanks for the info, guys!

Dan