McAfee popup warning won't stop

[CandyFan]

I bought McAfee Virus Scan 7.0 a year ago and have been using it,
getting the updates manually. I never registered it but am now, with
the latest .dat file download, getting a bothersome popup screen from
McAfee saying "Warning - your free update period has expired".

I suspect they put something in the last .dat file because I wasn't
getting this before. It pops up about every 5 minutes.

How to get rid of it without subscribing/registering/etc ?

CF-

 

[Bob S.]

Send them more money for another year of service

: I bought McAfee Virus Scan 7.0 a year ago and have been using it,
: getting the updates manually. I never registered it but am now, with
: the latest .dat file download, getting a bothersome popup screen from
: McAfee saying "Warning - your free update period has expired".
:
: I suspect they put something in the last .dat file because I wasn't
: getting this before. It pops up about every 5 minutes.
:
: How to get rid of it without subscribing/registering/etc ?
:
: CF-

 

[CandyFan]

Thanks for the advice, but I coulda thought of that myself. Who do
you work for, McAfee?

Let's try again. I bought and paid for McAfee 7.0 antivirus BUT I
never registered it. You don't HAVE to register it and I chose not
to. That way, I can choose (manually) when and where I want to go in
and get the .dat file updates, which I do about once a month.

I've been doing this for a long time, going back to McAfee 4.0 with no
problems.

Yesterday I downloaded the latest McAfee .dat file. All of a sudden
I'm getting automatic popups "warning, your registration is about to
expire - please go to our web page and yada yada yada......."

The message also clearly says at the bottom that "not doing anything
WILL NOT affect the performance of your McAfee Antivirus.

Pretty sneaky of McAfee to put the "popup" program in somewhere. The
clearly say on their web page that it is NOT necessary to register
and/or sign up for the "automatic" .dat file updates, so why the pop
ups?

Now, how to get rid of them?

Since I bought McAfee 8.0 last month, guess I'll hafta replace what I
have and start all over again?

Does Norton behave like this?

CF-

 

[Beauregard T. Shagnasty]

Quoth the raven CandyFan:
....

All of a sudden I'm getting automatic popups "warning, your
registration is about to expire - please go to our web page and
yada yada yada......."

You said so yourself (below this recent toppost) that you bought and
installed the program "a year ago".

Pretty sneaky of McAfee to put the "popup" program in somewhere.

Pretty sneaky of them to expire your yearly program after a year of use...

Now, how to get rid of them?

It's a yearly program. Buy it again. Oh... I see you have. Why do you
want to use the old one then?

Since I bought McAfee 8.0 last month, guess I'll hafta replace what
I have and start all over again?

Does Norton behave like this?

Of course.

You install it, you set the start date.

 

[CandyFan]

And now
for the last time again,
quoth the raven CandyFan to P.T.Beauregard:

Thanks for telling me what I already knew and what was apparent.
Actually I just figured out how to do it. For those who care, here
goes:

McAfee products time out after a year, even the paid ones. They
install a
registry key with a date on it, once that date is past, the nag
screens come
up and the user can't get updates.

To fix:

Uninstall the program.
Backup the registry
In the registry, search for "mcafee".
Delete the keys containing the word.
Reboot.
Reinstall Mcafee.
When prompted, put in a bogus email address. (The rest of the
registration
is optional)
Download the SUPERdat file.
Do the updates.
Reboot.

Repeat after one year, or until they refuse to support that version
anymore.
(They still support 5, so 7 should be OK for a while.)

CF-

 

[Peacekeeper]

Setting it to manual update will stop the popups and as you have found out
so will a full registry cleanup and reinstall allow new registration.

Did you buy vs8 as a retail box or online subscription? Asking as if you
have a free upgrade to vs9 (coming soon) it is maybe a worthwhile upgrade
path.

 

[CandyFan]

Setting it to manual update will stop the popups and as you have found out
so will a full registry cleanup and reinstall allow new registration.

Did you buy vs8 as a retail box or online subscription? Asking as if you
have a free upgrade to vs9 (coming soon) it is maybe a worthwhile upgrade
path.

Good question and thanx for the feedback. Bought vs7 and vs8 as a
retail box. I've been sticking with vs7 but guess it's time to
install vs8 and watch for vs9.

I sometimes wonder if all these "upgrades" from the big 2 (norton and
mCafee are actually necessary? Or are they more just a marketing
attempt to keep up with each other and give the impression that
they're always on the cutting edge?

CF-

 

[Peacekeeper]

Personally i would wait for a couple weeks and stay at vs7. VS8 works well
for me but some posters have email scanning issues that will be cleared up
in the next version. Oh before you install it
1. fully remove vs7 and any bits and pirces
2. clear up your temp files (internet0 and cookies. These hints are found in
vs8 docs here
www.mcafeehelp.com.
peace

 

[CandyFan]

Thanks again for the advice. Just checked and saw that I bought
McAfee VS 8.0 "Professisonal". Should be compatible with the
"regular" versions I've been using?

CF-

 

[Vladesch]

I bought McAfee Virus Scan 7.0 a year ago and have been using it,
getting the updates manually. I never registered it but am now, with
the latest .dat file download, getting a bothersome popup screen from
McAfee saying "Warning - your free update period has expired".

I suspect they put something in the last .dat file because I wasn't
getting this before. It pops up about every 5 minutes.

How to get rid of it without subscribing/registering/etc ?

CF-

If you just want to scan, they have a free online one.