Do I need to purchase Mcafee AntiVirus for my new Dell? - CNET Spyware, viruses, & security Forums

Answer Best answer as chosen by user Lydiabrat

Quick answer

by MarkFlax - 3/6/12 3:12 AM

In Reply to: Do I need to purchase Mcafee AntiVirus for my new Dell? by Lydiabrat

No you don't have to purchase McAfee.

But you do need an anti-virus background scanner installed and nearly all the reputable anti-virus developer companies offer free versions of their software. There are plenty reviews available for Best free anti-virus reviews in a Google search and I have provided a couple of them in the links below;

http://antivirus.about.com/od/freeantivirussoftware/tp/freeantivirus.htm

http://free.antivirusware.com/articles/round-up/freeantivirus2011.htm

In all cases the free versions work and protect as well as their paid counterparts do, but the free versions may not have the bells and whistles that the paid versions have.

But before you install any other anti-virus scanner it is advised to completely uninstall McAfee's trial product. Assuming your new system has Windows 7 installed then to remove McAfee go to the Control Panel > Programs & Features and uninstall McAfee from there. If you have any problems completely removing it, look at McAfee's own guidance here; http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS100507 and that offers a removal tool if you need it.

It is best if you have already chosen your replacement anti-virus and have the new anti-virus setup file downloaded and ready to install before uninstalling McAfee, and once the uninstall has completed, reboot, (restart), the computer to update the systems settings and registry, then install the new anti-virus.

I hope that helps.

Mark