BleepingComputer.com: Mcafee Update Won't Install If Spybot S&d Present!

Just got my PC really cleaned up thanks to bleepingcomputer.com expert, and today, I get a pop-up from McAfee indicating that there's a new update available for download. I download it (40+Megabytes), and before it installs, it says I have to remove Spybot Search & Destroy from my PC or it won't install.

So I go to mcafee.com, and check out their list of "incompatible 3rd-party software". I've taken the advice posted on BC, and installed the following programs (I'd already been using Spybot S&D for years):

Spybot Search & Destroy
Spyware Blaster
Ad-Aware

What a shock, they're all in the list! So now it's McAfee or nothing???

I think not. Considering McAfee's total failure to block or even detect the hijack last week, and the fact that their website is all about selling and offers no easy way to communicate with them or report trouble they should be interested in, it seems more reasonable to me that I remove McAfee and seek elsewhere for a virus scanner and personal firewall.

Actually, they're making it easy for me. If McAfee won't install, I'll find software that will. Suggestions for a virus scanner and personal firewall, anyone?

Should BC update their recommendations for Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D, and Spyware Blaster to include the fact that those programs are incompatible with McAfee, and that continued McAfee use requires removal of Spybot S&D?

Chuck

You can either try Super Anti-spyware (which is excellent!) + another compatible anti-spyware and get rid of Spybot Search & Destroy, Spyware Blaster & Ad-Aware or install AVG Free and Comodo Firewall and get rid of McAfee. I would go for the latter option, but Super Anti-spyware is still recommendable in my opinion.

This post has been edited by Juha: 07 July 2008 - 11:04 PM

Juha, on Jul 7 2008, 10:04 PM, said:

Thanks for the pointers! I just talked to one of McAfee's chat-line helpers in India, and she told me McAfee isn't compatible with ANY OTHER security software, and that I should remove ALL such software before installing McAfee anything.

So long, McAfee, and thanks for nothing!

When removing McAfee, don't forget to use their removal tool which you should be able to find at their website. You may have problems if you just use Add/Remove Programs.

car377, on Jul 7 2008, 11:31 PM, said:

You have got to be kidding! McAfee definitely wasn't my favorite security suite already, but this just reinforces it... Don't work with the security scene, just deny they exist and have your customers remove the software, that way you can avoid all the F/P reports?

Edit - Here's the list of incompatible apps as of last year...

http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx...064&lc=1033

Are they SERIOUS???? No one can have Acronis? No Backup software?????!!!? UH?

Also of note is that HijackThis and DSS aren't listed.... methinks it's because McCrappy isn't aware they exist....

This post has been edited by Galadriel: 09 July 2008 - 01:50 PM

Today I am back to using my friend's spare XP computer (because my ME harddrive is again failing to boot in the heat and humidity). I got this computer back from University of Delaware IT services (a free service for me at the present) eight days ago. I thought the internal modem (dial-up) had been fried, because a 1 3/4 inch diam. silver maple was toppled cleanly during a storm by electrical activity, the computer was located ten feet horizontally and two feet vertically from the break, and it would not connect to the internet. It turns out that Microsoft updated Windows at that same time, and computers using Zone Alarm and XP would not connect until installing the ZA fix.

UD gave me a supposed list of the things they did, which included removing Avast! and ZoneAlarm, installing a full version of McAfee (free) and SpywareBlaster, and activating the Windows firewall. The techie insisted that Windows firewall is every bit as good as ZA, and that they (UD) don't like ZA. Now I find out they also removed at least SpybotSD (1.5), SuperAntiSpyware, MalwareBytesAntiMalware, and the ATF cleaner, along with the respective installers from the desktop. They left AdAware2007 with a link on the desktop.

I have now got the new AdAware downloaded and Spybot 1.6 is 90% downloaded. Hopefully Lavasoft has finally once and for all fixed the fatal problem of a complete scan hanging at the end. Spybot seems to be getting more ticklish about running with low RAM. (This computer has only 128 MB. The ME has 512, but running the updater from the main program would usually cause both to crash, and sometimes also windows.)

I would like to hear whether there are some upsides to McAfee over the various free AV programs. My copy appears to contain a password that will allow it to continue updating even when I have no account with UD. I would also like to hear about workarounds that would let me run teatimer and the various scans without throwing McAfee off its kilter. Note that McAfee lists SpywareBlaster as incompatible, but UD must have a specially designed compatible version.

Thanks Galadriel!

rainbow_warrior
(recently kicked out of the study hall for not completing my homework)

Hello rainbow_warrior

So let me see if I have this straight. You are now using an XP computer that runs on 128MB of RAM. If that's not the case, then ignore the following...
Windows XP itself needs at a bare minimum 256MB to run well and 512MB to start getting comfortable. You will experience slow downs with nothing else but the OS installed at 128. So with that in mind....

The compatibility list is a joke if you ask me. Half the programs on that list will in no way affect McAfee. Two reasons for including some of the programs that are on the list. One, it's a corporate decision. Don't allow your competitors to work along side you. Two, some of those programs put blocks in the registry to prevent infection, like for instance SpywareBlaster and Spybot with their Immunize feature. These are often misunderstood by the Anti-Virus programs and flagged as malicious or probable threats. Thus resulting in false positives. I suppose McAfee doesn't want to have to deal with thousands and thousands of reports of those and is now refusing to install along side them.

As far as the firewall issue... To be perfectly honest, with that amount of RAM, it'll be difficult for you to find one that behaves well. The Windows Firewall, is not equal to ZA... far from it. It is quite limited in its capacity. It is however, better than nothing. I agree on that.

Spybot was always a bit resource hungry. I haven't tried 1.6 yet, but I can probably safely assume, it will be slow on 128MB of RAM. Can't advise you with regards to Ad-Aware, as I haven't touched it in years. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, shouldn't be a problem. It is an on demand scanner... I see no reason why you couldn't use it. If need be, disconnect from the internet after you update it, and disable McAfee before you scan. In fact, with that amount of RAM, you'll probably want to do that anyway for any scan. Free up the memory available to the computer, by turning off (quitting) any unnecessary process, so the scans can be performed better and faster.

Hope this somewhat helps you.

Sorry. It has 256 MB of RAM.

Well that's somewhat better, but still a bit low.

As far as upsides to McAfee vs. the various free options around.... I see none whatsoever.

Maybe it's the new spybot and not McAfee related, but the teatimer takes a while to settle down from 99% on restart, and also when starting programs.

The CPU is listed as Pentium 4, 1.80 GHz.

There have been numerous posts here about likely conflicts between multiple, good applications.
One of the obvious conflicts is any security product that, for instance, watches that the registry is not clobbered. Well, Spybot, IF, AND ONLY IF has the Teatimer enabled (a user option, a voluntary option) has to, MUST, conflict with such security application.

The original post does not specify what part of McAfee stuff is in the computer. Is it a firewall? Is it antivirus? is it antipyware? is it Site Advisor? Is it some sort of a big suite - if the last one, chances are the conflict MUST exist.

UD techs should have their heads examined if they suggest that the Windows firewall is better than ZA firewall. They must be kidding. Or go back to the university. Or back to the bleepingcomputer university to learn from.

It is identified as McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.0.0. I think it includes antivirus and antimalware but no firewall.

I don't notice a conflict with the teatimer so far, but when I ran SpybotSD 1.6, McAfee deleted two files of Spybot: Belt.ini and QuickBrowseNew.exe. I didn't disable the antivirus until Spybot was almost done and I noticed the deletions. Examining the McAfee console, I find no quarantine. Thus, I suppose the university has disabled the ability to restore deleted files. I think they will be easy enough to copy from another computer, but I am convinced I should reinstall Avast! and remove McAfee.

Another point is that when I disabled the antivirus, Windows Security didn't warn me. An override was in effect, as discovered by Spybot. I think it must be a separate override from the one which keeps Windows from telling you it doesn't recognize a firewall when you are using Zone Alarm, which is also detected by Spybot.

Most of what I find with Google says these two files are malware, but McAfee identifies them as belonging to Spybot S&D, and Spybot is what I just (re)installed. Does Spybot maybe add them as decoys to make the spyware think it is already installed? Then does McAfee identify them as malware by their names alone?

rainbow_warrior, on Jul 22 2008, 11:31 PM, said:

Can you give full path of those two files please? What makes you think they belong to Spybot?

I copied the following lines from the McAfee log, which show essentially the same info that was flahed in the alert:

7/22/2008 5:11:57 PM DAT version = 5344
7/22/2008 5:11:57 PM Number of virus signatures in EXTRA.DAT = None
7/22/2008 5:11:57 PM Names of viruses that EXTRA.DAT can detect = None
7/22/2008 5:50:24 PM Deleted HOME-Y1CKB12FY3\Owner SpybotSD.exe C:\WINDOWS\Belt.ini IPInsight (Potentially Unwanted Program)
7/22/2008 5:50:53 PM Deleted HOME-Y1CKB12FY3\Owner SpybotSD.exe C:\WINDOWS\QuickBrowserNew.exe Adware-180SA (Adware)

7/22/2008 11:03:01 PM Statistics:

Maybe it means that Spybot was the program accessing the files then. They could be traces of previously killed malware.