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McAfee - International Users

McAfee • Rebates • Renewals • "Free trial" • Security Suite • Spamkiller • VirusScan • International incidents

David of Chessington, Surrey, U.K. (12/20/03):
I have subscribed to McAfee virus protection for several years and found it to be an excellent product. I had 2 subscriptions. I was able to update from their web site without trouble and it certainly kept my machine clean. This year they made changes to their web site so that it was possible to update from some countries but not from others (I travel a lot) I cancelled one subscription as it simply did not work. They appear to have fixed that problem now.

However they have now introduced a system of verification that works in some countries but not in others. Quite rightly they wish to check to see that legitimate copies of their software are being used. Unforunately this system turns off virus protection while it checks and is unable to respond to a successful check by turning it back on again. Their program has, in fact, become a virus, as it interferes with the operation of your machine by constantly demanding verification, successfully verfiying, then demanding verification in an endless loop. I have received replies from requests for help but they appear to be using part-time students who do not read the record of the problem and simply provide solutions to problems that I don't have. It feels like you are interacting with a computer - it is that dumb.

I have tried to point out that taking money for a service period and then unilaterally withdrawing that service for no apparent reason, would be considered theft in most places but this does not seem to worry them. I feel that they have moved from being one of the finest, if not the finest Virus protection company in the world, to being a bunch of irresponsible cowboys making untested programming changes that are worse than viruses in the way that they work.

They also take no responsibility for their product. I am just a one man band and I am glad I am not a corporate body, I would have gone into meltdown mode by now. My machine with all its data is open to virus attack not because of a failure in their product but because their product has been disabled by the company itself. This is deliberate damage to my intellectual property stored on my machine.

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