Software : McAfee Internet Security Suite 2008 (3 User Edition) (PC)

Rating: - Hard to install but works ok
Im not an expert on internet security. Like many others on here I treid norton- wasnt at all impressed. Then I moved on to free ones like panda and avast .The avast seems to be doing an ok job but like many Im always looking for something better.
I was really keen to install McAfee and decided to install it in my laptop as It is newer and I thought it would be easier.
Heck I was really wrong. It took HOURS to install it. First it wants to know if I wanted to load the disc or connect to the internet for a download. It said the download was the best method as it would mean I would need fewer updates. Taking its advice I opted for the download. It failed to mention it takes about 1 and a half hours !
After which time it said it couldnt load the package as I have another firewall installed. Well I dont I had cleared out my old anti- virus before installing this .It ended up taking 4 hours before I got it installed and it froze twice on me .
In the end I had to choose customn install and untock the firewall as it still keeped sayiong I have one installed.
Not excatily high protection if I have no firewall.
So far its running ok but again it takes forever to do a scan .
As for the applications it says it covers to be honest I dont really see the need for many of them as many of the packages I have on my computer already cover these -
parental controls ( have with my internet service provider ),
pc tune up ( this is the defrag part on your computer tht we all have )
email scanner & adware ( again covered by my internet supplier )
While the mcafee site advisor pops up all the time and never really seems to leave me any wiser why.
So overall its ok as it doesnt seem to slow my pc down 9 now its installed ).
However imdreading installing it on my main computer and probably have not been so impressed by it to do so.So overall its ok but a horror to install and really Im unsure if its worth the effort.

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Rating: - Not suite, but sour
This product takes an age to install though it is simple enough. It requires only that the user confirms that s/he wishes to proceed through the various stages over about half an hour. All the components -- anti-virus, firewall, privacy, SiteAdvisor, etc. -- installed on my system though possibly at the expense of processing speed! Everything took many times longer to load on my system! So I deleted all the programmes but SiteAdvisor, Virus Scan and Privacy Service, and used the defragmenting facility and things seem to have speeded up again. The disk space more than halved from 87MB to 31MB.

However, all these negatives aside, this package does provide peace of mind. There are too many scare stories about the internet and attacks through bogus websites to be complacent about security. I particularly like the SiteAdvisor facility which tells you whether websites are safe to use or not. You should probably only buy this if you have a new computer that can handle the drain on its performance or if you have the patience of a saint! As for me, I'll invest in a stress ball to keep near my machine as without it there's a good chance that it may be in many pieces before the week's end.

Update:

That's it. It's been barely two weeks since I installed this 'security suite' and my system has all but ground to a halt. Two minutes to load a web page? Three minutes to open my email facility? Not to view an email, just to open the system. To actually select an email to view will be another couple of minutes. This 'suite' -- or 'sour' as I have since renamed it -- is a joke. It's so INTRUSTIVE. A good security package should work quietly in the background without the user noticing it. This behemoth is PARASITIC. It drains the processing power. It seems to run a full scan nearly every day on its own initiative. So I have to stop what I'm doing for half an hour. What is all that about? SYMANTEC is MUCH better. I hardly noticed I had it. And Windows Defender.

Avoid this product unless you are a Bond villain with a supercomputer. I have uninstalled it ALL and my system is back to normal.

PS: My new rating is 1 STAR but Amazon won't allow me to edit the star rating. It must be against the rules. (I can't be bothered to delete the review to start all over again.)

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Rating: - Lots of tools...but do you really need them?
This software was easy to install, it just got on with it with out giving you too many options, which is always good.

You get a lot of functions too, more than I had on my old software (Norton), but a lot of them I don't think I'll ever use. Take for example the disc defragment option - why do I need it in the security suite, I already have it in system tools on the start menu! I don't like the security centre either. Norton's, in comparison, is quicker and easier to navigate (and yellow is much nicer than black and grey, although I don't suppose colour is really important!).

It seems very slow to scan too. Whilst it doesn't seem to be draining performance (I can still get on with all my normal tasks while its scanning), the speed is a pain. I feel like I have to leave it on just to let it finish scanning because I don't spend long periods on the computer normally.

I can't really comment on its ability to protect me from viruses etc because that is the sort of thing that it just does quietly in the background.

All in all it is good as far as security software goes, but because it has only scanned 80k files in an hour I wouldn't give it a glowing recommendation. If you want my advice, go for Norton.

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Rating: - Quick & easy!
I'm alway's a little worried when installing anything on my computer that says it will protect it. This is usually because as with most products I've used in the past, the software decides to stop connecting to the internet and blocks other programs the computer uses.

However I was very pleased to find that the McAfee Internet Security Suite 2008 did not cause any of these issues. It was very easy to install, there was only a few screens that required my attention, the rest was done automatically.

The control centre is very well laid out, allowing you to easily click into the area you require. The parental control area is very easy to use and will be of benefit to most parents who have limited computer knowledge as everything is explained on screen.

I'm using Microsoft Vista and there was no software conflicts at any point so Vista users can be assured that this is fully operational on their system.

In all a very well put together program taking the fuss out of internet security and presenting an easy to use menu system for the novice user.

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Rating: - Does the job but Kaspersky is better
I have used Norton for many years but have switched to Kaspersky on my other PCs , however I got McAfee bundled with a new PC and as anti virus software is notoriously difficult to fully remove from a system I decided to stick with it. Most of the known security packages offer similar levels of functionality and security so for me the most important aspects are:

How much does it cost? A lot more than kaspersky.
How easy is it to use? Very poor interface and not intuitive.
What impact does it have on my PC's performance? I have a quad core machine and have been told by support engineers that it significantly effects performance.
How intrusive is it? Depends on how you configure it so no major problems.

So my general impressions is that its ok but not a patch on Kaspersky in terms of usability, cost and performance therefore I cannot recommend this product above Kaspersky, however if you get it bundled with your PC then stick with it for a while and see what you think. Having said this, it is still much better than Norton.