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Guide for completely removing McAfee

Anonymous
2023-02-12T06:56:48+00:00

Look no further if you are like me and have been stuck with leftover McAfee processes after running the uninstallers.

There are plenty of guides with canned answers from Microsoft that have done nothing but frustrate you; this is what you need to do.

This is a known solution for Windows 11 Pro 22H2 (Build 22621.1194). This should work on most supported Windows versions since Windows 7 with minor tweaks.

Disclaimer: My professional experience as a SysAdmin dates back to 2010, and my hobbyist experience dates back to 1998. I can only say that the solution below worked for me, and I will not be held liable if you mess up your computer. If you don't have a supplemental subscription Antivirus, I would not recommend removing the extra security.

Things You'll Need

Step 1 - Remove McAfee products from your computer using Windows

  1. Open Settings > Apps > Installed Apps
  2. Search the list for McAfee
  3. Next to each result, click the Elipsis (...) and click Uninstall You can reboot as prompted or reboot after all of them are done. If you run into problems, reboot, then try again.
  4. Feel free to run the MCPR tool; if it succeeds, you are finished; if not, continue to Step 2

Step 2 - Reboot and Disable Early Launch Anti-Malware Protection

  1. Open Settings > System > Recovery
  2. Next to Advanced Startup, click Restart Now
  3. Wait for reboot and select Troubleshoot at the Choose an option page
    At some point, you may be prompted to enter your BitLocker recovery key, be sure to have this on hand
  4. Select Startup Settings
  5. Select Restart (Yeah, this is redundant)
    You may be prompted to enter your BitLocker recovery key again because of the reboot
  6. Select the option that states Disable early launch anti-malware protection. If this option is not available, reboot into Safe Mode instead.
    Windows will start in the selected mode but will start normally when the computer is restarted again.

It would be best if you didn't run any browsers while you have early launch anti-malware protection disabled. Navigating the wrong site could easily hijack your real antivirus and create more significant problems.

Step 3 - Run the MCPR Tool

  1. Pretty straightforward; just run the MCPR tool. It will disable and remove any found McAfee services, prompting a reboot at the end.
  2. Reboot

Step 4 - Remove Dangling Services/Files (If Needed/Optional)

  1. Open Services and check for any McAfee references
  2. If found, open CMD/PowerShell/Windows Terminal as an admin (Right click > run as Admin or Ctrl +Shift + Enter/Click)
  3. Get the service name from Services, Right click and choose Properties and grab the short name. (McAfee Access Protection is mcapexe)
  4. In the terminal window, type sc delete <short_name> (e.g, sc delete mcapexe)
  5. If you run into errors, the product wasn't entirely removed, and you may try Step 2 again.

I can offer assistance if this doesn't work but don't expect a quick or accurate response for your situation. You may have a faster and more accurate response from McAfee Support. 🍻

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Security and privacy

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-10-30T18:17:09+00:00

    Microsoft's Boot Time Protection is the reason why the removal tool is not functioning as expected. This feature is designed to prevent malware from taking over and disabling your antivirus software.

    Unfortunately, it is also affecting the removal tool. My best guess is that Boot Time Protection checks the SHA/MD5 hash between the original McAfee installer and the uninstaller program. Since the removal tool is a separate application, it doesn't share the same hash and is blocked by Boot Time Protection. This requires you to boot into a less secure environment to remove the remaining McAfee pieces that most likely correlate to the scanning and quarantine functions of the software.

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2024-03-20T22:25:49+00:00

    McAfee and Norton are the two biggest pains on brand new OEM hardware.

    Throwing this in here for first time computer buyers - when you log into Windows for the first time, don't bother with just uninstalling McAfee. I recommend clean installation of Windows instead using a Microsoft provided image.

    Download Windows 11 (microsoft.com)

    Plenty of tutorials on YouTube and elsewhere to walk you through the process. It's simple and effectively removes everything but the core operating system.

    10 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-11T22:11:59+00:00

    Using the tool is a lot easier than doing it manually. In some cases, you'd have to elevate to the system user to remove parts of the application.

    I've been professionally working in IT since 2010 and go back to Windows 3.1 in non-professional experience. It's not worth the hassle to clear out all of the registry settings, and you're still left with certain items you can't remove because of Microsoft's Boot Time Protection. You'd still need to reboot into safe mode disabling early launch malware protection.

    I understand why you think that using a tool made by the same people is a bad idea, but they understand how the application is designed and how to remove all of the pieces. The tool works great, but the issue stems from Microsoft's security features.

    9 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2023-10-09T21:38:20+00:00

    WHY is this so difficult.....to prevent? AND remove?

    Maybe update the instructions???

    Step 2

    3.5 Select Advanced Options

    5 Addendum: This is a timed screen. Wait too long (>30 sec??) and you'll have to start over. The BitLocker Recovery screen provides a hint as to which key is needed if you have multiple keys as I did. BELOW (MS why not put this above the input box??) the input box is the Recovery key ID....match the first 8 characters (25-35? characters provided just to confuse) to the "Key ID" and use the related "Recovery Key"

    Seems very odd to use MCPR tool **** to remove with all this work.

    Total time ~45 minutes (1st attempt)...and unsuccessful.

    2nd attempt....unsuccessful (but only 15 minutes this time...does that count as [a] success?)

    8 people found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2023-06-27T03:18:34+00:00

    I did the first process but McAfee was not listed so I toggled everything that appeared to cause it and then I reset the device and when it came back on the popups did not load and it's been five minutes!

    Thanks!!!

    6 people found this answer helpful.
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