Do I really need McAfee on my new laptop?
August 22, 2019 12:04 PM Subscribe
I recently purchased a Lenovo ideapad 330. Ever since setup, McAfee popups have been trying to browbeat me into subscribing, but my understanding was that Lenovo 330s came with Windows Defender, but I'm not finding that when I search my computer? Suggestions?
Do I really need McAfee on my new laptop?
With or without WD, no, you do not.
posted by Melismata at 12:15 PM on August 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
With or without WD, no, you do not.
posted by Melismata at 12:15 PM on August 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
The first thing I do with any new PC is to check if McAfee or Norton are installed, then remove them. I've been doing a certain amount of tech support for friends and relatives for many years (as well as for work) and these two products cause more problems than any other I've encountered. implied_otter's advice is therefore seconded.
posted by pipeski at 12:41 PM on August 22, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by pipeski at 12:41 PM on August 22, 2019 [10 favorites]
McAfee is terrible. Kill it with prejudice.
Personally, I like Bitdefender (and Commodo firewall) enough that I actually shelled out money for it - my first paid antivirus ever.
posted by porpoise at 12:56 PM on August 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
Personally, I like Bitdefender (and Commodo firewall) enough that I actually shelled out money for it - my first paid antivirus ever.
posted by porpoise at 12:56 PM on August 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
John McAfee himself posted a video on how to remove it.
posted by Sophont at 1:05 PM on August 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Sophont at 1:05 PM on August 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Nope. And like others, I really like Windows Defender. And it routinely scores well (usually at the top) on av-test's scoring.
posted by deezil at 1:15 PM on August 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by deezil at 1:15 PM on August 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Windows Defender is sufficient for real-time protection and virus scans. If you want to get really paranoid, then you can pair it with Malwarebytes to do manual scans for the very small number of things that Defender doesn't cover.
All other third-party anti-virus software is a complete scam at this point.
posted by tobascodagama at 2:20 PM on August 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
All other third-party anti-virus software is a complete scam at this point.
posted by tobascodagama at 2:20 PM on August 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Read IT security blogs and listen to the SANS Internet Storm Center podcast.
You’ll be shocked how often antivirus and anti malware software is a source of some shockingly stupid vulnerabilities.
posted by shorstenbach at 2:42 PM on August 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
You’ll be shocked how often antivirus and anti malware software is a source of some shockingly stupid vulnerabilities.
posted by shorstenbach at 2:42 PM on August 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Hell no.
posted by spitbull at 4:10 PM on August 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by spitbull at 4:10 PM on August 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Best answer: By design, Defender is default in Windows and hides when other anti-virus programs are installed. When you uninstall, Defender comes out of hiding and goes to work. Combined with wise choices in where you browse/what email you open, Defender is more than adequate to protect your machine.
posted by lhauser at 6:56 PM on August 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by lhauser at 6:56 PM on August 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
The publishers of McAfee almost certainly paid Lenovo to include their software in the install image for your laptop -- Lenovo did not provide it out of the kindness of their heart and the McAfee publishers did it because they expected to extract money from you.
As others have said, get rid of it without the faintest hint of regret. It's there to attempt to extort money from you AND it's bad software on top of that.
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:22 PM on August 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
As others have said, get rid of it without the faintest hint of regret. It's there to attempt to extort money from you AND it's bad software on top of that.
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:22 PM on August 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
McAfee is terrible. Kill it with prejudice.
Couldn't agree more.
posted by Crystal Fox at 1:26 AM on August 23, 2019
Couldn't agree more.
posted by Crystal Fox at 1:26 AM on August 23, 2019
Nuke and pave. If your laptop came with McAfee preinstalled, it also came with a bunch of other bloatware you don't want or need. Doing a clean Windows 10 install is really easy these days, and you'll spare yourself an endless doomed quest to uninstall all the garbage.
And no, you don't need McAfee (nor any other AV apart from -- arguably -- Windows defender). Minimize your attack surface by not running program binaries from untrusted sources, and you'll be fine.
posted by sourcequench at 6:02 AM on August 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
And no, you don't need McAfee (nor any other AV apart from -- arguably -- Windows defender). Minimize your attack surface by not running program binaries from untrusted sources, and you'll be fine.
posted by sourcequench at 6:02 AM on August 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
FYI -- I use (and prefer) BitDefender (free version) and today I noticed that even with BitDefender installed and running, there is now an option to have Windows Defender scan periodically. It's probably overkill for most users, but just sharing.
posted by sm1tten at 2:28 PM on August 23, 2019
posted by sm1tten at 2:28 PM on August 23, 2019
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posted by implied_otter at 12:13 PM on August 22, 2019 [20 favorites]