As most of you all already know that McAfee is one of the best anti virus software companies in the world, it becomes just as obvious that the website deals with the softwares and the customer support regarding the viruses, spywares and other malwares that pose as a threat to the user, which normally results in his PC crashing, slowdowns, etc. McAfee is known to design one of the best security tools available for a computer but then again, there are times when the users are not able to figure out some aspects about the products offered by McAfee which is exactly where the www.mcafeehelp.com comes into picture.

The help center is perfectly designed into three categories such as the virus removal assistance, technical support and of course the customer service. But what exactly is the difference between the technical support and the customer support? Well, for starters, the technical support deals with the installation and the uninstallation problems faced by the users, downloading issues, any error messages if ever encountered, etc. Then there is the customer support which mainly deals with the non technical questions like registration queries, account information, refunds, sales, etc. And then there is the virus removal support center which obviously helps out the users in areas relating to virus detection, virus removal and controlled virus removal which is all assisted by the agents of the website.

Apart from the customer assistance provided by the McAfee website, it also provides a link for the community forums where the users can interact with each other. The forum would consist of various threads like some common Q&A about the McAfee products and services, the FAQs, news about new threats about viruses, spywares and other malwares. These forums also consist some methods of virus removal which the users have found to be more effective than going through the complex methods.

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It’s rare for a large company like TrendMicro to offer freebie software which could potentially harm its own sales. But in House Call, they’ve released an anti-Virus utility which is almost as effective as their much heralded PC-cillin suite.

The utility is free to download, and TrendMicro has surely released it as an incentive for users to eventually upgrade to the PC-cillin package. The only trouble is, they’re giving a lot away for free. So much, in fact, those users might be tempted to stick with what they know works.

House Call is extremely efficient at what it does. Sitting on the user’s operating system, it acts as a barrier between the local hard drive and harmful viruses which a user might encounter on the web. Not only does it protect from online dangers, but it has scanning facilities to detect and destroy Trojans and worms that are already in place on the system.

The first thing you’ll notice about House Call - after the quick download - is the intuitive interface. It’s very simple to navigate between the various settings and even novice users will find the information that they need. House Call looks to break away from the complexities that can arise with some of the more comprehensive anti-Virus suites on the market. It keeps things simple and makes no effort to be more than it is.

When you install HouseCall for the first time, you’ll be asked to download a plug-in for your web browser. The plug-in allows the software to scan your system’s memory and it will also search for harmful files in any storage disks that you have attached. One of the features which distinguish House Call over its premium rivals is the support for virus definitions.

House Call keeps an online virus database which the software connects to and automatically transfers every time there are new additions. The benefits of this are obvious. When you purchase packages like Norton, or indeed PC-cillin, you have to make a constant effort to stay on top of new sophisticated threats. This means connecting your application and manually searching for new fixes. While the software is usually better equipped to tackle such viruses, how many of us actually check for new updates every day?

You don’t need to worry about manually updating House Call. It looks after itself. You can carry on browsing the Internet, and the software will quietly make upgrades as new definitions become available. If you encounter a virus or a file without the required certificate, House Call will pop up and offer you options for how to deal with the file.

Of course, there’s a reason why House Call is free and PC-cillin isn’t. While HouseCall is more than capable of dealing with the most basic threats, it will openly let you know if it detects a virus which it doesn’t have a fix for. On top of that, you’ll be referred to PC-cillin. So it’s clear to see how TrendMicro are hoping to make their money, but to be fair, we found that most of the viruses you’d expect to encounter are dealt with efficiently by this free utility. Trojans and worms can be eliminated, along with spyware and bundled adware which we could all do without.

House Call offers a helpful “Auto Clean” feature which will automatically filter through the files on a webpage – or your local system if stated – and get rid of threats. It’s particularly good at detecting security issues in embedded code.

Sometimes the software can be a little over-protective in denying access to pages which are poorly coded rather than designed with malicious intent. But this is easily fixable can be toggled on and off as you please.

Better yet, the utility will offer step by step advice for eliminating threats which the software isn’t fit to deal with on its own. This is a nice addition and with the database of virus definitions being constantly updated, you can usually get a solution for most security issues.

Of course, many experienced users will opt for the widely praised PC-cillin as their anti-virus package of choice. And if you have the money, we certainly wouldn’t deem that unwise. But if you’re interested in anti-Virus protection – and you probably should be – House Call provides a brilliantly effective freeware solution. Head over to the Trend Micro website for more information, and a link to the download mirror.

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McAfee AVERT Stinger works as a stripped down virus removal utility. It comes without the sophisticated technology that the major anti-Virus programs use, but it’s also extremely effective at eliminating specific threats to your system.

When we say specific, we really mean specific. McAfee have made great strides to brand Stinger so that it’s not seen as a full anti-Virus suite. If you want comprehensive protection against the latest and obscurest threats, you should be looking at one of the more reputable suites.

However, where Stinger excels is in its ability to eliminate viruses that are already present on the system. When you buy a package an anti-Virus package, you normally do so with the intention of eliminating threats before they infect your system. On the contrary, Stinger is a problem solving software. You can use it when you know your computer is under attack, and the advanced scanning will be able to locate and correct the problem more often than not.

McAfee has taken a different approach to fighting the problem of malicious users on the Internet. Instead of releasing a single package – or building a moat around the castle – they’ve opted to release separate “Stingers” which are specifically designed to remove viruses as and when they are discovered. The upside is that the removal process has a much higher success ratio.

By catering for individual threats, McAfee can offer sophisticated technology which targets specific attacks. This is why you should only really be considering the AVERT Stinger if you know that you’ve got a problem, and simply can’t work out how to fix it.

For example, if you know that you’ve got a W32/Polip infection, yet your current anti-Virus software isn’t capable of removing it, you can log on to the McAfee website and download a targeted stinger called, quite appropriately, the Stinger W32/Polip. This small stand-alone utility can be utilized to remove that one particular virus.

Of course, it won’t remove any other problems that you have. This is why it’s still vitally important to have a good scanning suite installed. The general Stinger application comes with a list of Viruses that it has definitions of, but this is a much shorter list when you stack it up against the major anti-Virus programs on the market.

When you download then small setup file, you’ll be asked to select a location for installation (as per usual). Given the small nature of the utilities, they can be downloaded very quickly and you can be up and running in quick time. Upon opening the utility, you’ll notice a few basic options. There is a scan button, preferences and a virus list.

If you click on the virus list and see a sprawling page of threats, don’t worry. The list only explains what viruses the software is capable of removing. It’s not a results table of the viruses on your hard drive!

As far as virus removal tools go, the McAfee AVERT Stinger utility has made an excellent introduction on to the market. It shouldn’t be relied on as the one-stop for your anti-Virus needs. If you have found a virus and still haven’t managed to remove it, give the Stinger a go and take advantage of technology that has been carefully designed to tackle such threats when everything else seems to be failing!

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So, you have had your new computer for a few months now, and haven’t given much thought to all of those preloaded applications that were included with it. You felt confident that everything was perfect. And then it happens. Your McAfee Security Center tells you that the three month trial period has ended and it is time to pay up if you wish to continue receiving updates!

First you will need to open up a web browser and download the removal tool from here. Once you have been presented with the File Download window, select Save and save the file to any folder on the computer. Now you will need to navigate to the folder where the file is saved and double click on MCPR.exe. Now click on Run and a command line window will be displayed and then close on its own. Be patient when waiting for the command line window to be displayed as it may take a while and you do not want to open multiple instances of this program. Once the removal tool has finished running on your system, you will be asked to reboot the machine. Press Y on the keyboard and wait for your computer to restart. Once it has restarted you will notice that McAfee products have been removed from the system!

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