Customer Reviews
Better than no protection, but not perfect 
2008-07-11
First of all, I didn't run McAfee Total Protection through a long battery of tests. I threw no viruses at the product, nor did I purposely try to crash it. I used it as a normal user. It didn't crash and it seemed to be doing a fair, but not excellent job of keeping away the things I expect it to keep away.
It installed easily and doesn't require a lot of manual maintenance. It has blocked a few "dangerous" web sites which I suppose is a good thing.
Here's the rub - I receive more than 300 emails daily. 90%+ are spam. My main desire from a product of this nature is that it block spam. McAfee did a better job than both Kaspersky and Norton in this respect, but it is still lacking. When I use the trainer buttons to indicate that a product is spam, I expect that the product, and similar spams, will never again appear in my in-box. McAfee does not deliver in this matter. While I probably receive an 85% percent spam reduction, I probably still have to spend 2-3 minutes a day manually adding spam to the "this is spam" button. That's fairly irritating. Other than that, I feel protected by the product.
Secure Enough 
2008-07-10
Having used several security products over the years with varying levels of success, I was a sceptic. However, my husband and I installed the McAfee Total Protection 2008 security on our individual, office computers and we were pleased with the features offered. Being somewhat computer challenged I was unsure what the product offered. My husband on the other hand who has a degree in Computer Mechanics raved about the program and recommended it highly to other users. The three user capability was also a built-in bonus. I highly recommend the use of the McAfee Total Protect 2008 programs to all computer users.
Angelia Vernon Menchan
OMG-what happended??? 
2008-07-10
It is difficult to determine how effective this product isin the short term as far as keeping my computer "healthy:, as stated. BUT it is not difficult to see how this has slowed down my computer. I cannot believe how much time is wasted. There are frequent McAfee downloads, many of which prevent simultaneous work on the computer. I am not happy to be in the middle of something and have to wait for a current download to complete itself. I am removing this from my computer!
Not so much a good deal.. 2008-07-10
I waited for a bit to install this program because 'Thankfully' my subscription to Norton was soon running out. That was a nightmare. I was hoping this would be an easy, and certainly better, alternative.
However, I ran into problems getting this program to load onto my computer. After multiple failed attempts, I decided to check out the reviews. (I had not read them online since I got this through the Vine program and having used McAfee on my computer-before-this-one and having been pleased with it, I was confident in McAfee). Better late than never to check what others had to say I guess.
After I read how many users complained about their computers being slowed down, I was just as happy not to have had the installation work. Slowing down and interfering with your programs is a real problem, just one of many, with Norton. Also, Norton has a very ineffective customer service program, and from reading the reviews, this McAfee program would not have been an improvement.
I definitely did not want to sign up for an automatic deduction, since I just had a problem getting my a/d with Norton cancelled.
So finally I gave up on trying to load this McAfee program and decided to sign up with a competing online product and have had no problems.
I know, I know, this wasn't really a proper review of this particular product, more like a review of the reviews of this product. Since I was eager and happy to have this McAfee program and then couldn't get it to load anyway, I guess that really should have been the end of my review. Unfortunately couldn't resist adding a few more details.
AV(ery)G(lad) computer-user to no longer have McAfee or Norton.
Finally Useful Protection 2008-07-01
McAfee Total Protection is the easy it program to use to keep your computer safe from viruses and a few more things. It checks every website before you can access it. If there is some kind of suspicious activity, it will not allow you to proceed. However, you have the options of turning off the protection, so that you can go ahead to the site.
I've had no problem with this program whatsoever, and this is coming from a person who is not very computer savvy. But you don't have to be computer savvy to realize that the computer is running as it should and not taking forever to navigate different sites.
The other thing really great about this program is the fact you are allowed to protect three computers with the one cd.
I recommend McAfee Total Protection 2008 to everyone who frequents the internet or even a person who simply receives plenty of emails. It will protect your computer from SPAM and viruses coming through your various email contacts.
Good Protection 
2008-07-17
It's hard to review security software, since when it does its job you (ideally) don't notice it. I have had no problems using McAfee Total Protection on my Windows Vista computer, and that's all I can really ask of it. It was easy to install, it's easy to use, and it hasn't caused my computer to crash so far.
Where, oh where? 2008-07-17
Sheesh, comes time to review and you still can't find the installation diskette!
Will update review after I've had some time with the product ...
Does The Job, But Only Average Product Overall 2008-07-17
Let's say that your computer has no protection suite and you have never used a competitor's product, you will probably never know the difference and your system will be adequately protected from the worst scum of the universe. That is probably the strongest recommendation that I can bring myself to give for this suite.
I will start with the good on this review, because there is not really that much to say. The product installs easily (remember to uninstall any competitor's product before trying the install of McAfee Total Protection, it will remind you if you have forgotten). Configuration is not difficult and the included products are pretty extensive (read the product description above, it has nearly everything you could hope for in protective software). That, however, pretty well sums up the good stuff.
On the flip side, after installing, I found that the boot time on my dual core Centrino system with 4GB memory, increased by minutes over the 10-20 seconds that I had come to expect with Norton 360 installed. I also had trouble registering the product even after multiple manual attempts. Online support was relatively helpless to help me resolve this problem, at least the first line team. I was eventually bumped to the true technical help (after first being advised to call the fee based help line). At this point the registration completed successfully. Throughout the process McAfee Total Protection had been advising me of new products that I might be interested in (remember those popup windows browsers used to display before popup blockers? Yeah, you get the picture). This required another online help session to turn off that setting on McAfee's end (I was informed that this is a user selectable option, but once it is set, the user cannot change the setting, only McAfee can change it).
All in all, after a couple of days, I uninstalled the suite and reinstalled Norton 360. Boot time is back to what I expect and I do not see any unreasonable slowdowns or spurious alerts messages advertising products. I still prefer Norton Internet Security for the ease of non-standard configuration, but I can wait until after this year's subscription expires to make the change. P-)
Solid protection, SiteAdvisor a bright spot 2008-07-15
McAfee is one of the two top providers of protection software for the PC and this latest package is ambitious as anything they've ever done. Long gone are the days when they just put an anti-virus program on the shelf, this suite includes a firewall, backup options, spam filters, parental controls, and an advisor that warns you when you're visiting a web site known for activity such as tricking you into downloading adware.
In many respects, it's difficult for an individual to truly test a package like this because you're not going to slam your system with viruses and engage in all sorts of risky behavior just to see if the software protects you successfully or not. I can say that I have had no problems with the package and it appears to be doing its job. The feature that has been the most obvious helpful so far is the SiteAdvisor which warned me about sites offering free screensavers and similar come-ons to infect your computer with adware. It's also warned me that certain sites spam you with excessive emails if you sign up and has generally helped me stay clear of trouble. It does it in a fairly low-key way but is very helpful.
I gave up using anti-virus programs some years ago because I'm pretty careful about what I put on my machine and I simply couldn't stand the constant barrage of popup messages from the programs that were nothing but reminders that they were on my system. In effect, they were early forms of adware more annoying than some of the viruses they were there to protect me from. Thankfully, McAfee seems to have realized that this software should keep a low profile unless it has something useful to offer and I've been very satisfied with its performance so far. I would especially recommend the product to those who register with a lot of web sites or download a lot of material from the Internet (or friends).
It met our requirements - will it meet yours? 2008-07-12
We had an unprotected computer and we wanted some extra protection. Does this have all the bells and whistles for superior, top rate protection? I'd have to say No. But did it meet our needs? Absolutely.
What you get with this is solid protection against most viruses as well as decent security. It works for us and has for some time (that is why I waited to write this review, to give it some time). You can check on your computer's status, scan for viruses, get updates and fix issues. That is pretty much what many programs do. This one also does a decent job of keeping the Spam away as well and has some custom or optional features.
You'll have to decide if you want to pay more to get a more professional program or if you want a good and basic program which ought to provide reliable protection for you and up to 3 users. No one program is right for all users out there. But for a typical family who uses their computers daily this ought to work just fine. If you want or need more bells and whistles, you'll probably be disappointed.
Installation? It was quick and easy. Staying updated is easy too and we can decide how often we want our system checked. Nice, basic and maybe just what you need as well.
