Manual Uninstall of McAfee ActiveShield
IMPORTANT: Before beginning to manually remove this program from your computer make sure to backup the registry. This will safeguard your Windows 95 or Windows 98 installation. You can recover your Windows 95 or Windows 98 configuration by restoring the backup in the case that an error occurs after editing the registry.
Remove the ActiveShield Programs
1. Click the Start button.
2. Highlight Settings, then click Control Panel.
3. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
4. Double-click McAfee Clinic HTML Dialog Object in the list of installed programs.
5. Double-click McAfee ActiveShield and click the OK button. When you are prompted to reboot the computer, click the OK button again.
Remove the Files
1. Double-click on the My Computer icon on the desktop.
2. Double-click on the C: drive.
3. Double-click on the Windows folder.
4. Locate the MCBin folder and single-click on it so it is highlighted.
5. Press the Delete key on the keyboard to remove this folder.
6. Double-click on the Downloaded Program Files folder.
7. You will then see a listing of various components. Remove any components that begin with the word "McAfee" by individually right-clicking on the McAfee components, then left-clicking on Remove. Answer Yes to any prompts about removing these components. If you receive any error messages click the OK button then continue.
8. Close down all open windows until you are back on the desktop.
Backup the Registry
1. Click on the Start button, then on Run.
2. Type in REGEDIT and click the OK button. The Registry Editor will then appear.
3. Click on the Registry pull-down menu.
4. Click on Export Registry File. The Export Registry File dialog box will then appear.
5. In the line entitled File Name type "Backup" (without the quotation marks).
6. In the line entitled Save In be sure that Desktop is selected (if it is not, click on the down arrow next to the Save In line and select 'Desktop.')
7. Select "All" in the Export range groupbox by clicking on the corresponding radio button.
8. Click on the Save button.
9. Close the Registry Editor by clicking the X in the top right corner.
You now have a backup of your registry saved as "Backup" on your desktop. If an error occurs and you need to restore the registry you can double-click on the new file entitled "Backup" located on the desktop and the registry will be restored.
Edit the Registry
1. Click on the Start button.
2. Click on Run.
3. Type in REGEDIT then click the OK button. The Registry Editor will then appear.
4. On the left side of the screen double-click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
5. Then, double-click on SOFTWARE.
6. Locate the McAfee.com folder under SOFTWARE and single-click on it so it is highlighted.
7. Press the Delete key on the keyboard to remove the McAfee.com folder.
8. Double-click on the Microsoft folder.
9. Double-click on the Windows folder.
10. Double-click on the CurrentVersion folder.
11. Locate the Run folder and single-click on it so it is highlighted.
12. On the right side of the screen locate mgavrtclexe and single-click on it so it is highlighted.
13. Once mgavrtclexe is highlighted press the Delete key on the keyboard to remove this entry.
14. On the left side of the screen locate the RunServices folder and single-click on it so it is highlighted.
15. On the right side of the screen locate mgavrtclexe and single-click on it so it is highlighted.
16. Once mgavrtclexe is highlighted press the Delete key on the keyboard to remove this entry.
17. On the left side of the screen locate the Uninstall folder and double-click on it.
18. Locate the mgavrt folder under the Uninstall folder and single-click on it so it is highlighted.
19. Press the Delete key on the keyboard to remove this folder.
20. Close the Registry Editor by clicking the X in the top right corner.
Remove the McAfee ActiveShield Shortcut
1. Click on the Start button.
2. Highlight Settings then click on Taskbar & Start Menu. The Taskbar Properties dialog box will then appear.
3. Click on the Start Menu Programs tab.
4. Click on the Remove button. You will then see a list of several folders and shortcuts.
5. Locate the "McAfee ActiveShield" item and single-click on it so it is highlighted. The McAfee ActiveShield item will probably be listed towards the bottom.
6. Click the Remove button to remove this item.
7. Click the Close button followed by the OK button.
Restart your computer. The manual removal process of McAfee ActiveShield is now complete.
NOTE: Once the computer has restarted verify that your computer is working properly by opening various programs and doing familiar functions. When you can tell that all is running properly delete the Backup registry file you created earlier to avoid restoring the old registry by mistake. To delete the Backup registry file right-click on the "Backup" file on your desktop then click on Delete. Be careful not to double-click this file since that would restore the old registry entries you will have removed. If you accidentally double-click the file, you will need to follow the instructions on editing the registry again.
Cleaning the Registry after Uninstalling a McAfee Program
Repair the Registry
1. Click Start.
2. Click Run.
3. Type regedit and hit OK. This will bring up the registry editor window.
4. Make sure that "My Computer" in the folder list to the left is highlighted.
5. Hit CTRL+F to bring up the "Find" window.
6. In the "Find what" field, type mcafee and click Find Next. When the entry is found, it will show up highlighted.
7. Press delete and click "Yes" to confirm the deletion.
8. Hit F3 to search again.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until you get a dialog box saying "Finished searching through the registry."
10.Repeat steps 4-9 for:
vshinit
vshield
vshwin
virusscan
mghtml (You may find values for "imghtml," do not delete these.)
mgavrt (You may find values for "imgavrt," do not delete these.)
mcbin
Restart your computer. The manual removal process of McAfee ActiveShield is now complete.
NOTE: Once the computer has restarted verify that your computer is working properly by opening various programs and doing familiar functions. When you can tell that all is running properly delete the Backup registry file you created earlier to avoid restoring the old registry by mistake. To delete the Backup registry file right-click on the "Backup" file on your desktop then click on Delete. Be careful not to double-click this file since that would restore the old registry entries you will have removed. If you accidentally double-click the file, you will need to follow the instructions on editing the registry again.
Preparing Your PC for ActiveShield
Clean Out the Temp Folder
1. Double-click on the My Computer icon on the desktop.
2. Double-click on the C: drive.
3. Double-click on the Windows folder.
4. Double-click on the Temp folder.
5. Click on the Edit pull-down menu then click on Select All. All files in this folder should then be highlighted.
6. Verify that you are in the C:\Windows\Temp folder.
7. Press the Delete key on the keyboard.
8. Answer Yes to any prompts about deleting files.
NOTE: If you receive a message stating that a particular file could not be deleted then continue deleting the remaining files until as many files as possible have been deleted.
9. Close all open windows so you are back on the desktop.
Resolving Cookie Problems
A Cookie is a tiny piece of information that a web site stores on your computer to prove to the web site who you are. If your system is saving a cookie from McAfee.com Clinic or McAfee.com Personal Firewall from a previous log in under another e-mail address this could cause an error when you try to access your Clinic or Firewall subscription.
1. Open your Windows Explorer by clicking on Start, then Programs, then Windows Explorer.
2. Locate the directory, or folder, named Windows. Click on the + beside it.
3. Locate the directory named Cookies within the Windows directory. Click on it once to highlight it.
4. On the menu bar, click Tools, then Find, then Files or Folders.
5. In the box that is labeled "Named," type in the word "mcafee" (without the quotes). Click the "Find Now" button. You will see that one or more files appears in the box at the bottom of the "Find" dialog box. Click on each one to highlight it, then delete each file.
6. Repeat step 5, this time searching for the word "clinic." Delete any files that are found.
7. Exit Windows Explorer.
8. Exit all browser windows that you have open.
9. If you have any Cookie Blocking Programs installed, they will need to be closed.
a) Hold down CTRL+ALT and hit DEL to bring up the Close Program dialog box.
b) Highlight a listed program other than Explorer and systray, then click End Task.
c) Repeat this process, ending all programs but these two: Explorer and systray.
10. Log back onto the internet and go to
http://www.mcafee.com. Log into your account by entering your subscribing e-mail address and password into the fields at the top of the screen and choose Login. Be sure to enter the correct e-mail address.
Adjusting Web Browser Settings
1. Run Internet Explorer.
2. Click on the Tools pull-down menu (View pull-down menu for Internet Explorer 4.0) and then click on Internet Options. The Internet Options dialog box will appear.
3. Click Delete Files under the Temporary Internet Files heading.
4. Leave the "Delete all offline content" box unchecked and hit OK.
5. Click on the Security tab.
6. Click on the Custom Level button. A scrollable list of security options will appear.
7. Go to the ActiveX Controls and Plug-Ins section and select Enable for each subcategory.
8. Go to the Cookies section and select Enable for each subcategory.
9. Go to the Downloads section and select Enable for each subcategory.
10.Click the OK button. Answer Yes to any prompts asking if you are sure.
11.Click the Apply button followed by the OK button.