This is a curiosity question and not a problem (system working fine, touch wood), but here's what I'd like to know:

Last night, I started to download a free trial of a program called "McAfee Personal Firewall Plus." Then I changed my mind and decided to cancel the download part way through.

Today I cleared my temporary files (C:\Windows\TEMP) and deleted my temporary internet files (via options in Internet Explorer). But when I go into regedit and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\McAfee.com, I see a folder named Personal Firewall with a sub-folder named Installer.

Installer contains about 71 entries, most of which include the word "Log." For instance --

  • MPFLog000: "OnStartDownload ----------"
  • MPFLog056: "_OnFileBegin: Downloading Application Installer..."
  • MPFLog062: "OnDownloadCancelled ..."
  • MPFLog066: "OnDownloadDone ..."

Is it normal for all that to be there? I don't even have a McAfee.com folder or a Personal Firewall folder on my C drive. In fact, I don't have ANY McAfee software on my computer at all.

Now I don't know anything about the Registry; it's a mystery to me. I just want to know if I can do housekeeping and clean those entries out of there. Or is the Registry supposed to keep a log of everything I've downloaded -- even if it isn't used or installed?

Thanks experts.