McAfee Webadvisor Extension

[Muse]

I use Firefox but am subscribed to New York Times online, which advises using Chrome. So, I installed Chrome, really just to read the NYTimes. I open Chrome this morning and a message pops up saying a different application has set up McAfee Webadvisor Extension for Chrome, do I want to enable it or not? The message said that it would alter my data within the browser and some other things. Before answering I scurry off to Firefox to do some investigating. I go back to Chrome and the message has disappeared. I close and reopen Chrome, but no such message appears. I go into Add/Remove Programs, and McAfee Webadvisor is there. Should I uninstall it?

 

[Iron Woode]

You probably got it from installing a something else and it piggy-backed it's way in.

Uninstall it if you want.

 

[Muse]

You probably got it from installing a something else and it piggy-backed it's way in.

Uninstall it if you want.

Maybe, or maybe it was preinstalled on this Lenovo P1 machine I got ~2 months ago (*OPEN BOX*). Anyway, pros and cons to keeping/removing? The stuff I read online confused me.

 

[Iron Woode]

You could either use Windows Defender or get a decent anti-virus program.

The free Mcaffee stuff is not good.

 

[Muse]

You could either use Windows Defender or get a decent anti-virus program.

The free Mcaffee stuff is not good.

I think Windows Defender was up and running by default and I haven't changed that. John McAfee has always struck me as a pretty shady fellow (remember all that stuff about him killing dogs on his island, can't remember the details). Strange guy. Anyway, I'm just going to remove the program, it may well do more harm than good. Don't know if it's acting across my several browsers, nut just Chrome (IE, Firefox, Edge).

 

[mindless1]

Yes it is probably an add-on for every browser you have, which it supports.

https://service.mcafee.com/webcenter/portal/cp/home/articleview?articleId=TS100862&lc=1033

It's likely that it just uses as current as possible (constantly updated) list of bad actors, phishing and malware sites and known malware downloads, to block your browser.

That should add a little latency to browsing unless it caches this list locally (then there is the update bandwidth if you are so limited) but is generally harmless unless it prevents you from doing something you want to do, for example if some site gets inappropriately flagged as "bad" but isn't.

It is somewhat redundant as similar functionality is built into Firefox and Chrome (probably others) but like antivirus, whoever gets their list updated for XYZ first, will be providing the most timely protection against new threats.

 

[UsandThem]

I think Windows Defender was up and running by default and I haven't changed that. John McAfee has always struck me as a pretty shady fellow (remember all that stuff about him killing dogs on his island, can't remember the details). Strange guy. Anyway, I'm just going to remove the program, it may well do more harm than good. Don't know if it's acting across my several browsers, nut just Chrome (IE, Firefox, Edge).

He hadn't been involved (outside of criticizing it and other crazy ramblings) with McAfee since he resigned in 1994.

The reason that company sucked so for so many years wasn't due to his involvement. In fact, the company was owned by Intel for many years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee

In August 2010, Intel bought McAfee, maintaining the separate branding, until January 2014, when it announced that McAfee-related products will be marketed as Intel Security. McAfee expressed his pleasure at the name change, saying, "I am now everlastingly grateful to Intel for freeing me from this terrible association with the worst software on the planet."