How to Prevent McAfee From Starting Up

By Richard Bashara

Your computer's startup folder may contain other programs.
i Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images

When a new program is installed on your machine, Windows sometimes adds an executable to your startup operation, depending on the default installation settings of the program. McAfee antivirus is set to open by default when your machine starts up, which could drain your system resources and increase your startup time. If you want to conserve resources, and you don’t need the protection McAfee gives you at startup, disable the program and your computer will run more smoothly when you reboot.

Press “Ctrl-Alt-Delete” on your computer keyboard to open your session manager, and select Windows Task Manager from the list.

Click “More Details” from the bottom left-hand side to extend Task Manager’s options.

Click the “Startup Tab” for a list of the programs your computer runs when Windows boots up.

Click on the process for McAfee, make sure that the process for McAfee is highlighted, and then click“Disable” at the bottom of the Task Manager window.

Open "My Computer."

Navigate to your startup folder located at:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

You can type or paste this address directly in the navigation bar at the top of your window.

Highlight the icon for McAfee, and delete it by pressing with the "Delete" key on your keyboard. Restart your computer when you have removed this application, and you will no longer see it boot with Windows.

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