How to Turn Off McAfee Without Deleting It

By Andrew Meer

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While your McAfee installation provides adequate protection against most forms of malware, it may also interrupt the installation of certain programs or detect false positives against applications that you already trust. You can manually turn off both McAfee’s Real-Time Scanning and Firewall features rather than deleting the entire McAfee application from your computer. When turning off McAfee, either configure the Real-Time Scanning and Firewall features to reactivate after a set amount of time or have them turned off indefinitely.

Step 1

Press “Windows-Q” to open the Search charm. Enter “McAfee” (without quotes) into the search box, and then press “Enter” to open your McAfee AntiVirus Plus, McAfee Internet Security or McAfee Total Protection installation.

Step 2

Click “Virus and Spyware Protection” on the McAfee main window. Next, click the option labeled “Real-Time Scanning,” then click “Turn Off.”

Step 3

Use the pull-down menu on the Turn Off pop-up box to select a time frame -- 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes or 60 minutes -- after which you want McAfee to resume Real-Time Scanning. If you want to turn off Real-Time Scanning indefinitely, select “Never” instead. Next, click “Turn Off" again, and then click “Done.”

Step 4

Click “Web and Email Protection” on the McAfee main window. Click the option labeled “Firewall,” then click “Turn Off.”

Step 5

Select a time frame after which you want the McAfee Firewall to resume, or select “Never” to turn it off indefinitely. Click “Turn Off" again, and finally click “Done.”

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