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165485
January 8th, 2013 15:00
Windows 8 Action Center warnings that McAfee and Defender both are not turned on after Windows update.
In Dec 2012 after installing Microsoft Windows updates on my Windows 8 machine and rebooting, my system Action center icon gave 3 warning messages:
Spyware, Virus and Firewall not turned on.
When I was in the Action Center, it said both Windows Defender and McAfee were not turned on.
I ran Mcafee checks as well as Defender and it states my machine is free of virus's.
I clicked on Mcafee and it stated all were turned on.
I called Mcafee tech support and they did something in Dec 2012 and resolved the issue and none of the messages came on again. They did not just turn off the messages in Dec 2012, they did something, but wouldn't discuss what was done with me.
However, today, Jan 8/13 another set of Windows updates were installed from Microsoft and again, the 3 warning messages came on.
I called McAfee support again and stated that I didn't want to call each month when I install Windows updates to have them resolve the issue and that there is a bug with Windows 8 and McAfee.
I watched the tech from McAfee as he did remote support (I work in tech support as well) and all he did this time was to turn off the Action center messages, thinking that I ddin't realize he really wasn't fixing the problem.
I told him, I understand that it appears that McAfee is working properly, but I will not renew my Dell McAfee subscription this March/13 as this was not resolving anything...it's just turning the warning messages off. (I showed him that if I turn the message on, the warnings were still there....he apparently was shocked that I knew what I was doing).
He said McAfee realizes there is an issue with Windows 8 and McAfee and are working on a fix.
The tech told me to get in touch with Dell and they would provide a fix.
This problem does not happen with my Alienware Windows 7 pc and the Windows 8 install I received is on my other Dell pc.
Can someone please tell me if there is a fix for this ?
I will not be renewing my McAfee subscription if this is the type of service that is going to be provided; I will go with another anti virus program.
thank you,
GGCAN
68 Posts
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January 8th, 2013 16:00
Same thing occurs with the error messages when waiting 10-15 mins.
Actually I had tried turning the UAC off as I saw the tech from McAfee do this in Dec 2012 as well and then reboot, but that didn't seem to solve it this time.
When I called the tech today at McAfee, we actually did what you stated, but it still came up with the errors.
Like I mentioned, McAfee seems to be protecting me, it's just a bother having to deal with these error messages.
I'm going to turn on Defender for now and try again tomorrow; hopefully it can resolve itself by then.
Even Defender is saying I'm ok, but the Action center seems to be screwed up.
I have a feeling Microsoft and McAfee don't work well together with Win 8....seems everything was fine before Windows 8.
It only started in Dec 2012...I've had Win 8 installed since day 1 when it went live and no hiccups.
ky331
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January 9th, 2013 06:00
My understanding is that Windows 8 is supposed to be "smart" when it comes to anti-virus programs:
1) Windows8 comes with Windows Defender pre-installed and activated.
2a) Windows8 monitors for the presence of another anti-virus (e.g., McAfee), and if it finds one --- with "current" signatures --- it will automatically disable Defender, so as to "defer" to the alternative program.
2b) likewise, if Windows8 detects that a third-party antivirus has been removed --- or has expired [i.e., gotten significantly out-of-date] --- it will automatically re-enable Defender.
In other words, Windows8 should ensure that it always be protected by an anti-virus program: either whatever the user [or OEM] chooses to install/use, or in the absence of an alternative user/OEM-choice, it defaults to Windows Defender.
Since you say that you've confirmed McAfee is actively securing your system, by what I've just written, hopefully Windows Defender would [automatically] be disabled when you go to check it out... and moreover, if you attempt to enable it, it should automatically disable itself [so as to defer to your running McAfee].
Of course, all this depends on proper communication between the programs. If such communication goes through the WMI Repository, and if the repository has been corrupted [or its service disabled], then there will be a communications failure, resulting in unwanted behavior.
REMARKS:
1) It is important to distinguish Windows Defender on Win 8 --- which is a full anti-VIRUS product --- from Windows Defender on Win 7/Vista/XP: in these latter cases, it's "merely" an anti-spyware program.
2) The automatic enabling/disabling of Windows Defender as the default anti-virus is a new feature of Windows 8 [but not of previous versions of Windows].
GGCAN
68 Posts
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January 9th, 2013 14:00
Actually, I didn't have 2 running at the same time.
Only Windows Defender was running yesterday when I mentioned I turned it on.
I had already removed McAfee yesterday and reinstalled it and it didn't solve the problem.
I don't want to turn the messages off and that was what the McAfee tech support person did as well. I want them on in case a warning comes up that I may not want to execute.
I left it this way overnight and today I rebooted my system and shut off Windows Defender and restarted McAfee again.
This time, I did not get the Action center warning messages...they all cleared.
However, when I checked within Computer Management console and my System reliability, I did see that the McAfee Service Host had abended around the same time that the Windows updates had installed and I'm guessing that may have been the problem. (This happened in Dec 2012 right after the Microsoft Windows updates installed as well) See below picture.
My guess is that Windows 8 (Defender) and McAfee are competing here or not recognizing that McAfee should be in control.....Seems it takes a while before it resets itself.
And it seems the warning messages within Action Center were indeed correct, due to the abend with McAfee pictured below, even though McAfee software was saying it was fine.
Thanks for the suggestions people supplied above.
My system is again working.