How to uninstall or reinstall supported McAfee products using the Consumer Products Removal tool (MCPR)

Summary

Use the McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool (MCPR) to remove data completely for a McAfee Security product installation on a supported Windows operating system. The tool can clean up data from 2005 - 2013 versions of McAfee Security home user products for Windows.

NOTE: MCPR is not compatible with McAfee Anti-Theft (MAT) 2.0 and Intel Anti-Theft Service (IATS) 2.0. You must unsubscribe your Anti-Theft service before you run MCPR.

IMPORTANT: You must uninstall your McAfee products using the Windows Add/Remove Programs (Windows XP) or Programs and Features (Windows 7 and Windows Vista) before you run MCPR. Otherwise, the number of your licenses might be incorrectly counted.

If you cannot uninstall successfully using Windows Add/Remove Programs, or you have already run MCPR without uninstalling, you can access your McAfee account and deactivate the license for your computer to ensure that the license is released for a later installation. Do the following to deactivate a license from your current McAfee subscription and release the license for use with a different computer:

1. Open a web browser and go to http://home.mcafee.com.
2. Click My Account in the upper-right corner.
3. Type your McAfee user account email and password.
4. Click Log In.
   
   NOTE: If you want your browser to remember your email address, select the Remember Me option.
    
5. Select the computer you want to deactivate and click Deactivate.

Solution

IMPORTANT: If your McAfee products were preinstalled by your computer manufacturer, ensure that you activate your McAfee subscription before you uninstall them. Reinstalling from a CD or download only installs your McAfee home user applications, but might not recover your paid subscription term information. 

1. Uninstall your McAfee home user products using Add/Remove Programs in the Windows Control Panel:
   Windows 7 and Vista users
   1. Close all McAfee program windows.
   2. Click Start, Search, type Programs and Features, and click Go.
   3. Double-click Programs and Features.
   4. Select McAfee SecurityCenter.
   5. Click Uninstall and follow any on-screen prompts.

Windows XP users

1. Close all McAfee program windows.
2. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel.
3. Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
4. Select McAfee SecurityCenter.
5. Click Remove and follow any on-screen prompts.

2. Download and run the McAfee Consumer Product Removal (MCPR) tool:

1. Download the MCPR tool from: http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe and save it to a folder on your computer.
   
   IMPORTANT: The MCPR tool is updated periodically when new products and updates are released. Always download a new copy of the MCPR tool before using it to uninstall your product.
    
2. Navigate to the folder where you saved the file, and double-click MCPR.exe. 
   
   NOTE: Windows 7 and Windows users, right-click MCPR.exe, and select Run as Administrator.
    
3. When you see the User Account Control dialog box, click Yes.
4. At the McAfee Software Removal screen, click Next.
5. At the End User License Agreement (EULA) dialog box, click Next to accept the agreement.
6. When prompted, type the Captcha information, which is case sensitive, to validate to application security, and then click Next.

• If you have Family Protection installed, type your Administrator user name and password and click Next.
• If you cannot authenticate, follow the on-screen instructions to obtain an uninstall code. If you do not have Family Protection installed, you will not receive this authentication prompt.

7. When you see the message CleanUp Successful, restart your computer. Your McAfee product will not be fully removed until after the restart.

IMPORTANT: If you see the message Cleanup Unsuccessful, save your MCPR log files for analysis by Technical Support:

1. At the Cleanup Unsuccessful dialog box, click View Logs. Your troubleshooting log opens in a Notepad window.
2. Click File, Save As, and save the file to your Desktop. Name the file MCPR_date.txt (for example, MCPR_Jan10_12.txt).
3. Contact McAfee Technical Support and provide the log file to your technician for troubleshooting.
4. Confirm that all McAfee products have been removed from your computer.

3. Reinstall your McAfee products.
   NOTE: Refer to the instructions from the partner that you purchased your McAfee consumer product from, or reinstall using the following partner links:
   
   
   • If you purchased your software directly from McAfee, go to https://home.mcafee.com/Secure/Protected/Login.aspx to log in and download your software.
   • AT&T users, go to https://uversecentral1.att.com/uvp/myhome/mam/ISS/.
   • Cox users, go to http://www.cox.net.
   • DELL users, go to https://us.mcafee.com/root/login.asp?affid=105.
   • MSN users, go to http://membercenter.msn.com.
   • AOL users, search on keyword: Safety (http://daol.aol.com/safetycenter). On the AOL Safety & Security page, click Download Now.