- You want to install a McAfee product such as LiveSafe or Total Protection on your Windows PC.
- You want to get your Windows PC ready for an installation of McAfee software.
NOTE: If you can’t install your McAfee software after following the advice in this article, contact Technical Support.
If you do have a problem installing your McAfee software on your PC, follow these steps in order and then try to install your software again. As you follow the steps, you might need to restart your PC. So, bookmark or favorite this article to get back to it quickly.
How to prepare your PC for installation
Perform steps 1 and 2 first, then try to install your McAfee software:
- Click Start on the lower left of your Windows desktop.
- In the search field:
- Type Windows update.
- Press Enter.
- Click Check for updates.
- Follow the prompts. Windows downloads and applies any important updates.
NOTE: You can also follow the steps in the Microsoft Windows Update FAQ.
For a list of incompatible third-party applications and how to remove them, see TS102253 – How to remove incompatible third-party applications.
If you still have a problem, perform these next steps
Steps 1 and 2 are all that you typically need to do to prepare your PC for installation of a McAfee product. If you still have a problem installing your product even after following steps 1 and 2, continue with steps 3 and 4, below:
To view and subscribe to more videos, visit the official McAfee YouTube channel.
- Download the Pre-Install Tool.
NOTE: Save the file to a temporary location, such as your desktop.
- Double-click the Pre-Install_Tool.exe file, and follow the prompts.
- Read the warning message, and click OK to agree to the changes.
- After the Preinstall Tool completes:
- Click OK.
- Click Close.
- Restart your computer.
IMPORTANT:
- Always download a new copy of MCPR before each use.
This ensures that you have the latest version, and that newer McAfee products can be successfully recognized. - MCPR cleans up only the components needed for reinstallation. It is not designed to clean up 100% of components.
- Completing this step requires a restart.
Before you start:
- Bookmark or favorite this article so that you can easily get back to it.
- Save all open files.
- Close all programs.
- Download the MCPR tool.
- Double-click MCPR.exe.
- If you see a security warning:
Click Yes, Continue, or Run (depending on your version of Windows):
- At the McAfee Software Removal screen:
- Click Next.
- Click Agree to accept the End User License Agreement (EULA).
- At the Security Validation screen:
- Type the characters exactly as shown on your screen. Validation is case-sensitive.
- Click Next. This step prevents the accidental use of MCPR.
- When the process is complete, you see one of the following messages. Click the one that you see.
- Restart your PC to complete the removal process.
IMPORTANT: When your PC restarts, it will not be protected from viruses and malware. Ensure that you reinstall your security software as soon as possible to remain protected.
- Restart your PC and run MCPR again.
- If you see Cleanup Unsuccessful again, ignore it.
- Restart your PC again.
- Attempt to reinstall your McAfee software.
If you are still unable to install:
- Click here to contact Technical Support.
- Let the agent know:
- MCPR produced a Cleanup Unsuccessful message.
- You are unable to reinstall your McAfee software.
After completing these steps, your PC is ready to install the McAfee software. To learn how to download and install, see TS100342 – How to download and install McAfee consumer products, or watch this video:
To view and subscribe to more videos, visit the official McAfee YouTube channel.
- Temporarily disable pop-up or ad blockers
If your browser has a pop-up blocker, temporarily disable it so it does not interfere with your installation.To disable your pop-up blocker, look in the Settings or Options menu of your browser. Remember to enable it again when your installation is complete.
- Run Windows Disk Defragmenter
Defragmenting your hard drives improves performance.NOTE: If you have a Solid-State Disk (SSD) instead of a mechanical (spinning) hard drive, you do not need to defragment it.
To run the defragmenter:
- Click Start on the lower left of your Windows desktop.
- In the search field, type defragment and press Enter.
- On Windows 10.x and 8.x: Click Defragment and Optimize drives.
- On Windows 7.x: Click Disk Defragmenter.