Geek's Advice

McAfee Total Protection 2018 review

McAfee Total Protection is a premium antivirus that offers maximum security for computers running Windows or Mac OS X, also for smartphones and tablets. Total Protection pack ensures that your identity and privacy remain under ten locks. Users can choose how many devices they need to protect – 1, 5 or 10. Users interested in this software can test it with a 30-day trial and find out why this product has earned so many awards from independent antivirus test labs such as AV-Test or AV-Comparatives.

The software vendor gives 100% guarantee that the software or a McAfee expert can remove any virus or you will get your money back. Speaking of McAfee Total Protection features, you get quite a lot for the price you pay ($54.99-$59.99 per year for one device):

• Protection against malware and online threats. McAfee Antivirus technology does not only protect your device from malware including Trojans, ransomware, viruses, and other threats but also prevents them from spreading via your device.
• Safe Web Browsing. McAfee WebAdvisor secures your browsing sessions by identifying and blocking dangerous websites including phishing as well as malicious ones. On top of that, you will have access to search results’ ratings, so you will know which results are safe to explore. Finally, the software will make sure that your firewall and antivirus are enabled at all times.
• McAfee Shredder. This tool helps to instantly get rid of selected files or folders so that nobody could recover them in any way. Files deleted in the traditional way can be restored using a few tricks that more advanced users use. Stay protected and make files gone when you want them gone.
• Free Support. Contact security experts anytime via online chat or phone anytime you want.
• True Key™ by Intel Security. This password manager is an extra feature that helps to eliminate the hassle of passwords. It will store and protect all your passwords for you. You get five licenses to share with the household members that would cost you $99.95 if purchased separately.
• Anti-SPAM.
• Multi-Device. The license you purchase allows you to protect one device of your choice – be it a Mac, PC, smartphone or a tablet.
• McAfee Parental Controls. Create a filter for age-appropriate websites only and customize suitable content for your children. Also, secure their web-search experience and do not allow them to search for inappropriate information. Finally, limit the time they spend online and avoid unexpected changes to settings by using a password for parental controls’ settings.

That is a nice pack of features; however, if you are willing to protect more than one device, you can purchase a license for 5 devices (costs $89.99/year or $84.99/year during promotions) or 10 devices ($99.99/year, price during promotions can drop to $29.99 for the first year). Some sources say that the number 10 simply draws customers’ attention more effectively while actually you can secure an unlimited number of devices.

Opting for multi-device protection gives access to an additional feature known as File Lock. With this little extra, you can secure your private files by encrypting them and protecting them with a password. However, when you try this feature for the first time, you will be asked to answer three security questions. The number of selectable questions is short, and unfortunately, answers to some of these questions can be figured out by nosey scammers quite easily. Be creative or either use wrong answers on purpose.

Verdict for McAfee 2018

Pros

• McAfee Total Protection allows protecting any device you want, be it Android, iOS, Mac OS X, or Windows.
• You get five licenses for the True Key password manager, which would cost you an extra $99.95 if you bought them apart from the security software.
• Ability to encrypt files on the system and protect them from unauthorized modifications.

Cons

• So-so parental controls. Some experts describe them as ineffective and hard-to-use.
• Encryption of essential data can be broken by guessing the answers to security questions that seem to be too basic. Experienced hackers or scammers may find the right answers to these questions with ease by looking up for info about you online.
• Parental controls and anti-spam feature are available for Windows users only.

Installation and system requirements

McAfee Total Protection requires connection to the Internet and works with the following operating systems:

• Windows: 10, 8.1, 8, 7 (32/64 bit versions);
• Mac OS X 10.11 or higher;
• All Android smartphones and tablets 4.1 or higher;
• Apple iOS 9 or higher.

Speaking of hardware requirements, McAfee needs at least 2 GB RAM for Windows 7 or higher, also 500 MB of free drive space and at least 1 GHz processor.

The security product supports these browsers: IE 10.0 or later, Firefox, Chrome, Safari (on Apple devices only).

The ANTI-SPAM feature is compatible with the following email software: POP3 (Windows Mail, Outlook, Becky, Shuriken, Thunderbird, Netscape), MAPI (Outlook), Web (MSN/Hotmail or an account with IMAP/POP3 access). The ANTI-SPAM toolbar needs the following software to function: Microsoft Outlook 2007/2013/2016, Thunderbird 38.0 or higher, or other POP3 email clients without SSL and web accounts.

How to install McAfee software on Windows:

1. Download the installer and launch it. You can find McAfee Total Protection download link on the official McAfee page.
2. Follow instructions on your screen to install McAfee on your computer.
3. Restart your PC after installing the software.
4. You can now launch the antivirus and run the first system scan!

McAfee LiveSafe: get to know the difference

McAfee offers a variety of different options for users, and one of them is LiveSafe software, the ultimate antivirus for your computer. At first sight, it shares many features with Total Protection software; however, there are some differences between these two.

• Secure Cloud Storage (Personal Locker). McAfee LiveSafe provides 1 GB of secured cloud storage for your files. It uses biometric authentification.
• No-limit for devices you want to protect. No matter how many devices you have in your household, the ultimate antivirus will protect all of them.

The price of LiveSafe is between $94.99-$99.99, but you can catch an even better deal during seasonal promotions. For this price, you can protect as many Windows/Mac/iOS/Android devices as you want.

Norbert Webb

Norbert Webb is the head of Geek’s Advice team. He is the chief editor of the website who controls the quality of content published. The man also loves reading cybersecurity news, testing new software and sharing his insights on them. Norbert says that following his passion for information technology was one of the best decisions he has ever made. “I don’t feel like working while I’m doing something I love.” However, the geek has other interests, such as snowboarding and traveling.