Why is McAfee always preinstalled?

[MonkeySage]

I've always hated McAfee, and every time I boot up my computer, I'm reminded of why. They want me to renew the subscription I never asked for, and they slow down my start up. I try to uninstall it but then I have to restart my computer, after having just started it up.

And I'm apparently not the only one who feels this way. So why is it always pre installed?

[Silfir]

The McAfee company paid money to whoever made your laptop or desktop PC to include their software, plain and simple. It wasn't put there for your sake.

If you can, perform a clean reinstall from a regular Windows 10 disk or USB stick (which you can make yourself). At the very least, uninstall everything you don't need, though some bloatware can be particularly obnoxious.

The only consolation in all this nonsense is that your laptop or PC would've likely been $100 more expensive without the bloatware.

[factotum]

You have to uninstall it but then have to restart--you realise you only need to do that *once*, right? Seems like a very odd complaint--"Oh, I hate this piece of software, but I can't be bothered to remove it because I have to reboot my machine afterwards!".

[MonkeySage]

You underestimate my laziness. :P You're right though, it's an odd complaint.

[Peelee]

The only consolation in all this nonsense is that your laptop or PC would've likely been $100 more expensive without the bloatware.

I readily admit I am unfamiliar with how they price them, but the cynic in me assumess that the computer company line of thinking would be more along the lines of "Ok, so computer is $X00. McAfee pays a hundred dollars for every computer with their software on it. So, the consumer could buy the computer at $(X00 - 100), and we make the same regardless. Or, the consumer still pays $X00, and we pocket an extra $100 for every computer sold.

Hello consumer, your computer is $X00."

[Avilan the Grey]

Well let's see...
McAfee or Norton is preinstalled very often and requrie a restart to get rid of.

BUT so are:
All the useless Micrsoft apps.
(These days that also includes a number of mobile games like candy crush)
The "Get Office" crap
And a bunch more.

If I am already spending 10 minutes uninstalling stuff, Norton or McAfee does not add enough on there to be annoying.

[Telok]

There are some powershell scripts out on the web that will nuke most/all of the bloatware quickly and efficently. You can even get rid of the store to stop stuff from reinstalling.

[anjxed]

I readily admit I am unfamiliar with how they price them, but the cynic in me assumess that the computer company line of thinking would be more along the lines of "Ok, so computer is $X00. McAfee pays a hundred dollars for every computer with their software on it. So, the consumer could buy the computer at $(X00 - 100), and we make the same regardless. Or, the consumer still pays $X00, and we pocket an extra $100 for every computer sold.

Hello consumer, your computer is $X00."

And it's not just McAfee that pays the manufacturors. I think other companies pay the computer company too.
This only works if you don't have competitors doing the same thing else people will buy the cheaper laptop and then you lose market share. Even if people would want a laptop without bloatware well then, some people don't have enough money to spare.

[joggler45]

Uninstalling McAfee was one of the first I did when I got my new laptop. AVG is way better

[veti]

Huh? This PC, which I bought shortly before Windows 10 launched, came with nothing preinstalled. Not even Windows, I did that myself.

You don't like the crapware, buy a computer without it. Nobody's holding a gun to your head.

[GloatingSwine]

You should be restarting a modern Windows based computer regularly anyway.

Like at least weekly, if not daily.

Otherwise the cruft that builds up in the hibernation file will tank performance and cause all manner of misbehaviour.

Uninstalling McAfee was one of the first I did when I got my new laptop. AVG is way better

AVG couldn't catch cold in a blizzard.

Most consumer antivirus products are rubbish, they increase your threat surface for minimal to no protection. The best way to protect yourself is to keep your updates current (people who don't install updates are the antivaxxers of the computing world), have an adblocker installed, and get your porn from sites you trust.

[snowblizz]

, and get your porn from sites you trust.

Finally someone that gives honest, practical advice applicable in the real world!

[Hunter Noventa]

You don't like the crapware, buy a computer without it. Nobody's holding a gun to your head.

This isn't really an option with laptops unfortunately.

[Avilan the Grey]

AVG couldn't catch cold in a blizzard.

Most consumer antivirus products are rubbish, they increase your threat surface for minimal to no protection. The best way to protect yourself is to keep your updates current (people who don't install updates are the antivaxxers of the computing world), have an adblocker installed, and get your porn from sites you trust.

That's harsh. Their Anti-virus is still top notch. Their "Full Security Suite" leaves things lacking, but the anti-virus component is good. Far better than McAffee and up there with Norton or Avira.
Personally I am trying out Avast again; I am a supporter of Bit Defender normally but my wife got two viruses in three months. Not dangerous ones, just annoying.
So right now i am running the free Avast antivirus, which actually did beat Avira this year in tests coming up on top as the best anti-virus on the market (again, their "Full security suite" leaves things lacking so I'm not paying for it) and run Windows firewall with it.
I am combining this with a free DNS service that blocks weird behavior (known bad sites, suspicious sites and weird redirects) and of course the web security that comes with the free anti-virus.

A bonus with this setup is that the computer is quicker, since it usually is the other parts of a security suite (firewall etc) that really tanks the system. Windows "new" firewall (From Windows 7 onwards) is definitely good enough to really not need replacement and takes 0% extra system resources when turned on.

Anyway, we have had this discussion before.
The best way to protect yourself is to disconnect from the Internet and never install programs on your computer. If you insist on being on the internet, DO use a moder anti-virus software. And with that I mean a software that not only scan your files, but blocks questionable webpages, blocks suspicious programs, and other things that keep you from making a mistake to begin with.
It is very easy to say "well if you know what you are doing..." but that usually won't end well.