🛠️ How to Remove McAfee if It’s Stuck and Slowing Down Your Windows PC

Published 2025-10-02 • 5 views
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  🛠️ How to Remove McAfee if It’s Stuck and Slowing Down Your Windows PC

We’ve all been there: a computer that should feel fast but instead feels like it’s running through mud. One common culprit? McAfee Endpoint Security or other security suites that won’t shut off even if you try. Sometimes the uninstall gets blocked, the services refuse to stop, and it just keeps eating resources.

Here’s a practical, no-nonsense guide to get McAfee out of the way so your PC can breathe again.

  1. Try Normal Uninstall First

Open Control Panel → Programs and Features (or appwiz.cpl).

Look for McAfee Endpoint Security / McAfee Agent / McAfee LiveSafe.

Select → Uninstall.

If it works, great! Then, reboot and you’re done. If not, move to the heavier tools below:

  1. Boot Into Safe Mode

McAfee protects itself from removal when Windows is running normally. Safe Mode cuts most of that out.

Press Win+R, type:

msconfig

→ Enter.

Under Boot options, check Safe boot → Network.

Apply → OK → Restart.

(Or run: bcdedit /set {current} safeboot network and reboot.)

  1. Kill Services and Drivers

In Safe Mode, open an Administrator Command Prompt and run:

sc stop mfemms sc config mfemms start= disabled

sc stop mcshield sc config mcshield start= disabled

sc stop mfevtp sc config mfevtp start= disabled

These are the main McAfee services. If you get “Access Denied,” don’t worry — you have more options below.

  1. Use Sysinternals Autoruns

Microsoft’s Autoruns is a free power tool that shows every single thing that starts with Windows.

Download from Microsoft Sysinternals .

Run Autoruns64.exe as Administrator.

Go to the Services and Drivers tabs.

Uncheck anything starting with McAfee or mfe.

Switch to the Scheduled Tasks and Startup tabs → uncheck McAfee items there too.

This prevents it from re-launching.

  1. Delete Leftover Files

After disabling, remove leftover binaries:

Browse to:

C:\Program Files\McAfee C:\Program Files\Common Files\McAfee

Delete what you can. (Some may need a reboot before they unlock.)

  1. Reboot Normally

If you used msconfig or bcdedit to enter Safe Mode, undo it:

bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot

Restart into normal Windows.

At this point, McAfee should be inert. Your system should feel faster, with CPU and memory no longer chewed up by background scanners.

  1. Optional: Run the McAfee Removal Tool (Not tested, and not really trusted)

As a cleanup step, download and run MCPR (McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool) from McAfee’s official site. It removes hidden registry entries and ensures services don’t come back.

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