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

Sometimes un-installation of McAfee anti-virus program becomes a daunting task for a normal computer operator where they cannot remove it using Windows Add/Remove Program (in Windows XP) or Programs and Features (in Windows 7 or Vista). We if you have tried hand in un-installation of McAfee, you can obviously check the McAfee’s technical article where  they have mentioned how to do it using a tool named McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool (commonly known as MCPR.exe in tech community). It is always good to know that running the McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool (MCPR.exe) removes all 2005 - 2011 versions of McAfee consumer products, and will not run on Windows 98 or ME. However there are few mistakes that we usually do while using this tool is, we often do not try to deactivate the licenses before uninstalling McAfee products. It is important to remember that  you must uninstall McAfee product using the Windows software removal utility (Add/Remove Programs in XP, “Programs and Features” in Vista and Windows 7) before running MCPR. Failure to do so can result in the number of your licenses being incorrectly counted.

If you are cannot successfully uninstall using Windows Add/Remove Programs, or have already run MCPR without uninstalling, you can deactivate your machine so that McAfee knows that your license is no longer installed on your computer for use with a future install:

1. Open a web browser and go to http://home.mcafee.com.
2. Click My Account in the upper right corner.
3. Select the My Account option.
4. Type your McAfee user account and password.
5. If you want your browser to remember your password, ensure that you select the Remember Me option.
6. Click Log In.
7. Under the My Protection Products section, select the subscription from which you would like a license released.
8. Find the computer you want to deactivate and click Deactivate.
9. If you selected this machine in error, click Cancel.  Otherwise click Deactivate to proceed.
10. Once you have deactivated the license, uninstall your McAfee consumer products using Add/Remove Programs in the Windows Control Panel:

    Windows 7/Vista users
    

    • Click Start, Search, type Programs and Features, and click Go.
    • Double-click Programs and Features.
    • Select the McAfee SecurityCenter product.
    • Click Uninstall and follow the steps provided.

    Windows XP users

    • Click Start, Settings, Control Panel.
    • Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
    • Select the McAfee SecurityCenter product.
    • Click Remove and follow the steps provided.
    • Download the removal tool from http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe.
    • Click Save, and save the file to a folder on your computer.
    • Navigate to the folder where the file was saved.
    • Ensure that all McAfee windows are closed.
    • Double-click MCPR.exe to run the removal tool.

    NOTE: Windows 7 and Vista users must right-click MCPR.exe and select Run as Administrator to use it.

 

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