McAfee Total Protection

With the release of McAfee Total Protection, code-named Falcon, McAfee takes on Microsoft's Live OneCare by offering a complete suite of security and system-maintenance tools that is superior to the Microsoft product. Unlike OneCare, McAfee Total Protection offers Wi-Fi network setup and protection (something Microsoft doesn't offer), online backup (Microsoft currently only offers CD and DVD backups), parental controls (there are none in OneCare), and the ability to shred deleted documents securely (Microsoft doesn't offer this, either). For an inside look, see our McAfee Total Protection beta slide show.

In the past, we've complained about the superfluous McAfee SecurityCenter, an additional window that contained the configuration settings independent of applications such as McAfee VirusScan. In McAfee Total Protection, everything is contained within one window, à la the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite. The redesigned McAfee SecurityCenter allows you to execute scans and dig deeper to configure those scans to your liking.

McAfee uses an increasingly standard color system to inform you when your system is safe (green), not so safe (yellow), and in need to repair (red). For example, if your antispyware has been disabled, the system status turns red. To fix it, McAfee offers a one-click solution. If you turn off the privacy protection, the system status turns yellow. You can also customize your settings and tell McAfee to ignore the changes. Advanced users will also be pleased that another menu is just one click away, allowing even more configuration options.

McAfee includes its recent acquisition, McAfee SiteAdvisor, within Total Protection. This antiphishing tool actively monitors thousands of Web sites, allowing you to see a green, yellow, or red check mark or toolbar indicator within Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Also included within Total Protection is McAfee Wireless Security--a subject Microsoft forgot to include within OneCare. One module of McAfee Total Protection Wireless Security lets you configure whether you want to enable file sharing, that is, create an ad hoc network with another user. Overall, we like the toolset included here, there's a panel for protection and a panel for maintenance, such as rotating your WEP key, a very smart thing to do. We didn't like the fact that the Wireless Security littered our desktop with extraneous icons, however.

For system utilities, McAfee pulls out all the stops. Borrowing from its McAfee QuickClean suite, McAfee Total Protection includes a secure file shredder, allowing you to erase all traces of confidential files from your hard drive by overwriting these files with several layers of 1s and 0s. OneCare doesn't offer this. And, unlike OneCare, McAfee Total Protection allows you to back up your files either locally (on the same hard drive) or remotely (online).

There are some problems. For example, pop-up alerts within McAfee Total Protection are noisy--both visually and audibly. The McAfee alerts are large and verbose; even experienced users such as ourselves had trouble figuring out what was being asked of us. And the tone that sounds with each can be very distracting on a laptop or a desktop in an office. While we could turn off the tone, we wondered why it was ever made the default in the first place.

Overall, McAfee is on the right track with McAfee Total Protection. By rethinking its past attempts at Internet Security suites, the company has put forth a good effort with this beta release, and it has proven that established security vendors have the upper hand against Microsoft Windows Live OneCare. Once we test the final version of McAfee Total Protection, check back to read our full review.
Note: This product is part of the Mcafee Security 2007 series. See all products in the Mcafee Security 2007 series.
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