McAfee SecurityCenter
McAfee SecurityCenter allows you to monitor your computer's security status, know instantly whether your computer's virus, spyware, e-mail, and firewall protection services are up-to-date, and act on potential security vulnerabilities. It provides the navigational tools and controls you need to coordinate and manage all areas of your computer's protection.
Before you begin configuring and managing your computer's protection, review the SecurityCenter interface and make sure that you understand the difference between protection status, protection categories, and protection services. Then, update SecurityCenter to ensure that you have the latest protection available from McAfee.
After your initial configuration tasks are complete, you use SecurityCenter to monitor your computer's protection status. If SecurityCenter detects a protection problem, it alerts you so that you can either fix or ignore the problem (depending on its severity). You can also review SecurityCenter events, such as virus scanning configuration changes, in an event log.
Note: SecurityCenter reports critical and non-critical protection problems as soon as it detects them. If you need help diagnosing your protection problems, you can run McAfee Virtual Technician.
SecurityCenter featuresSecurityCenter provides the following features: Simplified protection status Easily review your computer's protection status, check for updates, and fix potential protection problems. Automated updates and upgrades Automatically download and install updates for your registered programs. When a new version of a registered McAfee program is available, you get it at no charge while your subscription is valid, ensuring that you always have up-to-date protection. Real-time alerting Security alerts notify you of emergency virus outbreaks and security threats, and provide options to remove, neutralize, or learn more about the threat. SecurityCenter featuresSecurityCenter provides the following features: Simplified protection status Easily review your computer's protection status, check for updates, and fix potential protection problems. Automated updates and upgrades Automatically download and install updates for your registered programs. When a new version of a registered McAfee program is available, you get it at no charge while your subscription is valid, ensuring that you always have up-to-date protection. Real-time alerting Security alerts notify you of emergency virus outbreaks and security threats, and provide options to remove, neutralize, or learn more about the threat. Understanding protection statusYour computer's protection status is shown in the protection status area on the SecurityCenter Home pane. It indicates whether your computer is fully protected against the latest security threats and can be influenced by things like external security attacks, other security programs, and programs that access the Internet. Your computer's protection status can be red, yellow, or green.
Understanding protection categoriesSecurityCenter's protection services are divided into four categories: Computer & Files, Internet & Network, E-mail & IM, and Parental Controls. These categories help you to browse and configure the security services protecting your computer. You click a category name to configure its protection services and view any security problems detected for those services. If your computer's protection status is red or yellow, one or more categories display an Action Required or Attention message, indicating that SecurityCenter has detected a problem within the category. For more information about protection status, see Understanding protection status.
Understanding protection servicesProtection services are the core SecurityCenter components that you configure to protect your computer. Protection services directly correspond to McAfee programs. For example, when you install VirusScan, the following protection services become available: Virus Protection, PUP Protection, System Monitors, and Windows Protection. For detailed information about these particular protection services, see the VirusScan help. By default, all protection services associated with a program are enabled when you install the program; however you can disable a protection service at any time. For example, if you install Privacy Service, Content Blocking and Identity Protection are both enabled. If you do not intend to use the Content Blocking protection service, you can disable it entirely. You can also temporarily disable a protection service while performing setup or maintenance tasks. Managing your McAfee accountManage your McAfee account from within SecurityCenter by easily accessing and reviewing your account information and verifying your current subscription status. Note: If you installed your McAfee programs from a CD, you must register them on the McAfee Web site to set up or update your McAfee account. Only then are you entitled to regular, automatic program updates. Manage your McAfee accountYou can easily access your McAfee account information (My Account) from SecurityCenter.
Verify your subscriptionYou verify your subscription to ensure that it has not yet expired.
Updating SecurityCenterSecurityCenter ensures that your registered McAfee programs are current by checking for and installing online updates every four hours. Depending on the programs you have installed and registered, online updates may include the latest virus definitions and hacker, spam, spyware, or privacy protection upgrades. If you want to check for updates within the default four hour period, you can do so at any time. While SecurityCenter is checking for updates, you can continue to perform other tasks. Although it is not recommended, you can change the way SecurityCenter checks for and installs updates. For example, you can configure SecurityCenter to download but not install updates or to notify you before downloading or installing updates. You can also disable automatic updating. Note: If you installed your McAfee programs from a CD, you cannot receive regular, automatic updates for those programs unless you register them on the McAfee Web site. Check for updatesBy default, SecurityCenter automatically checks for updates every four hours when your computer is connected to the Internet; however, if you want to check for updates within the four hour period, you can do so. If you have disabled automatic updates, it is your responsibility to check for updates regularly.
Tip: You can check for updates without launching SecurityCenter by right-clicking the SecurityCenter icon Configure automatic updatesBy default, SecurityCenter automatically checks for and installs updates every four hours when your computer is connected to the Internet. If you want to change this default behavior, you can configure SecurityCenter to automatically download updates and then notify you when the updates are ready to be installed or to notify you before downloading the updates. Note: SecurityCenter notifies you when updates are ready to be downloaded or installed using alerts. From the alerts, you can either download or install the updates, or postpone the updates. When you update your programs from an alert, you may be prompted to verify your subscription before downloading and installing. For more information, see Working with alerts.
Disable automatic updatesIf you disable automatic updates, it is your responsibility to check for updates regularly; otherwise, your computer will not have the latest security protection. For information about checking for updates manually, see Check for updates.
Tip: You enable automatic updates by clicking the On button or by clearing Disable automatic updating and let me manually check for updates on the Update Options pane.
Fixing or ignoring protection problemsSecurityCenter reports critical and non-critical protection problems as soon as it detects them. Critical protection problems require immediate action and compromise your protection status (changing the color to red). Non-critical protection problems do not require immediate action and may or may not compromise your protection status (depending on the type of problem). To achieve a green protection status, you must fix all critical problems and either fix or ignore all non-critical problems. If you need help diagnosing your protection problems, you can run McAfee Virtual Technician. For more information about McAfee Virtual Technician, see the McAfee Virtual Technician help. Fixing protection problemsMost security problems can be fixed automatically; however, some problems may require you to take action. For example, if Firewall Protection is disabled, SecurityCenter can enable it automatically; however, if Firewall Protection is not installed, you must install it. The following table describes some other actions that you might take when fixing protection problems manually:
Note: Often, a single protection problem affects more than one protection category. In this case, fixing the problem in one category clears it from all other protection categories. Fix protection problems automaticallySecurityCenter can fix most protection problems automatically. The configuration changes that SecurityCenter makes when automatically fixing protection problems are not recorded in the event log. For more information about events, see Viewing events.
Fix protection problems manuallyIf one or more protection problems persist after you try to fix them automatically, you can fix the problems manually.
Ignoring protection problemsIf SecurityCenter detects a non-critical problem, you can either fix or ignore it. Other non-critical problems (for example, if Anti-Spam or Privacy Service are not installed) are automatically ignored. Ignored problems are not shown in the protection category information area on the SecurityCenter Home pane, unless your computer's protection status is green. If you ignore a problem, but later decide that you want it to appear in the protection category information area even when your computer's protection status is not green, you can show the ignored problem. Ignore a protection problemIf SecurityCenter detects a non-critical problem that you do not intend to fix, you can ignore it. Ignoring it removes the problem from the protection category information area in SecurityCenter.
Show or hide ignored problemsDepending on its severity, you can show or hide an ignored protection problem.
Tip: You can also ignore a problem by clicking the Ignore link beside the reported problem in the protection category information area. Working with alertsAlerts are small pop-up dialog boxes that appear in the bottom-right corner of your screen when certain SecurityCenter events occur. An alert provides detailed information about an event as well as recommendations and options for resolving problems that may be associated with the event. Some alerts also contain links to additional information about the event. These links let you launch McAfee's global Web site or send information to McAfee for troubleshooting. There are three types of alerts: red, yellow, and green.
Because alerts play such an important role in monitoring and managing your protection status, you cannot disable them. However, you can control whether certain types of informational alerts appear and configure some other alert options (such as whether SecurityCenter plays a sound with an alert or displays the McAfee splash screen on startup). Showing and hiding informational alertsInformational alerts notify you when events occur that do not pose threats to your computer's security. For example, if you have set up Firewall Protection, an informational alert appears by default whenever a program on your computer is granted access to the Internet. If you do not want a specific type of informational alert to appear, you can hide it. If you do not want any informational alerts to appear, you can hide them all. You can also hide all informational alerts when you play a game in full-screen mode on your computer. When you finish playing the game and exit full-screen mode, SecurityCenter starts displaying informational alerts again. If you mistakenly hide an informational alert, you can show it again at any time. By default, SecurityCenter shows all informational alerts. Show or hide informational alertsYou can configure SecurityCenter to show some informational alerts and hide others, or to hide all informational alerts.
Tip: You can also hide an informational alert by selecting the Do not show this alert again check box in the alert itself. If you do so, you can show the informational alert again by clearing the appropriate check box on the Informational Alerts pane. Show or hide informational alerts when gamingYou can hide informational alerts when you are playing a game in full-screen mode on your computer. When you finish the game and exit full-screen mode, SecurityCenter starts displaying informational alerts again.
Configuring alert optionsThe appearance and frequency of alerts is configured by SecurityCenter; however, you can adjust some basic alert options. For example, you can play a sound with alerts or hide the splash screen alert from displaying when Windows starts. You can also hide alerts that notify you about virus outbreaks and other security threats in the online community. Play a sound with alertsIf you want to receive an audible indication that an alert has occurred, you can configure SecurityCenter to play a sound with each alert.
Hide the splash screen at startupBy default, the McAfee splash screen appears briefly when Windows starts, notifying you that SecurityCenter is protecting your computer. However, you can hide the splash screen if you do not want it to appear.
Tip: You can show the splash screen again at any time by selecting the Show the McAfee splash screen when Windows starts check box. Hide virus outbreak alertsYou can hide alerts that notify you about virus outbreaks and other security threats in the online community.
Tip: You can show virus outbreak alerts at any time by selecting the Alert me when a virus or security threat occurs check box. Viewing eventsAn event is an action or configuration change that occurs within a protection category and its related protection services. Different protection services record different types of events. For example, SecurityCenter records an event if a protection service is enabled or disabled; Virus Protection records an event each time a virus is detected and removed; and Firewall Protection records an event each time an Internet connection attempt is blocked. For more information about protection categories, see Understanding protection categories. You can view events when troubleshooting configuration issues and reviewing operations performed by other users. Many parents use the event log to monitor their children's behavior on the Internet. You view recent events if you want to examine only the last 30 events that occurred. You view all events if you want to examine a comprehensive list of all events that occurred. When you view all events, SecurityCenter launches the event log, which sorts events according to the protection category in which they occurred. View recent eventsYou view recent events if you want to examine only the last 30 events that occurred.
View all eventsYou view all events if you want to examine a comprehensive list of all events that occurred.
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in the notification area at the far right of your taskbar, and then click Verify Subscription.
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