In the last post I talked about Alcohol 120% and Frostwire not working in my new Windows Vista Toshiba laptop. After doing much research it seems that the concensus is the problem is actually with the McAfee security suite. This thread over at gnutella forums (Limewire forums) is pretty telling…there are lots of replies from people that removed McAfee and got Frostwire working again.

I bought a new machine that came with Windows Vista Premium and Mcafee preinstalled.

Installed Limewire and it wouldn’t connect. Meanwhile, my internet connection was blocked while Limewire was running and even after I closed it, for about 5 more minutes. I tried all kinds of things: checked the router, used Windows Firewall, used Mcafee firewall, used none, etc. No solution!

So I uninstalled Mcaffee as suggested above and voilá: Limewire was download great…

I’m pretty sure this should work if you were having the same problem, because they were even getting the blocked Internet connection with Frostwire running - just like me. The threads did mention to have Java JRE6 installed - which I did. In addition - if you remove McAfee, make sure that your Windows firewall is activated.

I read on the c|Net Windows Vista forums that some of the off the shelf versions of Symantec Norton Security and AntiVirus 2007 are labeled “Vista Ready”, but once you install them (in Vista) they don’t work. That thread indicated that they retail box version sold in stores was coded to work with Vista (Longhorn) RC1 and not the final release. So a patch / update is on the way, but not ready yet. I’d be a little pissed if I bought that.

Last, for those of you that actually remove McAfee Internet Security, McAfee AntiVirus, or McAfee Privacy Policy (and turn on Windows Firewall) - you need to remember to get some alternative anti-virus protection. After reading the last paragraph, I’m sure you don’t want to install Norton Security or Norton AntiVirus (and I wouldn’t want you to). Believe it or not there are some free antivirus programs that you can download at no cost. They work well, and are used by tens if not hundreds of thousands every day. Here they are…

Avast Home Edition Free Anti Virus software download

AVG Free Advisor Anti-Virus software download

**UPDATE**

by the way - now that I’ve removed McAfee from my Vista Premium install - it runs muuuuuuch faster!!? Everything is so much more responsive on my laptop now!

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