How to remove mcafee desktop shortcut permanently
|After the installation of your mcafee product,it will create a shortcut on desktop automatically.You may don’t need it as you are already using McAfee from System Tray.But after you delete it,it re-appears every time when you start the system.Its quite annoying.We have complained about it but it is very depressed that mcafee think it isn’t popular.
Well, we have to come on hoping to find help on this matter ourself… Anyhow,Today we’ll tell you how to delete McAfee Desktop Shortcut permanently.
[Updated]: This guide does not work now. You can check out this FAQ page on the McAfee website to permanently delete McAfee icons on your Desktop. (Thanks to abulimicdog )[/updated]
Step one:
Restart the computer, and hit F8 after the bios. Enter into Safemode then into an administrators account.
Step two:
Go start and run Command, (quickkeys: startkey+R) then type regedit.
Now hit ctrl+F, type the following MSC_ShowDesktopIcon (or you can copy and past), then hit enter.
It should take you to one of two places ether:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\McAfee\MSC\Shortcuts
or
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\McAfee\MSC\Shortcuts
You wont to be on the 1st one.
Step three: This is if you wish to make a back up copy of the Reg folder, we are about to modify.
If you don’t wish to make a back up, then skip to Step four.
Once your in: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\McAfee\MSC\Shortcuts.
Click on file on the taskbar, then Export… Name it what ever you like! Save to Desktop or any safe location,
make sure at the bottom, its selected as branch and is as above.
Ok, Now after you have saved that file go to the file location you saved it to.
If you wish to set it back to normal after these steps just dubble click that file, and its back to how it was.
Step four:
Right click on MSC_ShowDesktopIcon click modify… and delete 01 00 00 00 and hit ok.
If you can not edit it, your ether not in Admin or not in safe mode lol.
You should now see in Data it says (zero-length binary value).
and if you go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\McAfee\MSC\Shortcuts
that should also have changed at the same time.
Step five:
Now Close everything and restart the computer, back into your normal account.
Once loaded delete that dam shortcut lol, and test it by updating McAfee…
Notice for McAfee:
And if McAfee have a problem with what I have done, then they need to fix it with an update…Or better yet BRING BACK THE OLD LAYOUT… Because this new one is a pain to get to all the main settings.Spesh when you try to change one setting, it then wants to go back to the main menu…so you have to do it all over again to change the next
By the way, its very similar to an old xp trick to remove the my pictures/music/video folders..ect..ect..
I found this on a FAQ page on the McAfee website. It fixed the problem on my buddies Windows 7 macine
http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?lc=1033&id=TS100906
Hope this helps!
@abulimicdog, thanks very much.
Viraj, same here, safe mode, administrator, zero length etc, it still returns. This is a corporate install I have to use and it’s damn annoying.
I did the steps, it says zero ‘length binary value’ . .
but the icon keeps coming back . . 🙁
on Windows 7 64bit edition, I right clicked on the icon, pinned it to the task bar, then deleted the shortcut. After that I deleted the pinned icon on the task bar. It has yet to return to either locations after several boots and days…
Hi Steve, tried your solution and so far no annoying reappearance of the dumb icon… 😀
I thank you from the depths of my heart. I really hope it stays away.
Bummer it just reappeared 🙁
howdy, nice post.
who is benefiting from having McAfee icon/logo on everyone’s desktop who uses McAfee?
the fact that McAfee has not stopped its logo to having your eyeballs for some months (and by the way, there was a fix from McAfee but was quicked pulled off their website and stopped working) make you wonder what they are up to?
Thanks for steps of removing this icon. Its a world where we should have our choice and not for them to force us to keep it on the desktop, it was annoying to see it there. I was going and get rid of McAfee just for that but i guest u saved them a disgruntle customer.
🙂
Yea,Its a world where we should have our choice,I can’t agree you more