Downloading McAfee Virus Scan Online or Personal Firewall Plus for MSN Customers

MSN customers are given a complimentary subscription to the McAfee's leading anti-virus and firewall software, but these programs are not initially included with their MSN installation. It is a fairly easy process to help a customer register with McAfee and install both components though. It should be noted that installing the Virus Scan before the Firewall is preferable, and you must have the customer use their Primary MSN email address to set it up with McAfee. Below are the steps to download the virus scan; downloading the firewall is almost identical.

Downloading McAfee Virus Scan Online

  1. From within MSN, click on the blue Safety shield, and select Virus Guard.




  2. The customer will be directed to the McAfee website with a link down at the bottom for MSN subscribers to Sign In to Passport.NET. Go ahead and have them click on this button.




  3. After signing in with the primary MSN email address, the customer must register an account with McAfee for virus scan updates; just type in the first and last name and their primary MSN email address.




  4. Have the customer click the Go to My Account button to proceed.




  5. Click the round, blue Download/Install button to begin the actual download of the software.




  6. The customer must review and Agree to the Service Agreements.




  7. This step is a little bit tricky: the download itself is supposed to start automatically, but Windows XP Service Pack 2 has a built-in pop-up blocker that will not let it. If the customer does not see a prompt to Install McAfee, ask them if they have a small, yellow bar at the top of the page that came up that says, "This site might require software from: 'McAfee, Inc.'. Click here to install...". Click on that yellow bar and select Install ActiveX Control.




  8. Once they see the Security Warning dialog box, select Install.




  9. Click the Start button to begin the download of the software.




  10. Click Continue to launch into the Installation Wizard.




  11. Once they see the files being downloaded and the prgoress bars filling in, they are on their way to protecting their computer from harm!