McAfee Forced Uninstall

Summary

There are times when a manual procedure is required to remove the Common Management Agent (CMA).

Examples of situations which might require a manual removal:

• A failed upgrade leaves mismatched files which prevent standard removal methods
• Issues with the Access Protection features included in VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i or later
• File corruption before or during an upgrade
• Conflicts with third party software

In McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) 8.5i and later, the Access Protection option Prevent McAfee services from being stopped may require extra steps to be performed.

This article includes four separate solutions based on the most common product configurations or removal scenarios:

• If VSE 8.5i is currently installed (standalone or managed by ePolicy Orchestrator), see Solution 1.
  
• If VSE 8.5i was installed and then later uninstalled while Prevent McAfee services from being stopped was enabled, see Solution 2.
  
• If VSE 8.5i was installed and then uninstalled while Prevent McAfee services from being stopped was disabled or if VSE 8.5i was never installed, see Solution 3.
  
  NOTE: This solution can also be used if you are running a previous version of VirusScan Enterprise (VSE 7.1 or VSE 8.0i).
  
• If the other three solutions do not apply to your situation or fail to resolve the issue, perform a full manual removal with Solution 4.
  
  

Solution 1

Step 1 - Disable the option Prevent McAfee services from being stopped

For stand alone installations of VSE 8.5i or later:

1. Click, Start, Programs, McAfee, VirusScan Console.
2. Right-click Access Protection and select Properties.
3. Deselect Prevent McAfee services from being stopped.
4. Click Apply.
5. Close the VirusScan Console.
6. Proceed to Step 2.

If VSE is managed by ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO):

1. Click Start, Programs, McAfee, ePolicy Orchestrator 3.6.x Console.
2. Select the directory or machine level the VSE8.5i policy will be changed.
3. In the right pane, expand the Virus Enterprise 8.5.0 policy.
4. Click Edit next to Access Protection Policies.
5. Click the Access Protection tab.
6. Deselect Prevent McAfee services from being stopped.
7. Click Apply.
8. Send an Agent Wakeup Call to to apply changes or wait for the next enforce policy to take effect.
9. Close the ePO Console.

Step 2 - Remove CMA from the command prompt

1. Click Start, Run and type the appropriate command below:
   
   • For a new installation of VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i or later:
     
     "c:\Program Files\Network Associates\Common Framework\frminst.exe" /forceuninstall
     
   • For an upgrade installation from VSE 8.0i or earlier (or if the system is running VSE 8.0i or earlier)
     
     "c:\Program Files\McAfee\Common Framework\frminst.exe" /forceuninstall
     
     NOTE: You can use Windows Explorer to determine the correct path to frminst.exe.
     
     
2. Restart the system to remove CMA processes from memory and complete the file deletion.

If this procedure fails to fully remove the Common Management Agent, follow the manual uninstall procedure in Solution 4.

Solution 2

Use this solution if VSE 8.5i was installed and then uninstalled while Prevent McAfee services from being stopped was enabled.

Step 1 - Reinstall VSE 8.5i and disable protection of McAfee services

IMPORTANT: This solution requires that you reinstall VSE 8.5i. If you are unable to reinstall VSE, use the full manual removal procedure in Solution 4.

1. Install VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i.
2. Disable the option Prevent McAfee services from being stopped:
   
   
   1. Click, Start, Programs, McAfee, VirusScan Console.
   2. Right-click Access Protection and select Properties.
   3. Deselect Prevent McAfee services from being stopped.
   4. Click Apply.
   5. Close the VirusScan Console.
      
      
3. Uninstall VSE 8.5i.

Step 2 - Remove CMA from the command prompt

1. Click Start, Run, type the command below (including quotation marks), and press ENTER:
   
   "c:\Program Files\McAfee\Common Framework\frminst.exe" /forceuninstall
   
   
2. Restart the system to remove CMA processes from memory and complete the file deletion.Step 3 - Manual removal if Step 3 fails.

If this procedure fails to fully remove the Common Management Agent, follow the manual uninstall procedure in Solution 4.

Solution 3

Use this solution if VSE 8.5i was installed and then uninstalled while Prevent McAfee services from being stopped was disabled or if VSE 8.5i was never installed.

Step 1 - Remove CMA from the command prompt

1. Click Start, Run and type the appropriate command below:
   

   • For a new installation of VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i or later:
     
     "c:\Program Files\Network Associates\Common Framework\frminst.exe" /forceuninstall
     
   • For an upgrade installation from VSE 8.0i or earlier (or if the system is running VSE 8.0i or earlier)
     
     "c:\Program Files\McAfee\Common Framework\frminst.exe" /forceuninstall
     
     NOTE: You can use Windows Explorer to determine the correct path to frminst.exe.
     
     
2. Restart the system to remove CMA processes from memory and complete the file deletion.Step 3 - Manual removal if Step 3 fails.

If this procedure fails to fully remove the Common Management Agent, follow the manual uninstall procedure in Solution 4.

Solution 4

Full manual removal procedure for CMA 3.6.x

CAUTION: This article contains information about opening or modifying the registry.

• The following information is intended for System Administrators. Registry modifications are irreversible and could cause system failure if done incorrectly.
• Before proceeding, McAfee strongly recommends backing up your registry and understanding the restore process. For more information, see: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986
• Do not run a .REG file that is not confirmed to be a genuine registry import file.

Step 1 - Disable the McAfee Framework Service via the Windows registry

1. Click Start, Run, type regedit and click OK.
2. Navigate to and select the following key:
   
   [HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\McAfeeFramework]
   
   
3. In the right pane, double-click the Start string and change the Value data to 4.
4. Restart the system.

Step 2 - End all running CMA processes:

1. Click Start, run, type taskmgr, and click OK.
2. Click the Processes tab.
3. Select each of the processes below and click End Process. Click Yes when prompted to confirm:
   
   
   • McTray.exe
   • UpdaterUI.exe
   • naPrdMgr.exe
     
     
4. Close the Task Manager.

Step 3 - Registry edits:

1. Click Start, Run, type regedit, and click OK.
2. Navigate to and expand the following key:
   
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services]
   
   
3. Right-click the McAfeeFramework sub-key and select Delete.
4. Delete any entries for the McAfeeFramework sub-key under each of the following registry keys:
   
   
   • [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services]
   • [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Services]
   • [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSetXXX\Services]
     
     
5. Navigate to and select the following registry key:
   
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Network Associates\TVD\Shared Components\Framework]
   
   
6. Make note of the Installed Path and the Data Path values.
7. In Windows Explorer, delete the folders mentioned in the above registry values.
8. Navigate to and expand the following key:
   
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Network Associates\TVD\Shared Components]
   
   
9. Right-click the Framework sub-key and select Delete.
10. Navigate to the following key:
    
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\McAfee\McTray]
    
    
11. Right-click the McTray key and select Delete.
12. Restart the system.

excerpt from: https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=KB55208