307634 - mcafee.com - McAfee SecurityCenter automatic update system requires IE as default browser to install update

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Tech Evangelism Graveyard :: English US, defect)

Description

[Thomas Rutter]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8b4) Gecko/20050908 Firefox/1.4
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8b4) Gecko/20050908 Firefox/1.4

The virus scanning and firewall application "McAfee SecurityCenter" has an
"updates" feature allowing it to download updates for itself.

Updates come from a Webpage that requires ActiveX, and they fail if Firefox is
set as the default browser.  The only way to update SecurityCenter is to set IE
as the default browser.



Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Install McAfee SecurityCenter
2. From the task bar icon, select "Updates"
3. Select "Check Now"


Actual Results:  
If there is an update available, it will try to launch Firefox to install the
update, but will fail because the page it loads does not support Firefox.

(If there is no update available this bug won't occur)

Expected Results:  
SecurityCenter should always load IE, rather than always loading the default
browser.  It shouldn't assume that the default browser is IE.

Download SecurityCenter here (requires free registration):
http://us.mcafee.com/root/runapplication.asp?appid=37

Note: This is the download link for McAfee SecurityCenter.  This is *not* a
testcase link.  This bug concerns the process of checking for updates from
within SecurityCenter.

Comment 1

[Thomas Rutter]

Sorry to spam my own bug, but here's an excerpt from a conversation I had with
McAfee tech support if it helps confirm the problem.  Hope this counts as an
evangelism bug!

Kendall Garrett: May I know your default browser is Internet Explorer. You can
see the same by opening Internet explorer-----> tools----> Internet options
----> Programs. Below in the Programs tab option it should be checked "Internet
Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser".
Thomas Rutter: Default browser is Mozilla Firefox
Kendall Garrett: Thomas, I would like to inform you all McAfee Products are only
compatible with Internet Explorer and it is it is already mentioned in system
requirements to have Internet Explorer.
Thomas Rutter: I have Internet Explorer, it is just that Firefox is the default
browser
Kendall Garrett: You need to make Internet Explorer as default browser.
Thomas Rutter: I cannot have Internet Explorer as the default browser because
Firefox is the browser I use
Kendall Garrett: In order to update McAfee Products you need to have Internet
Explorer as default browser.

Comment 2

[OstGote!]

Looks like Bug 220612. Dupe?

Comment 3

[Bob Clary [:bc] (inactive)]

(In reply to comment #2)
> Looks like Bug 220612. Dupe?

Not quite. This bug is more about their _insistence_ that you make IE default
browser in order for their update crapola to work. 

I think the best approach is to find a better, more responsible anti-virus
vendor and point our users to them. McAfee seems like a lost cause.

Comment 4

[mcboettcher]

I had a similar, unapologetic response from McAffee customer support. I was told
the problem was with the browser (Mozilla) not McAffee. At that point, I
snapped. Isn't Mozilla open source and used by 10-12% of users (or more)?
McAffee doesn't really have an excuse for not creating a work-around. Anyone at
this site done that ? If yes, please suggest. I'm not saavy about searching out
these things. Will DEFINTELY NOT renew McAffee subscription. 

Comment 5

[Chris Lawson (gone)]

Is this still a problem with McAfee? It's clear that it was at one point, so confirming.

Comment 6

[Matthias Versen [:Matti]]

no response, i assume that they fixed it now because we got no new reports in several years