BT Netprotect Plus/McAfee not turned on, cannot st...

Question

Hi guys,
On my wife's laptop (windows7) i get a toolbar flag with a cross through it which, when clicked, comes up with a window that says "McAfee Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware reports that it is turned off". If you follow the options to "turn on now" it asks you to "trust" the publisher. If i do that it appears to do nothing.
So i tried clicking the the McAfee shield on the bottom right and nothing happens (no response).
So i tried to go into BT NetProtect Plus via Start, All Programs etc. and when i do all i get is a blank white box (no other response. Only way out is to close the program.
Same blank white box when i try to "Uninstall or change a program" for BT Netprotect Plus.
Any ideas anyone?
Jeff

Answer 1

Insomnia struck, so here goes.
@AQ
Only problem I had with MSE was getting a scheduled scan to run, though it wasn't really a problem as it lets you know soon enough if you need an on demand scan, provided you show the icon in system tray. I won't bother with the details, but it had to do with how MSE operates with Task Scheduler. Anyway it was solved through Windows 7 Forum. For what it's worth here's how I got it to run reliably:
Set a quick scan to run to run daily at a time when you are most likely to be using the computer. Uncheck the two boxes for latest definitions (MSE checks every day anyway) and to run when not in use. Leave CPU at default of 50%.
This captures a scan every couple of days at least, completely unnoticed as it takes literally a couple of minutes and has a very light touch. I only know it ran by checking the program. A full scan is very thorough and takes a couple of hours; worth running now and then when the computer has nothing better to do. As belt and braces, I also use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on demand occasionally; it too is very quick.
MSE doesn't come with a firewall but you just need to turn on the Windows one. MSE also disables Windows Defender, a bonus as you get way fewer Windows updates.
@DS
I also liked Site Adviser but it was never happy with Chrome, my default, so I opted for WOT. They do work differently; who knows which is better?
I use IE occasionally due to Chrome not going too well with a particular website. I did have Site Adviser with it, but it went with the rest of McAfee when I installed MSE, and I replaced it with WOT just for consistency. I'd be surprised if there was a problem running SA with MSE. Google didn't bring up much; no suggestion of incompatibility but some consensus that MSE was OK on its own and SA is cr@p! So yer pays yer money and takes yer choice I guess.
MSE is very slim but does offer a bunch of options.
@All
I've said before that McAfee was not too bothersome on my laptop, but it strangled the netbook. I was so pleased with MSE on the netbook that I also ditched McAfee from the laptop when it delivered the icon problem reported here some weeks ago, even though I still had a year's subscription left. Good decision. 
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