Question

I am trying to disable a McAfee Real-Time Protection service, but if I go into Services/Properties, then try to set it to Manual or Disable - it says that

unable to open service McShield for writing on Local Computer. Error 5. Access is denied.

I've tried logging in as an Admin, to no avail. I've tried resetting permissions in the registry to the key where the McAfee service is described...nothing helped. Logging in with Safe Mode did not help either.

How can I disable this service? Is there a way to disable a service before even getting into Windows?

P.S. Uninstalling McAfee is not an option.

Answer 1

Disable the option Prevent McAfee services from being stopped

(for stand alone installations of VSE 8.5i or later)

1. 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.

Answer 2

I found this regarding Mcafee Virus Scan 8.5 : How to disable McAfee Virusscan 8.5?.
I hope it's relevant to your McAfee product:

By default, the copy of Mcafee Virus Scan 8.5 comes configured to prevent Virus Scan services from being stopped. This is a safeguard against viruses stopping McAfee services and disabling Virus Scan. However, this also causes the "Disable On-Access Scan" menu item to be grayed out when right-clicking on the VShield icon in the system tray.

To turn this feature off and enable the menu item:

• Download and install the latest version of Virus Scan 8.5 over your
  current version.
• Right click on the VShield icon in the system tray and choose "Virus Scan Console".
• Right click the entry for "Access Protection" and choose "Properties".
• Uncheck the option for "Prevent McAfee services from being stopped" and click OK.
• The "Disable On-Access Scan" menu item should now be accessible when right-clicking the VShield icon.

The latest version of Virus Scan 8.5 is necessary because it resolves a bug that prevents the menu item from being enabled even though the above option is turned off.

Answer 3

Start > Run > services.msc > Find the Mcafee service from the list then double click it and select "disable" or "manual" from startup type...