North Dakota State University

Before you begin, it’s helpful to know which version of Windows you have.  NDSU only supports two versions of the Windows operating system, Windows XP and Windows 7.  The easiest way to determine which one you are using is to look at your start button.  If it is rectangular in shape, you are running Windows XP.  If it is a round globe, it is Windows 7 (Windows Vista also has a round Start button but is not supported by NDSU).

Look in your system tray (area near the clock in the lower right hand corner) to see if you can spot a McAfee shield icon.  It will look like this  or this .  If you don’t’ see a McAfee shield, check to make sure all icons are showing.  You may see a small up arrow (or triangle) that you can click on to show more.  If you see a McAfee shield at any point, continue on to 'Removing McAfee Anti-Virus'.

Windows XP

Click on Start and select ‘Control Panel’ on the right side of the menu.  Find and double click on 'Add/Remove Programs'.  In the window that appears, scroll down and locate McAfee VirusScan Enterprise.  Click on the name to select it and then click the ‘Remove’ button to the right to begin the removal process.  You may also see a McAfee Agent listed.  If you do, you will want to remove that as well.

Windows 7

Click on Start and select ‘Control Panel’ on the right side of the menu.  In the control panel,  in the upper right hand corner you will see a ‘View By:’ option.  Change this to “Small icons” if it doesn’t already say that.  Once done, look through the list of icons below and double click on ‘Programs and Features’.  In the window that appears, scroll down and locate McAfee VirusScan Enterprise.  Click on the name to select it and then click the ‘Uninstall/Change’ option  on the bar near the top of the page to begin the removal process.  You may also see a McAfee Agent listed.  If you do, you will want to remove that as well.

Once McAfee is successfully uninstalled, you should now restart your computer to finish the removal process.  

All systems owned by NDSU are required to have an anti-virus solution installed.  It is also strongly encouraged that personal (home) computers run some form of anti-virus software.  

NDSU Owned (Work) Computers

Unless your support is not NDSU-based, you are required to install Microsoft Forefront 2010 on all NDSU-owned systems.  (Some County Extension offices are supported by county or NRG technical support and may utilize different software – Check with your local support technician).  Forefront software can be obtained through your NDSU technical support personnel.  When requesting be sure to indicate whether you are running Windows XP or Windows 7 as the software is different for each operating system.

To install Forefront double click on the installer (in Windows 7 – right click and select ‘Run as Administrator’) to begin the installation.  Note:  During the installation you will be prompted to participate in a customer experience program – select no when asked.

Personal (Home) Computers

Since Microsoft Forefront is an enterprise anti-virus solution purchased for use on NDSU owned computers only, Forefront cannot be installed on personal (home) computers.  For these systems there are a number of Free and Paid software options available both in stores and online.  One free program suggested by NDSU-ITS, Microsoft Security Essentials, can be run on Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.

Once Forefront has been installed, there are a couple of settings you will need to change.

First, locate the Forefront icon  in the system tray in the lower right hand corner.  If it is not there, locate the up arrow (triangle) and click on it to display all the icons.  Once you have located the icon, double click on it to open the program settings.  Now, click on the settings tab.  

In the left hand column, select ‘Scheduled scan’.  The right pane should now change to show scan options.  Once here, change your ‘Scan type’ to “Full scan”, change ‘When’ to “Wednesday”, and change ‘Around’ to “12:00 PM”.    This will cause your system to fully scan once a week on Wednesdays at noon.

Your settings should look similar to this:

Once done, click on ‘Save changes’ at the bottom of the page.

By default, Forefront will scan your computer on the schedule provided above and will also automatically attempt to update itself.

Just a note on the Forefront icon colors:  The forefront icon can show up in green, orange, or red.

  Green indicates that Forefront is monitoring your system and is updated.

  Orange indicates that Forefront has identified that it either needs to be updated or your computer has not been scanned in a while (generally a couple of weeks).  This can be common if it is a computer that is not turned on often or is generally not connected to the internet.

  Red indicates that Forefront has been disabled and is not currently protecting your computer.   

Should you encounter either an orange or red icon, double clicking on it will take you to a page where Forefront will identify the issue and provide you a way to resolve the issue.  Generally it will provide a button that will either: turn on Forefront, scan the computer, or download the latest updates.