I didn't see an 'opt out' of MacAfee button on this preliminary install - it just surprisingly appeared with no options. It has now been uninstalled - at least I think that it is - seemingly without incident.
Just try killing 'GoogleUpdater' or horrors of horrors 'GoogleTaskBarUpdater' in the msconfig Services Tab. Uncheck it & magically it will be back shortly. If I remember correctly from my XP install, registry editing is required & even then it is not permanent.
I don't use Google as my search engine anymore so I utilize a simple SE that doesn't track - duckduckgo. My browser is Comodo Dragon (Chrome derivative) that is mostly innocuous as well. Similarly no Win Media Player - now VLC that can easily be configured to not talk to the world. My Firewall is Comodo FW that alerts me to all of the nonsense of so many programs constantly trying to access the net. Even with all of this, I'm probably just as exposed as we all are.
None of my friends - some who are computer 'experts' - have no idea that this stuff is quietly going on almost continually. I was blissfully unaware as well until Comodo Firewall revealed all of these dirty little secrets going on in the background. It is nice as it is fully configurable to allow or deny programs access to the net.
Fred, I luv the NSA analogy, ha!
TAM
