A McAfee Nightmare

Looks like this is what it is going to take to get the job done. If you don't want to go down this path, I totally understand. You will have to boot into recovery mode, disable SIP, reboot, delete extension, reboot into recover, enable SIP, reboot. Here are detail steps.

• BOOT INTO RECOVERY MODE

On Intel Mac, hold down Command - R on reboot. On Apple Silicon, hold power button while starting up until Options button appears. Click the button and continue, you may be asked to choose your startup drive.

• DISABLE SIP

In the menu bar of the Recovery Mode, choose Utilities > Terminal.

Enter the command "csrutil disable"

Quit Terminal by going to Terminal > Quit

• RESTART
• OPEN TERMINAL

Enter the command "systemextensionsctl list". This will give you a list of the extensions. You will want to look for the Team ID and Bundle ID (which start with "com." and use them in the next command.

Type "systemextensionsctl uninstall TEAMID BUNDLEID" substituting the TEAMID and BUNDLEID with the ones from above. Do the uninstall command on all extensions you want removed. Quit Terminal.

• BOOT INTO RECOVERY MODE
• ENABLE SIP

In the menu bar of the Recovery Mode, choose Utilities > Terminal.

Enter the command "csrutil enable"

Quit Terminal by going to Terminal > Quit

• RESTART

Find Any File can help in removing leftover components of apps that have been deleted.  Do the following:  

#1 - boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support. 

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following:• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

#2 - download and run the shareware app Find Any File to search for any files with the application's or the developer's name in the file name.  For the McAfee software you'd do the following search(es): 

1 - Name contains mcafee

2 - Name contains "name of app or whatever you see in the other reports"

Any files that are found can be dragged from the search results window to the Desktop or Trash bin in the Dock for deletion.

FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages.  

#3 - reboot normally.

Here are some things to try:

• Go to  > System Settings > Privacy & Security > Extensions > Added Extensions. Disable any extensions related to McAfee.
• Go to  > System Settings > General > Login Items. Remove related files there as well as the background processes below.
• Startup in Safe Boot mode.
• Paste these file locations one at a time in the Go to Folder window and delete any related files. Finder > Go > Go to Folder.

~/Library/Application Support

~/Library/LaunchAgents

~/Library/LaunchDaemons

~/Library/PreferencePanes

~/Library/Preferences

~/Library/StartupItems

• If those 2 files you mentioned earlier still won't delete your can delete them in Terminal. There are no second chances doing it this way, so make sure deleting is what you want. Go to Terminal in the Utilities folder and type "sudo rm -rf ". Make sure you have a space BEFORE and AFTER the "-rf" and don't hit return yet. Now drag the problem file to the terminal window and it will fill in the path to the file. Now hit return.

You might also want to look through Safari settings to see if it installed any Notifications, Pop Ups, or Extensions. If you are unsure about a file, ask before deleting.

I agree a re-install would be a last resort and this process would be a lot to do on several Mac, but you may just find a couple of files like you have already identified that needs to be trashed. The booting in Safe Mode should not load the Extensions and make them easier to delete. Restarting is necessary to see the results when complete.

I feel your pain as I had a similar nightmare with Norton many years ago. That's way this sort of software gets no where near my Macs.

I would consider the re-install/un-install route. Obviously, the uninstall was not successful. I don't know that Malwarebytes would be useful in this situation but it's trustworthy software and there is a free version that works fine if you don't need something always scanning your computer. I download it when I need it, use it, and then delete it. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge of this specific application will drop by.

The company I worked for required McAfee on all company laptops. McAfee caused the vast majority of IT Support issues on the company Macs. Between performance issues, system panics, network disconnects, etc....

Eventually, then switched away from McAfee. They still require an A/V product, which for most users does not cause the same pain (but some employees still experience performance issues), but I'm not going to give them free advertising, as personally, as I think it is just there to Cover the company's Corporate @$$, in case of a lawsuit.

My personal Macs do not run any 3rd party anti-virus or malware. I depend on Apple's built-in protections, and my own common-sense.

This discussion should be flagged for every user looking for advice on installing anti-virus software. We see it every day here in these forums. It usually does not end well and when things seem ok, the next OS update could cause unexpected results. Stick with your Firewall, you can monitor and deny incoming connections, and maintain safe browsing practices. Your good!

To James Cook2: We are here for you and will help in any way we can to get you up and running.

I strongly recommend this article:

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

It's about a bit more than just defending against malware and it's very good.

Did you follow MacAfee's instructions?

https://www.mcafee.com/support/?articleId=TS101226&page=shell&shell=article-view

Back up a couple of times, wipe it, and migrate your files and documents and preferences (and not apps) from your backup. Don’t migrate apps.

Thanks, OT!