McAfee PGP

Queried the thread database but couldn't find anything on this. I have used PGP for some time, most recently PGP 7.0.3, and I have used the THAWTE signature (free version) and together they do a great job on email and PGP does a good job of securing whatever else I want. Recently, my wife's desktop got so messed up that I changed it from W98se to W2000Pro, a larger D: for all the programs and such, and finally got everything working again. I picked up McAfee PGP today, thinking it would be a lot easier than reconfiguring everything PGP/THAWTE on my wife's machine. It does claim several features that I haven't programmed PGP-7.0.3 for, so figured it might be a good way to get out of some work. Tonight I went to the threads and found several people having problems with *other* McAfee products (not PGP though) and so am a bit reluctant to load McAfee PGP onto wife's desktop until I read the manual and see what other people have experienced. So far, I haven't found where they say what version of PGP they're using, but it has to be 7.0.3 or higher. I know that Zimmerman went to fulltime consulting about the time 7.0.3 was finished, and there won't be any more updates on that one. Maybe I should just stick with the 7.0.3 and THAWTE sigs, and forget about this commercial version. Has anyone had any experience with "McAfee PGP Personal Security" loading or configuration problems? Not interested in McAfee corporate help or lack of, ...just if the fetched booger out of the box has ruptured anyone's W2000Pro or other OS's??? I'm not interested in spending another weekend reloading programs so figured maybe a question here couldn't hurt. :confused:

I run the Network Associates version 7.0.4 of PGP on an XP Pro box. I ran it on Win2000 Pro before that and it ran fine. If you want to use 7.0.3 or before you can get any version they have out up to 7.0.3 here: http://sunsite.org.uk/public/public/packages/pgp/

Also if you did'nt back up your keys you'll have to generate a new pair. PGP automatically makes a set of key backups. So just copy them to a floppy then if you ever reinstall you can use this disk to restore it fast. I have a freind that has the McaFee boxed version and he's not had any hitches with it so far.

McAfee works well. It's just PGP with a McAfee wrapper (so to speak).

Thanks Apocalypse, KorpDeath... I went to the McAfee site and they said the VPN part would not work with W2000, so wondered if anything else was messed up. I left a form message asking if they were going to work on the VPN part ("PGPNet") for W2000 or give the customer a raincheck since that feature was advertised on the package, with no comment that excluded any of the supported OS's (W95, W98, ME, NT, 2000). I might just load this McAfee version onto an old NT4.0 box I have and play with it awhile to see what it does. McAfee tells you several dozen files it loads all over your OS in various places, so maybe I better get familiar with it before I integrate it with a daily-use desktop. My old PGP 7.0.3 seems to about work by itself on callup, not spidering itself all over the OS. Thanks again for the benefit of your experiences. :-)

Anytime. I personally just use the PGP freeware, but to each his own.

i too use pgp freeware. mcafee is ok for the average user i suppose, but most mcafee programs have problems or bugs. as far as security eploits go, i am not sure. i am just speaking from personal experience as a technician. i have seen many poblems with mcafee. although they are easy to use programs and in the hands of the average user are better security than none. however, i do not trust their software personally. also, encryption is such a touchy subject. i do not want to sound like a paranoid, but you never know. some programmer at mcafee may have put a hole in i, or perhaps have been paid by the gov to put in a backdoor. just a thought.

Thanks, VanEck, the same thoughts went thru my mind when I downloaded 7.0.3 from pgpi.org and saw that it would be the last update there, and McAfee was now making a commercial version. Like KorpDeath I have used the freeware combination with total satisfaction, but what I was looking for was the VPN feature (keyboard-to-keyboard encryption when both 'puters have it loaded). We do a lot of joking about spooks, but I really don't care if NSA wants to know what I'm doing, I'll send them a copy anytime... It's just that keyboard to keyboard encryption has been a back-burner interest item for awhile now, it would be interesting to communicate securely. I've thought it would be a great help for some of my old friends who wait in line for a tempest-phone :-) ... Thanks for your input.