Some of McAfee End point products has a built-in self-protect defend against remove/uninstall.

I believe that the most important product McAfee Agent has not enough protection.

This Post will explain how to hide McAfee Agent product from windows uninstall list (add/remove programs) so endpoint user can't see it and uninstall it manually, I will also explain which command can uninstall it manually without ePO.

Hide McAfee Agent 5.x from uninstall list

64bit and 32bit versions: Windows 7, windows 8.1, windows 2003, windows 2008/r2 and windows 2012

Open the registry – click start -> regedit

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{8959B1FD-DB2B-438D-93EE-1BAAC7145F69}

1. Right click on some blank space in the right column.

2. Select New from the context menu,

3. Select DWORD value.

4. Name it SystemComponent.

5. Right-click and select Modify.

6. Change the value data to 1, and click OK.

7. the change will be activate after a reboot

Your program will now be hidden in the Add or Remove Programs list. If you ever want this program to reappear, just delete the SystemComponent DWORD.

Uninstall Manually:

If there is no other McAfee product except McAfee Agent, from command line or run windows:

MsiExec.exe /X{8959B1FD-DB2B-438D-93EE-1BAAC7145F69}

To force uninstall no matter which product of McAfee endpoint install, from command line or run windows:

"%programfiles%\McAfee\Agent\x86\FrmInst.exe" /forceuninstall

Hide McAfee Agent 4.8 Patch 2(4.8.0.1500) from uninstall list

64bit versions like: Windows 7, windows 8.1, windows 2003, windows 2008/r2 and windows 2012

Open the registry – click start -> regedit

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{EBF3D65F-011E-44D2-8F4F-C74B52682EDD}

For 32bit Version, go to:  

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{EBF3D65F-011E-44D2-8F4F-C74B52682EDD}

Note: each McAfee Agent Version has different GUID Key see List at the end

1. Right click on some blank space in the right column.

2. Select New from the context menu,

3. Select DWORD value.

4. Name it SystemComponent.

5. Right-click and select Modify.

6. Change the value data to 1, and click OK.

7. the change will be activate after a reboot

Your program will now be hidden in the Add or Remove Programs list. If you ever want this program to reappear, just delete the SystemComponent DWORD.

Uninstall Manually:

If there is no other McAfee product except McAfee Agent, from command line or run windows:

MsiExec.exe /X{EBF3D65F-011E-44D2-8F4F-C74B52682EDD}

To force uninstall no matter which product of McAfee endpoint install, from command line or run windows:

"%programfiles%\McAfee\Common Framework\FrmInst.exe" /forceuninstall

List of McAfee Agent Version and Key:

MA 4.8 Patch 2

4.8.0.1500

{EBF3D65F-011E-44D2-8F4F-C74B52682EDD}

MA 4.8 Patch 1

4.8.0.887

{1FDB8EC6-BAF1-42F9-8E09-4D9AB369F1B5}

MA 4.8

4.8.0.641

{11FEE8E5-D9BD-4AC1-8074-5169069DF812}

MA 4.6 Patch 3

4.6.0.3122

{4AEFF024-F0D0-4AD6-8231-FF51949E91E0}

MA 4.6 Patch 2

4.6.0.2935

{1995804A-B1A2-4826-99DD-CEA1352D090B}

MA 4.6 Patch 1

4.6.0.2292

{DE91C193-2611-4BD3-A9F9-DF589C572565}

MA 4.6

4.6.0.1694

{5DBE95F6-823A-4547-9921-CEDFADA1D2D8}

MA 4.5 Patch 3

4.5.0.1852

{397F4DE2-3C5A-415C-9A36-1D8C2B30B92D}

MA 4.5 Patch 2

4.5.0.1810

{2AAB21C2-4CDA-4189-A0EC-5ED666113F84}

MA 4.5 HF620018

4.5.0.1719

{B4496BE1-295F-4A17-9856-FEA2C9AA1A47}

MA 4.5 Patch 1

4.5.0.1499

{5C1FBBAF-14C8-4A23-A4A7-BCF19A979890}

MA 4.5 HF542703

4.5.0.1429

{362678B4-6ED5-46E9-A6B2-53EF22159151}

MA 4.5

4.5.0.1270

{B639A4DE-A375-47D3-89C3-DDCF98D992F7}

Hide McAfee Virus Scan for Enterprise 8.8.4 from uninstall list

64bit versions like: Windows 7, windows 8.1, windows 2003, windows 2008/r2 and windows 2012

Open the registry – click start -> regedit

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{CE15D1B6-19B6-4D4D-8F43-CF5D2C3356FF}

For 32bit Version, go to:  

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{CE15D1B6-19B6-4D4D-8F43-CF5D2C3356FF}

1. Right click on some blank space in the right column.

2. Select New from the context menu,

3. Select DWORD value.

4. Name it SystemComponent.

5. Right-click and select Modify.

6. Change the value data to 1, and click OK.

7. the change will be activate after a reboot

Your program will now be hidden in the Add or Remove Programs list. If you ever want this program to reappear, just delete the SystemComponent DWORD.

Uninstall manually, from command line or run windows:

MsiExec.exe /X{CE15D1B6-19B6-4D4D-8F43-CF5D2C3356FF}

Use the Tag option to do a test a new product or a new version.

Creat a new tag name for example "HIPS" with no criteria.
Apply the Tag HIPS on 4-5 systems around your organiztion.
Create a deployment task who will apply only on system with HIPS tag.
Run the task and check the product on your environment.

The testing is over?

Just remove from the task the tag and the deployment will run on all your systems.

Don't forget to delete the Tag.