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I cannot delete a folder named "McAfee Vaults"

I have Windows 10 installed in my laptop. A few years ago, for a reason that I cannot fully remember, I had to delete my user account and install a new user account (I think it's a "step" before complete factory reset). For some reason, a remnant of this previous user account--a folder with my username--has remained unscathed and apparently within this folder there is a sub-folder called McAfee Vaults.

I no longer have McAfee, I have Norton now.

For some reason, this McAfee Vaults thing will not be deleted. I have changed the permissions' settings, I have made 'Everyone' as the owner of that folder and I still get the message that I need the permission by 'Everyone' in order to delete McAfee Vaults. I even tried to force-delete that folder by using Command Prompt and I get this question "Are you sure (Y/N)?"

I don't know how to type the command "yes"; I know that there are specific characters that you need to type...But, I am not sure that even Command Prompt will solve my issue. Can somebody help me get rid of this 'McAfee Vaults'?

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Hi Jay

I am Dave, I will help you with this.

1
At that Are you sure (Y/N) prompt, just type Y and press Enter, does that succeed?

2
Have you tried searching through the Registry from start to finish for any reference to McAfee Vaults and deleing all references to that?
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Power to the Developer!

MSI GV72 - 17.3", i7-8750H (Hex Core), 32GB DDR4, 4GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 256GB NVMe M2, 2TB HDD

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Hello Dave, thank you for the reply...After having tried option 1) nothing happens....

I am assuming that when you mention 'registry' you mean that I should search within the registry editor?

This is what I managed to find...

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Hi Jay

Yes, please search through the Registry Editor for any mention of 'McAfee Vaults' not just Mcafee

That entry in your screenshot can be safely deleted.

Then after deleting an entry, press F3 to continue the search
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Power to the Developer!

MSI GV72 - 17.3", i7-8750H (Hex Core), 32GB DDR4, 4GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 256GB NVMe M2, 2TB HDD

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I am getting the automatic message 'Unable to delete all specified values'....So, do I proceed to try and delete each McAfee folder in the C; drive individually?

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Hi JayHoward1

Okay, if you are getting that error, then skip that entry.

Try using the official McAfee Removal Tool to remove any trace of Vaults from your system, then check if you can delete that folder:

https://download.mcafee.com/molbin/iss-loc/Supp...
___________________________________________________________________

Power to the Developer!

MSI GV72 - 17.3", i7-8750H (Hex Core), 32GB DDR4, 4GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 256GB NVMe M2, 2TB HDD

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I had also tried that before using this forum.....Are some McAfee folders just unremovable?

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Hi Jay,

No the McAfee folders should not be unremovable, but McAfee is a real pain to remove, it gets so embedded into the Windows Operating system, it is very hard to remove all traces of McAfee.

When you ran the McAfee Removal Tool, did that see that Vaults was still installed on your system?
___________________________________________________________________

Power to the Developer!

MSI GV72 - 17.3", i7-8750H (Hex Core), 32GB DDR4, 4GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 256GB NVMe M2, 2TB HDD

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Hi Dave,

Yes, the McAfee Vaults were still in the subfolder-remnant of my previous user pc account; even after I had used the McAfee removal tool...

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Hi Jay

Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc)

Select the Processes Tab, is there any McAfee process still running on your PC?
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Power to the Developer!

MSI GV72 - 17.3", i7-8750H (Hex Core), 32GB DDR4, 4GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 256GB NVMe M2, 2TB HDD

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No....I cannot find McAfee anywhere in the processes on Task Manager :)

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Last updated April 22, 2025 Views 6,981 Applies to: