McAfee antivirus is a top security program that equips all the top cyber and device protection tools. McAfee antivirus has various antivirus plans according to your device operating systems and other specifications. McAfee activate Product Key plans are also available for phone devices. McAfee offers tools like anti-theft, app manager, etc for preventing your phone from all the potential threats. McAfee antivirus program barely shows any error as its robust interface prevents all the compile-time errors. But people may get into some runtime errors while using McAfee antivirus. McAfee error code 401 is a runtime error that mostly appears while running a program or while opening your Windows device. 

Symptoms of McAfee error code 401:

  1. You are getting an error message while opening Windows PC
  2. McAfee scanning process interrupts and an error message appears
  3. You are getting this error popup with every program
  4. McAfee error popup appears whenever you use a particular program
  5. McAfee error popup appears while shutting down the PC

Causes of McAfee error code 401:

  1. You have downloaded corrupt McAfee setup file
  2. Incomplete McAfee setup installation
  3. Your registry files get corrupted
  4. Error in your Windows files
  5. Device junk files are conflicting your programs

Possible ways for resolving McAfee error code 401:

Check device compatibility

If you are getting McAfee error 401 while installing the setup then check the device compatibility immediately. Sometimes people only check the OS but you must check the processor, RAM, and disk requirement before purchasing McAfee antivirus. If your device is running in low disk space then your setup won’t get installed. You should add hard disk space or remove unnecessary junk and programs from the hard disk. In case you have a compatible McAfee plan and your internet is also running smoothly then you should ask the McAfee team for help.

Check your registry files 

Windows registry files get easily corrupted due to some changes or malware attacks on your device. You must restore all your registry file corruptions in an account to perform various tasks on your device. But restoring the corrupt registry files is not easy. You can only restore those files when you are a technically sound person. A single mistake on registry file editing can harm other files and programs. If you want to repair the files manually then you should take the backup key for error. You can follow the given steps for creating a backup key:

  1. Close the error popup and all running programs
  2. Click on the Start button
  3. Type command in the search bar
  4. Hold the ctrl and shift keys
  5. Press the Enter button
  6. You will get a permission prompt on the screen
  7. Click on Yes option on the prompt
  8. You will get a command screen (black screen with blinking cursor)
  9. Type Regedit on your command screen
  10. Press Enter button

The Windows registry editor will appear on the desktop. You will get a list of keys. Click on the key for whom you want the backup. Click on the Export option and save the backup file with .reg extension. You should save that file on the desktop so you can easily find the file while editing the registry files. If you are not a technical person then you should ask for professional help.

Check for the device drivers

Your device drivers are very essential for running any program. If you get any error related device drivers like your device drivers get outdated or any the device driver gets corrupted then you may get into various run-time errors. You must restore the device drivers and update the drivers timely. But you can’t update the device drivers manually. Search for a driver update tool on the internet which is compatible with your PC. Run the driver update tool and it will restore all the corruptions and update all the outdated driver tools automatically. After updating the device driver; restart your PC. Go to the McAfee dashboard and run the scan. If your McAfee antivirus is still showing error code 401 then seek other solutions. 

Remove system junk

Your system junk like temporary files, cookies, caches, etc not only accumulates your space but can also create conflict with other programs. So you should always remove all the system junk whenever you get into any runtime error. Go to the temporary files folder and select all the existing files. Now press the delete button from the keyboard to remove all the temporary files from the computer. Open your web browser and click on the Settings option. Go to the history file and click on the clear history option. You should also remove all the cookies and caches from the browser. Windows OS provides a disk cleanup tool that can remove all the junk files automatically. Here are the steps for using Windows cleanup tool for removing the junk files:

  1. Close your running program
  2. Hover your mouse to the Start button
  3. Type command in Windows search bar
  4. Hold the ctrl and shift keys from the keyboard
  5. Press the Enter button
  6. A permission prompt will appear
  7. Click on Yes option
  8. A black screen with blinking error (command screen) will appear
  9. Type cleanmgr and press the Enter button

The Disk Cleanup tool of Windows will start calculating all the junk or removable files from the computer. Wait until you get a list of items on your desktop. Click on all the items you want to delete from the computer. Now click on the OK button and wait until the process completes. Now restart your computer and check for McAfee error 401.

Reinstall McAfee antivirus

You can also get this error when your McAfee program files get corrupted or you delete the program files mistakenly. Go to the control panel and navigate to Program and Features. You will get a list of installed programs. Click on McAfee antivirus and hit the uninstall button. Follow the on-screen instructions for uninstalling McAfee setup. Now restart your Windows PC and reinstall the fresh setup of McAfee antivirus. In case McAfee antivirus is still showing you an error then you should ask the McAfee team for help.