Solved Malwarebytes Users...I need your advice

tinmar49 said:

I may well be wrong, but I got the impression that if Malwarebytes was registered, it suppressed the working of WD.

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It does. Like with other 3rd party solutions, Defender is automatically deactivated when it is installed and registered. When it is uninstalled, Defender will automatically spring back to life.

In my considered opinion, the built in security of today's Windows is too good to pass up on. Defender, Windows Firewall, Smart Screen, and the other things built into the Edge browser are all excellent and provide all that a home user needs.

Personally, from what I have read about Malwarebytes over the years as to what it does and does not do, I would never depend on it as my sole means of protection. The main reason is this. Malwarebytes concentrates on new threats and things currently in the wild in significant numbers. It deletes detection for older things that are not currently being found very often. This is straight from the horse's mouth so to speak as their own people have said it. It is not an antivirus program, it is an antimalware application. To me, it is a great application but better suited as a secondary layer of protection. Many don't realize this but when you do a manual threat scan with the free version of Malwarebytes, your primary application, including Defender, also scans at the same time. Malwarebytes will sometimes find things Defender has let through but in my experience, they are not things that are classified as malicious or dangerous by other protection programs. If you really want to see this in action, try another app that is now owned by Malwarebytes called AdwareCleaner. I almost guarantee it will find things that your primary protection has let through no matter what it is.

Dch48 said:

It does. Like with other 3rd party solutions, Defender is automatically deactivated when it is installed and registered. When it is uninstalled, Defender will automatically spring back to life.

In my considered opinion, the built in security of today's Windows is too good to pass up on. Defender, Windows Firewall, Smart Screen, and the other things built into the Edge browser are all excellent and provide all that a home user needs.

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There is a setting to not register it with Defender so both work, although the default position will register and deactivate defender.

I do agree with your post just above this one, run the 2 together and not rely on Malwarebytes alone

Dch48 said:

If you really want to see this in action, try another app that is now owned by Malwarebytes called AdAware.

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Hello @Dch48

Instead of AdAware, did you mean the free Malwarebytes AdwCleaner perhaps?

HTH

1PW said:

Hello @Dch48

Instead of AdAware, did you mean Malwarebytes AdwCleaner perhaps?

HTH

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Yeah that's it. Thanks.

I will add one more comment.

The reason many of us members are pushing Keeping Defender on is the following.

Malwarebytes does not target script files during a scan... That means MB will not target; JS, HTML, VBS, .CLASS, SWF, BAT, CMD, PDF, PHP, etc.

It also does not target documents such as; PDF, DOC, DOCx, XLS, XLSx, PPT, PPS, ODF, etc.

It also does not target media files; MP3, WMV, JPG, GIF, etc.

Malwarebytes will block files like these if malicious on execution-only.

And,

Malwarebytes is not designed to function like normal AV scanners and uses a new kind of scan engine that relies mostly on heuristics detection techniques rather than traditional threat signatures. Malwarebytes is also designed to look in all the locations where malware is known to install itself/hide, so a full or custom scan shouldn't be necessary, especially on any sort of frequent basis (like daily), especially since the default Threat Scan/Quick Scan checks all loading points/startup locations, the registry, all running processes and threads in memory, along with all system folders, program folders, and data folders as well as any installed browsers, caches, and temp locations. This also means that if a threat were active from a non-standard location because Malwarebytes checks all threads and processes in memory, it should still be detected. The only threat it *might* miss would be a dormant/inactive threat that is not actively running/installed on a secondary drive, however, if the threat were executed then Malwarebytes should detect it. Additionally, whenever a new location is discovered to be used by malware the Malwarebytes Research team adds that location dynamically to the outgoing database updates so the locations that are checked by the default Threat/Quick Scan in Malwarebytes can be changed on the fly by Research without requiring any engine or program version updates/upgrades.

An AV will catch the file just by downloading it or just opening a folder with a detected file in it.

For example, you get an email with an infected attachment, Malwarebytes will not even blink until you run it yet Defender will detect it if it is in their database without even actually clicking on it. Remember the list of files Malwarebytes does not target.

Then I will leave you with this.

As good as Malwarebytes is, it is just a layer of protection.

Using a browser that has Ublock Origin and the Malwarebytes Browser guard enabled is also a layer of protection.

Not opening attachments from an email unless you were expecting it from a specific user during a specific time period.

Do not use Torrents. Do not install every free software you find. Do not click links in an unknown email. Go directly to the site listed in the email.

Having a monthly image of your computer on an external drive that is only connected during the backup is actually better than any protective software ever made. Macrium Reflect free is the program I use and place on every computer I service.

Sorry for arriving late to this thread, but I hadn't realised anyone else had raised a Malwarebytes issue on this forum. My situation is this:

My Dell Inspiron 3891 desktop PC is 2 days old and came with Windows 11 Home. It has replaced an old faithful, a Windows 7 PC dating back to March of 2013.

I have a lifetime Malwarebytes Premium subscription, purchased outright in the days before MB introduced monthly payments and which MB promised to 'honour for life'. Kudos to the company, that's exactly what it has done.

Yesterday, I discovered (belatedly!) that a folder of program executables saved from the predecessor PC had not been accurately backed up to the external drive I was using for archiving. Some programs, relating to screenshot, PDF writing, and even system specs like Belarc, were missing. Accordingly, with the Dell at that stage being but 1 day old, I went online to download the exes from their original publishers.

The outcome is that regardless of browser, regardless of website, no downloads have been possible. Every download attempt failed (using Firefox and Edge).

Stuff I once considered essential to my 'computing life' remains out of reach.

Having now ruled out Windows 11 as a possible cause -- it isn't blocking me from downloading stuff from anywhere I choose -- I'm now trying to figure out if it's an AV thing. Or, perhaps, a problem arising from a conflist between Malwarebytes and Windows Defender. Both are running simultaneously on this PC just as they've always run smoothly and simultaneously on previous PCs of mine.

If anyone else with Malwarebytes on a Win11 system has encountered failed download problems, I'd love to know if and how they solved the matter: thanks!!

Hello, @PeterW,

Welcome to ElevenForum.


Firstly, I am still running Win 10. But can tell you, that at times, I've had to temporally disable Malwarebytes Premium, as well as Windows Security, for certain DL's.

Not too helpful I guess, but hopefully you'll find a solution soon.


I wish you the best.

Many thanks, WXC, for your kindness in responding so promptly.

It's a somewhat frustrating time at the moment, especially as when I open Task Manager I can see Malwarebytes Service is running, but when I attempt to stop it, I'm told I don't have permission to do so.

I have however been into the program's settings and turned off 'web protection' in hope this might make a difference.

I also went to Malwarebytes itself with a view to temporarily uninstalling the entire thing and re-installing eventually: I don;t think I'm at risk so long as Windows Defender continues to live up to its good reputation.

Malwarebytes offers a special tool for program uninstallation and reinstall. I clicked on the link to attempt the download, but that's been that. . . 'Download failed'.

I've no idea if Malwarebytes is causing the problem and would hate to wrongly accuse it of anything but this is turning into a farce: I can't even download anything from Malwarebytes (nor anywhere else) now.

@PeterW At this point, I'd try an In Place upgrade/reinstall and see if that solves your problem. (You will NOT lose any of your already installed apps or files)

PeterW said:

Many thanks, WXC, for your kindness in responding so promptly.

It's a somewhat frustrating time at the moment, especially as when I open Task Manager I can see Malwarebytes Service is running, but when I attempt to stop it, I'm told I don't have permission to do so.

I have however been into the program's settings and turned off 'web protection' in hope this might make a difference.

I also went to Malwarebytes itself with a view to temporarily uninstalling the entire thing and re-installing eventually: I don;t think I'm at risk so long as Windows Defender continues to live up to its good reputation.

Malwarebytes offers a special tool for program uninstallation and reinstall. I clicked on the link to attempt the download, but that's been that. . . 'Download failed'.

I've no idea if Malwarebytes is causing the problem and would hate to wrongly accuse it of anything but this is turning into a farce: I can't even download anything from Malwarebytes (nor anywhere else) now.

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I'm sorry to read that. These issues can sometimes cause such headaches for users.

I honestly don't have a solution for you, as I've never had this issue.


Just one thing about Malwarebytes Premium, all I've ever had to do, to temporally disable it, was to 'Right' click the little icon in the taskbar, then click 'Quit Malwarebytes'.

If that doesn't work out for you, as you just wrote, you can always 'Deactivate' it, shutting it down completely, then readily 'Activate' it after you finish whatever task you are doing. Just be sure to have your 'license ID number, and license key number' at the ready, when you start to 'Activate' it again.


Hopefully another member, will chime in, and more specifically address your problem.

Peter, Have you tried right-clicking the Malwarebytes icon in your tray and choosing Quit Malwarebytes? That stops the service and stops all MWB processes. Although you can't directly stop the service in the Services window, this method stops the whole shooting match.

If you right click the Malwarebytes icon in the notification area you can select 'Quit Malwarebytes'. Another setting that might help is under settings - security and slide to off ' Always register Malwarebytes in the Windows Security Centre'.

I do not register my MWB Pro with security center and MWB and Defender have been happily running side by side for years. As @Wisewiz said, they provide protection against 2 different things and neither are resource hogs. Keep in mind, either or both, are only as good at protection as is the user's browsing habits. The best first line of defense is you.

I have mine set to Register & Defender is disabled...no issue dl'ing anything.

PeterW said:

Malwarebytes offers a special tool for program uninstallation and reinstall. I clicked on the link to attempt the download, but that's been that. . . 'Download failed'.

I've no idea if Malwarebytes is causing the problem and would hate to wrongly accuse it of anything but this is turning into a farce: I can't even download anything from Malwarebytes (nor anywhere else) now.

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I suggest you join me at the Malwarebytes forum and I will assist over there. Malwarebytes Forums