Malwarebytes and Windows 10 ......

[Phil Hepburn]

Hi Guys,

Does any of you use Malwarebytes version 3 with Windows 10 ? And are you on the Insider programme and download new versions regularly?

I have been a happy user of MWB (Malwarebytes) from about two years ago. I found it great, and it did the job of getting me clean and also keeping me clean.

However, a couple of months ago I updated to a new version of Windows 10 just to find that with not much message feed-back, the complete installation of my purchased MWB was wiped off my system by the update install.

I assumed that the latest Defender would be doing the job of protecting me - how wrong was I ;-0((

Very recently (a week or so) I needed to reinstall MWB and after running it my Window 10 system is not as it should be. I manage to get by - BUT - with much messing about, and Edge just stopped working.

Can anyone enlighten me as to what the state of affairs is with MWB and Insider ?

HELP !!!

Phil.

[wriedmann]

Hi Phil,

normally I run Trend Micro on my system, as I have a 10 PC Services license. Most of my customers run only Windows Defender, and I use Malwarebytes only occasionally when I have to clean a system, and uninstall it afterwards.

I had only two antivirus products that don't disappointed me, and they were Trend Micro (only the Enterprise versions) and Microsoft Defender. All other products sometimes created more damage blocking systems.

Wolfgang

[Phil Hepburn]

Hi Wolfgang,

Thanks for the feed-back.

Out of interest, do you know how I can check my Windows 10 system to see that the internet server my system uses as the default (Virgin Media is my provider) is as it should be?

Last time I had an issue Dick helped me and found that my system was going first to a web server in Tel Aviv.

The other day I thought I emailed Dick (van Kooten) but the message may not have been sent - due to the problems and issues I am currently trying to live with - my communications seem particularly screwed.

It would be nice to know that my Windows 10 system is actually talking to my providers server, and not some other which is likely to be 'mal' in nature.

Any ideas, you Dick if he sees this, or anyone else.

I can't look back as Dick's old email as my current issues won't allow me to do it.

Cheers,
Phil.

[wriedmann]

Hi Phil,

there are only two possibilities that something can occur: you could have a wrong DNS server (try to set 8.8.8.8 - Google Public DNS should work), or you have a trojan horse.

I would download a Linux antivirus CD or use the offline version of Windows Defender to check your system.

Wolfgang

[Phil Hepburn]

Thanks Wolfgang,

I will send you a few screen shots of my system to your personal email box, its the wrong place to post them here.

Fingers crossed,
Phil.

[wriedmann]

Hi Phil,

if you need to check a PC offline if it has some backdoor or trojan, you could use this one

http://www.avg.com/de-de/download.prd-arl

You can burn it on a CD or put it on a stick and boot your PC from them. A Linux will start and scan your PC. It works very well most of the time.

But sometimes I have found viruses manually that no antivirus found.... only searching for processes and executables in the users home directory (c:users[UserName])

Wolfgang

[Phil Hepburn]

Hi again guys - its has been a while since I started my efforts with Malwarebytes and the latest versions of Windows 10 (Insider) releases.

Since I last posted you I have had three more versions of Windows, and am now using the very latest which is Build 15031.

First of all let me say that my system is back to working well, my email app and Calendar are working properly once again, and any issues with VS 2017 RC 3... have seemingly gone away!

The only problem/issue that remains is that the latest version of Malwarebytes (version 3....) installs and run but only if Defender is effectively switched off as the real time protection. Previously version 2 seemed to install and work while so did Defender - not any more.

After some trialling and testing I have found the best situation for me and my system as :-

The Malwarebytes is doing the Real Time protection for me, and I have Defender set to do an occasional scan (at least once a day - quick scan). I also force a scan of MWBs at least once a day, and I have to say that MWBs does seem to give me meaningful warnings of web site activity that Defender never did.

I think I am back to a stable system and one ware I am not infected, or have my main internet server (default) set to some strange and distant one. Wolfgang helped me check this, and all my devices on my home network seem to be pointing at the same, and right server.

I can recommend the version three of MWBs (Malwarebytes) if anyone is in need of some protection. I buy a two year licence for 3 machines - good value for the money I feel.

Good Luck, and keep safe and secure ;-0)
Phil.
Wales, UK.

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[Phil Hepburn]

Good morning folks,

[ .. this could be useful to all guys updating in the future to the next public release of Windows 10 ..]

Just a bit of an update on my office PC system and me running Malwarebytes with the latest Windows 10 update versions.

As you may know, I am an 'Insider' guy, meaning I follow the insider programme that Microsoft offers. Each time they (MS) post a new build of Windows 10 I download it and update. Well, till a few weeks ago, 3 perhaps.

Remember I was running MWB as my main AV software package, and just 'on-demand' running a MS Defender scan about once a day. This worked well until I needed to update build 15048.

When build 15055 came along it tried to download and update in the usual way, took the right amount of time, gave no obvious messages, but failed to complete the update. Each time I was left with the original build of 15048 - and in the settings screen a "not very helpful" message saying that I needed to Restart to complete the update !!!

Okay then I thought, .... if I leave it till the next update (the one after 15055) then it may clear the situation which felt like a 'deadly embrace' - you know, can't do anything till update completed, but update fails, etc., etc., etc..

When the messages on the web (somewhere unrelated to my situation and updating) said of a update 15063 (I seem to recall) I knew I had to do something positive myself ;-0((

So after a bit of a think and a short web snippet I read, I decided to turn off my Malwarebytes application. Yes, they allowed my updating to go ahead as usual, and I did one update after another, (two in all) to get me to where I am today. I am not sure if it is called 15063 or 1703 - or both numbers - see below :-

updateWin10_01.jpg (48.59 KiB) Viewed 450 times

So my next step was to turn back on my Malwarebytes and this worked fine and now keeps me as secure as it did previously. It was a quick turn on, and not a reinstall.

What have I learned from this ? - well, it would appear that I may have to turn off MWB next, and every time I wish to update my Windows 10 to the next version - AND - this may well be the case for the next full public release.

Also I feel that this is also the case for other flavours of AV applications, so be warned if you are a standard sort of user, like me, when it comes to system support apps etc..

Hope this interests and helps a few guys in the Forum.

Regards,
Phil.
Wales, UK.

[wriedmann]

Hi Phil,

1703 is the newest public version, the relative build number is 15063.13.
On my work machine I don't use Insider builds, only updated manually yesterday evening.

Normally, for such an update it would be better to turn you antivirus off (at least I remember Microsoft recommended it). My antivirus (Trend Micro WorryFree Business Security) has survived all my upgrades without any problem, and on all machines where I'm using it.

Wolfgang

P.S. the upgrade took about a hour and a half until it completed, including the download time