Malwarebytes Anti-Malware What's UP?

[DJW]

What's up with the free version of Malarebytes Threats Anti-Malware. Of late it is taking forever to run a scan. I run it ever Saturday after I have run all my other laptop maintenance. Today it took 2 hours 17 minutes and 12 seconds to run the scan. It scanned 779,147 items and found 0 threats. All programs are up to date, all cookies have been removed, Defender has been run. The laptop is clean when I run Malwarebytes. Any thoughts on why it is taking so long to run?

 

Dennis

[airstream harry]

Just ran mine 17 minutes.

c u on the road

[Biker56]

It is slow at times. Try the SuperantiSpyware it is fast.

I run it often and Malarebytes maybe every couple weeks.

[Capt Joe]

Biker56...

 

Are you running the free version or the pay one?

If the free one, does it scan AND remove any problems found or does it just scan and find a bunch of problems and then tell you that you have to register and pay for the Pro version to clean your system.

If you purchased the Pro version, is that license for only one computer of will it allow multiple computers (3 or 5 or ???) to be registered?

 

Thanks for the lead. I hadn't seen or tried the Superantispyware and it does look like it would be worth a try,

 

Capt Joe

[Dutch&Di]

Our free version has always taken forever to run and it always says "no Threats found". I've just learned to run a full scan when I go online and let it do it's thing. The Microsoft essentials & Super Anti Spyware are still fast. I just live with it. Hugs, Di

[Biker56]

Biker56...

 

Are you running the free version or the pay one?

If the free one, does it scan AND remove any problems found or does it just scan and find a bunch of problems and then tell you that you have to register and pay for the Pro version to clean your system.

If you purchased the Pro version, is that license for only one computer of will it allow multiple computers (3 or 5 or ???) to be registered?

 

Thanks for the lead. I hadn't seen or tried the Superantispyware and it does look like it would be worth a try,

 

Capt Joe

I have used the Free one for several years. Never ask you to pay to take care of problems. In fact it doesn't bug you to try their paid version.

 

They have only been a few occasions that after running the faster Superantispyware. Running Malarebytes right after, found any more problems.

[docj]

If you purchased the Pro version, is that license for only one computer of will it allow multiple computers (3 or 5 or ???) to be registered?

 

 

 

I have several computers running on one paid license to the Pro version. The key difference between the Pro and Free versions is that only the Pro has real-time protection. It will prevent you from going to a harmful website, for example, so that your computer doesn't get infected. The Free version can help clean the system after it is infected but doesn't proactively block your access.

[DJW]

Docj

 

Have you noticed it running slower? It runs much faster on the DW's laptop which has 4 gig's less ram.

 

Dennis

[docj]

Mine scans automatically on a set schedule so I really haven't noticed any change. All three of our laptops have 16GB and Core i7 processors so they're pretty fast machines.

 

Joel

[Second Chance]

The length of time MalwareBytes takes to scan (free or paid version) is largely dependent on the PC - processor speed and the number of files that have to be scanned on the hard drive. I've been running the free version for probably ten years or more (since the I.T. guys at work turned me on to it). It look longer on my mom's older, slower PC last week than it does on our newer, faster laptops, but NEVER anything in the two-hour neighborhood. The free version scans for and fixes malware problems. Where it prompts you to upgrade to the paid version is to speed up your PC, clean up the HD, etc.

 

Rob

[RV_]

Folks there's more to the time it takes than differences in hardware, although that affects it too. But I have added the checkmark in settings to check for Rootkits which it does not do by default.

 

But below are my results of scanning and the equipment scanned just now.

 

I have the paid version on my six systems but two additional laptops I am selling are using only the free versions. They are fully loaded with LibreOffice and VLC and the rest of my basic required for using a computer.

 

I'm still running Windows 8.1 on my main All In One Dell 27" system. It runs the paid for Malwarebytes Premium, i7 quad core with 8 GB RAM, and a 2 TB hard drive with a 32 GB SSD in front of that. Just my music files on it are over 150GB now, and the 2 TB drive is 3/4ths full.

My paid version of Malwarebytes took 17 minutes and 44 seconds.

 

The laptop I am running a test on is using the free version of Malwarebytes and is an AMD Vision A6 1.4 - 2.4GHz Turbo 3420M quad core, originally Windows 7 now Windows 10, 6GB RAM, 256GB SSD. It is a 17" screen Toshiba Laptop running the free version.

My free version of Malwarebytes on the laptop just finished in 18 minutes, 59 seconds.

 

I run my scans only when prompted to by Malwarebytes or Defender finding something. I don't use SuperAntiSpyware and can't remember why, but it caused some issues for me or missed what Malwarebytes found. I forget a lot of my tests when I was testing five programs at a time like I used to do. When I was IT for my fast growth company I tested both personal and enterprise versions or anti malware programs as we had stand alone systems too that were off the Server and mobile. My last testing of multiple programs for security in that way was in early 2010.

[Ray,IN]

Malwarebytes free runs very fast on my desktop, and my laptop. The also have a different program, Malwarebytes Junkware Removal Tool, that I used to remove some stubborn malware (Binky) that standard Malwarebytes would not remove. For me, what runs the slowest is Windows Defender, it takes over an hour, and never has found anything not already identified and removed by Malwarebytes.

Spybot Search and Destroy finds and removes stuff Windows Defender does not.

[DJW]

RV

 

Should I be looking for some type of settings that somehow might have gotten changed? If so were do I look?

 

Dennis

[RV_]

Dennis,

You click on settings, then on that screen click on Detection and Protection. I have everything and enabled, and also have the non malware protection set to warn user about protections in the drop down menus, and both Malware and Malicious Website protections enabled on the right side. Those are my settings and safe enough. The only issue will when a PUP or PUM causes a warning, you have to know how to look up what they are and decide if they need to be treated as Malware and deleted/quarantined.

[DJW]

Ok, thanks RV

 

Dennis

[wildmandmc]

as an IT guy for decades, i wouldn't trust any of microsoft's programs essentials, defender.

Have always used free versions of all programs,

There has been few times malwarebytes did take a bit longer than usual. one question what antivirus are you running.

>>>> one of my trade secrets" run adware cleaner , get it from bleeping computer.com that usually gets rid of a lot, helps clean up infected reg entries,

along with browser infections. Then after the reboot. run malwarebytes.

[DJW]

I always run CC Cleaner right after I run Defender and just before I run Super Anti Spyware and Malwarebytes.

 

Dennis

[DJW]

So I went through my usual routine this morning with all my normal maintance and then ran malwarebytes and it completed in 26 minutes. Go Figure. The only difference was that I ran CC Cleaner completely not just the registery portion before running Malwarebytes.

 

Dennis

[RV_]

Boy you guys are like I was fixing computers in the early part of the century. I used to be paranoid about any blip on my screen, and would run scans daily from Central point software in the 80's and 90s, to Norton Systemworks (All the Norton Tools and Ghost), then Symantec after they took over, then Kaspersky from about 2005-2009 and with Windows 7 I started to use MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials), and with Windows 8 Defender to date. None of the MS free programs rates more than say AVG or some of the other free AV programs and yes, most rate higher than MSE or Defender. But a lot of that is industry marketing. See back a couple of years ago they stopped offering Malwarebytes Premium lifetime licenses, but before they did, I bought six lifetime licenses of Malwarebytes Premium. It is a real time scanner that runs with any other real time scanner as a backup and better cleaner when anything tries to get in. The combination of Defender on all my systems now, because none but one sold laptop waiting for pickup runs MSE, and all my systems are Windows 10 save my main system. I run scans once a week and let them run them on Saturday.

 

Guys the actual operating systems today are so secure you may have noticed that the bad guys primarily attack via third party ubiquitous programs Adobe reader, Adobe Flash, and Oracle Java. There is no replacement for Flash but all the others are removed. I use FoxIt reader on any system instead of Adobe reader and the PDF reader built into Windows 8 and up is pretty good too. My Brother all in one makes any PDF files I need to make, as they are always signed docs today and when I scan them with my Brother All in one, I have the default set to pdf for the output file type. So reader, or any PDF maker program for money is just not needed.

 

1. Today is Windows update day. Your first line of defense is doing your Windows updates as soon as released and keeping the doors locked on your OS and third party programs. Most know, but miss the significance of the fact that every time windows updates are done whether automatically or manually as I do at 12:01 local time, that any vulnerabilities known or that can lead to compromise are fixed. Vulnerabilities are like a thief making a wax impression of your house key when you aren't looking, then making a key to slip in to steal or do harm easily. Doing the monthly updates removes the avenues of infection via Windows or any Microsoft product like Office that is also updated with Windows updates. Flash is now updated by Windows update too, only for Windows 8 and above, because too many folks were getting infected by not keeping Adobe Flash updated.

 

I also use Windows update day as my scan day, and to check my other software for updates like FoxIt reader etc. I also run the CCleaner registry editor after doing Windows updates and run cleaner afterwards.

 

2. Your second line of defense is you, your online habits and your set up for security. If your antivirus program pops up a warning and asks if you want to continue with the download/website/installation and you say yes continue, then you will over ride the security software and get infected anyway. This is called social engineering. Fool you = your computer gets pwned. (pwned=owned) If you are running a 2004 computer running XP unsupported then maybe your habits count for a bit less because your systems are wide open for the infecting. Soon only Internet Explorer 11 will be supported as the older MS IE browsers are too insecure. But how you keep your system up to date and set up is the most important part of your security. It does not involve a lot of work. For example I have Task manager pinned to the task bar on all my computers so if as I had happen a few years ago a program starts to download from a rigged webpage I can click on task manager once, and end Internet explorer immediately. Then I can scan at my leisure off line, and clean up any leftovers. I don't allow any video codecs or additional programs to be used that are not already in use for any website.

 

3. Anti malware programs are only your third line of defense and you can scan 24/7 but the ability to find new malware without a signature to match against in the program's malware signature list is called heuristic scanning. Heuristic scanning is iffy at best on all of the security software for zero day threats. Zero day threats are brand new malware, or modified malware, that no scanner can detect until one example is caught and its signature is added to the list. While much is made of current heuristic scanning in testing, it just isn't that good. If it was all anti malware programs would drop the thousands of signatures and updates and just sell one product that finds them all. Your anti malware programs that are paid for are only as good and current as their malware lists, and they are never up to date on the latest being put in use until a lot of people get infected and it is "caught" and examined and then a signature for it added to the list in each program.

 

There really is no need to run any kind of scan daily IMO, and registry cleaners daily are totally unnecessary except possibly after monthly updates or major program upgrades or uninstalls. Today I use the built in barely acceptable real time scanning free programs from Microsoft, MSE and Defender, and back them up with Malwarebytes paid for real time scanner. Now please anyone reading never run two real time scanners like MSE and Norton or Kaspersky and AVG. Running two scanners won't give better security, but will mess up your system. The only real time scanner designed as a back up, to be run with the primary real time malware scanner, whether that anti malware is free or paid for is Malwarebytes Premium. Today it is 24.95 for 3 PCs per year. The lifetime license apparently stopped being offered in 2014. I had to buy one lifetime license for each PC back in 2011 when I bought them, but buying 3 at a time got me them at $14.95 each for life. So glad I bought them when I did.

 

Let's get down to your computer hardware itself. The new computers today with Windows 8/8.1 and 10 have both firmware boot security, and software in the OS itself.

 

Excerpt:

 

"With the release of Windows 8 in October 2012, Microsoft's certification requirements now require that computers include firmware that implements the UEFI specification. Furthermore, if the computer supports the "Connected Standby" feature of Windows 8 (which allows devices to have power management comparable to smartphones, with an almost instantaneous return from standby mode), then the firmware is not permitted to contain a Compatibility Support Module (CSM). As such, systems that support Connected Standby are incapable of booting Legacy BIOS operating systems"

 

That from this Wiki, scroll down to the heading "Implementation and adoption": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface

 

Dennis,

You've read similar from me before, but just to remind you that if your system is running Windows 7 or better it is pretty secure as long as you keep it up to date.

 

Wild,

I think you are referring to AdwCleaner here: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/ The author's website is interesting too but I only trust the AdwCleaner that Bleeping computer has as they are one of the most trusted of sources for me. The folks that write AdwCleaner also do two other programs and do downloads. Their home page is here: https://toolslib.net/ But I cannot recommend them at this time as I have not tested their other software before.

 

There was a program that I stopped using long ago and it was called Adaware by Lavasoft. Back in the day Adaware and Spybot S&D were the two biggies until adware removal and PUP removal became standard. But in checking if you meant Lavasoft I found they stopped making Adaware and now make a free competing antimalware program called Ad-Aware and have a well rated free version too that outperformed a lot of the paid and free programs out there. Lavasoft Ad-Aware fee anti eveuything can be fpound here: http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php it is well worth anyone's time looking for free antimalware to go to that page and then click on the AV Comparatives results link on that page. they also have their own in house testing and another independent lab results testing theirs against others. Wild, thanks for getting me to look for Lavasoft again. That was a very interesting find for me. I will make a separate post about it.

 

Back ten years ago in the good old XP days we did indeed have to scan a lot more and found lots of spyware. Spybot fell by the wayside as any anti malware does spyware now too, and the stuff it finds is by and large not any threat any more for the most part.

 

But I was tickled today to find my old friend Lavasoft still in business. Actually, running Zone Alarm, Kaspersky, Spybot S&D, Adaware, and several other security programs many time a month was not the good old days. Today Windows and Apple are much more hardened and secure causing the malware folks to have to resort to social engineering and attacking third party programs like Adobe and Oracle's messes. They are getting the axe or like me many user will not load Java except when called for then uninstall it.

 

Hope that helps.

[DJW]

Thanks RV, as always it did.

 

Got to go turn the DW's laptop on for Win 10 updates.

 

Dennis

[Dutch&Di]

Any suggestions? While I really don't care how long it takes to run the full scan on Microsoft Security Essentials, what is happening now is that it is taking forever to download the updates which is using up my data.

I did uninstall MSE on both my desktop & rarely used laptop, shut down the computers, restarted them and installed MSE on both. The older desktop managed to download the updates in about 35 minutes {a big improvement} but the laptop is still only a quarter of the way installed after an hour and a half. The Full Scan on the desktop has been running an hour and a half and only an 8th of the way done.

I did run CC and SuperAnti Spyware & Malewarebytes before reinstalling MSE and while I want to be as protected as my limited knowledge will let me be, I just can't use up my data plan on one program.

If there is something I can do, I sure would appreciate any help you all can offer. Hugs, Di