jkd_ba

Hi TwinHeadedEagle, Nothing Sophos can do. Only "On-access" monitoring (ie. file/folder) can be whitelisted. As mentioned above, Sophos is monitoring behavior as well. Both products are monitoring behavior (treating each other as enemies), along with the uniqueness of W8 I suppose. Sophos being a corporate product, most MBAM customers might not run into this. From Sophos standpoint, most Enterprises have other tools at their disposal for dealing with malware. Such is the nature of unique problems, until it's affecting a large customer base, time & energy to resolve isn't in the cards. As mentioned, greatly appreciate all the efforts from MBAM!!

Ron, Understand. I'll try to pursue with Sophos. As it sits now, I have to decide whether I want AV protection OR malware protection. Heck of a position to be in as both Sophos/MBAM combo have served me well (knock-on-wood). Once again, Many Thanks for the outstanding support!!!

I've had Sophos as my AV for well over 15 years. Over time, like most of our apps, it's morphed into an all-in-one type product. The current version of Sophos I'm using is now called "Endpoint Security and Control" (v10.3) and has 6 different modules. It's various modules are; - On-access scanning - Behavior monitoring - Sophos Live Protection - Web Protection other modules not related to our problem; - On-demand extensions and exclusions - Right-click scanning Previously as we were troubleshooting our immediate problem, I was disabling "On-access scanning" to rule-out the AV as the problem. I reported back to "TwinHeadedEagle" that disabling my AV didn't change my problem with my browsers. Well, I was wrong. With Sophos & MBAM both loaded, once I disabled all 4 of the Sophos modules listed above, my browsers returned to functionality. Aha! so it is my AV! In attempting a process-of-elimination as to which module was causing the problem, I became confused/exhausted because whenever the browsers' don't load, the only cure is to do a complete reboot of the system. - I started off with all 4 modules disabled, browsers OK - Enabled modules one-at-a-time, turning-off all others, browsers OK - Tried introducing 2 modules-at-a-time, depending on which 2, browsers had problems Now you can see the frustration because each time browsers fail, laptop has to be rebooted to clear issue. At some point, I realized further process-of-elimination wasn't going to change the issue. Current versions of Sophos and MBAM on the WINDOWS 8 PLATFORM ONLY have an issue. I say this because the same versions of Sophos & MBAM exist peacefully on XPsp3 & W7x64 Enterprise. From my investigation of the various Sophos "configuration" menus, I haven't been able to discover how to "whitelist" MBAM. An issue I guess I'll take up with Sophos. I was a free user of MBAM for over a decade and being so thoroughly impressed with the product, I then became a paid "Premium" user. Now I add outstanding "customer support" to your product! Exception rather than the rule in today's IT world and I'm soooo appreciative!!! Many Thanks for all you do!!!

Sorry for the delay, busy days mixed in with troubleshooting. Well, we've found the issue through a long process of elimination. Sophos AV & MBAM incompatibility. Will fill-in with details tomorrow.

Thanks for the "Attention" regarding "System Restore". Turned it on and created a manual "Restore" point and then rebooted. Bought this laptop on a deal just so that I could become acquainted with W8. Probably during initial setup, when I received it from Dell, I turned it off because my intentions were to install my paid version of imaging software. Not a fan of "system restore" from past experiences, rather restore an image instead. Many thanks for your concise & detailed instructions, had no trouble following them. I've attached the 2 requested files. - JavaRa...process ran with no issues. - TFC...process ran smoothly...didn't ask to reboot, but I did anyway to be on the safe side. - FRST64/fixit...ran to completion once I "OK'd" the previously mentioned "ERUNT access" error mentioned in "Post #5". Upon reboot, MBAM disabled; - noticed my "folder view" had been altered...was mentioned in TFC customer comments...easy to return to my preference - opened all 3 browsers...all opened instantaneously...IE11 only, had changed my "Home Page"...FF & Chrome settings still intact Activated MBAM; - IE11 opened but wouldn't display "Home Page"...status just stated "Connecting"/revolving tab circle...eventually closed manually...clears from "Task Manager" - Chrome did a partial load of "Home Page"...couldn't "page down" to see rest of page because it was still attempting completion...never fully resolved, closed it manually...still resided in "Task Manager" as before. - Firefox has multiple "Home Pages"...initially appeared to load all...discovered they were probably "cached" because when I tried a "refresh", page wouldn't load at all (like IE)...manual close still leaves in "Task Manger with an eventual "Mozilla Crash Report". All in all, pretty much the same as before. Greatly appreciate the support!!! JavaRa-5-6-2015.log Fixlog.txt

Forgot to add, the system is no longer just W8x64. Over the weekend I upgraded to W8.1 Update in preparation for eventually W10. The results are always the same whether I was basic W8 or now W8.1 Update.

Hi Ron, I've attached the latest scan results along with the (2) diagnostic logs requested. As a brief summary, system hardware; - W8x64 - Intel i3 1900mhz - 8GB Ram - Sophos AV I have the latest MBAM premium running successfully on 2 Windows systems (W7x64 Ent. & XPsp3). The 3rd system above won't allow me to use any browser (IE11, Firefox or Chrome) whether I'm on a domain (work) or public wi-fi) when MBAM is loaded. The browser will open but won't resolve the page, it will show a status of "connecting" and where the page contents should be, there's just a complete white page. "Task Manager" shows no high usage of CPU cycles/Memory/Disk Activity. In addition, Firefox & Chrome, once opened while MBAM is loaded, closing either browser won't fully clear from "Task Manager". Meaning if I try to open the browsers again, they will show 2 instances. Even if I exit MBAM, "Task Manager" will still hold onto both browsers. The only to clear the problem is to reboot (not logoff) and don't allow MBAM to load/open, then browsers return to full functionality. My Sophos AV has been disabled while doing the above tests to see if it was causing some kind of conflict, but the results stayed the same. NOTE: I receive an ERUNT "access error" when I run FRST ( see post #5) but the scan will proceed once I "OK" the dialog box. Greatly appreciate the great support! Recent Scan.txt FRST.txt Addition.txt

Hi TwinHeadedEagle, Yes I'm still here. Facing the realities of my situation must be so unique that out of (3) devices, at least (2) work fine. Software/hardware can be very complicated. Actually, my career is in IT support on a college campus. I appreciate the effort you've put forth so far (above & beyond the call-of-duty) and I didn't want to take away from your kindness helping others. Much appreciated and I'm still an MBAM supporter! Take care!

I've always done "default" installs of MBAM in which case "Enable self-protection module" is already unchecked. I've never checked it and as of this moment it's still and always has been unchecked. Try a fresh install and you'll see the same. By the way, beer on me. Many thanks for your continued assistance!

Hi, Wanted to add from last test. Following the clean reinstall of new version, disabled my AV (Sophos) to see if it was potentially the cause of the problem. Doing so didn't change the browser results. I've attached the 2 requested files. Many thanks again! FRST (2).txt Addition (2).txt

TwinHeadedEagle, Sorry for the delay. Have been offline for several days. You're totally right about the clean removal & reinstall. Immediately after posting, I tried that. AV off, all apps closed, no MBAM "self-protection", run "mbam-clean", reboot. AV still off, run latest version ( v2.1.6.1022), uncheck "Trial Version", activate. Same symptoms as original complaint (pre-"fixlog.txt"). If MBAM is "started with windows", or not, but opened upon entering "Desktop", all browsers won't load/display. The browser application opens but whatever page is trying to be accessed isn't displayed eventually going into a state of "not responding". Exit MBAM, while within "Desktop", all browsers function without issue. Will be available tomorrow all day and beer on the way. Many thanks!

No change. Though I did an upgrade install (over the top of original install), not clean removal and clean install of new version. Additional note; If I uncheck "Malware protection..." & "Malicious website...", all browsers function correctly. If I uncheck both and enable each one individually, I receive inconsistent results that further cloud the issue. Greatly appreciate your perservance, I'm wireless at the moment but beer on the way!

Another way to put it; - Logon once, MBAM set not to "start with windows" - while in "Desktop", open all 3 browsers...all open & close quickly - start MBAM manually from application shortcut while still in "Desktop"...haven't logged-off - all 3 browsers hang/won't load - exit out of MBAM...still in desktop...haven't logged-off - open all 3 browsers without issue Weird huh?

Read thru the document and followed the instructions to the letter; - Disable AV, close all apps. - Run cleanup tool - reboot -verified there were no MBAM entries in c:\program files (x86) & no MBAM services on machine. - clean install of latest version - reboot We're right back where we started. All 3 browsers will not load at all. With MBAM off, all 3 work fine. I will add that previously, I kept referring to the problem existing when MBAM is "started with windows". Well I'm seeing the problem exists even when MBAM is just opened (settings unchecked for "start with windows"). So MBAM doesn't have to "start with windows", just opening MBAM (only "Enable Malware Protection..." and "Enable Malicious Website..." are checked) and the browsers will not function. I checked MBAM's "minimum hardware requirements" before I installed on this Windows 8 (not 8.1 or 8.1 update) laptop but I'm beginning to think it doesn't like the OS or my hardware. Frustrating but as always appreciative of your support.

Hi, Well the "fixit" resolved some things but not without additional issues. If MBAM is not allowed to "start with windows"; - all browsers (IE, Chrome & Firefox) load quickly and close completely (Task Manager shows them closing completely as well). With MBAM set to "start with windows; - Both "IE" & "Chrome" have the same symptoms. They load 50% of a web pages content. Tab shows "circling" icon and status at bottom of web page states "Connecting...". It will eventually, as reported in the title bar of the browser, stop responding (stating "not responding"). At that point, you physically have to close the browser. "Task Manager" shows no high percentages (CPU, Memory or Disk) but both the browser & "mbamservice.exe dominates the CPU cycles (when sorted by CPU, constantly at the top processes position). - "Firefox" has different symptoms. I've had it open with 5 tabs simultaneously and all 5 web pages display fully and quickly. Firefox's problem is when you go to close it, it appears to close just fine. Minutes later you'll get a "Mozilla Crash Report" dialog box. Or if once you close Firefox and reopen again, it'll report that it's already running. Task Manager shows that though you've physically closed it, it's still listed under processes holding onto about 222 MB of memory. Weird stuff huh? Once again, if I don't allow MBAM to "start with windows", then everything is OK. Once again, greatly appreciate the assistance!