PiersJ

I started the step but then got side-tracked (a lot of personal issues at the moment, which is why there's a delay in replying for which I apologise). Windows Storage "Sense" then cleaned my downloads folder (in fairness I should have disabled it). Now the tool is no longer available (404) from the URL you posted.

Yes, same person. Sorry about the delay again - I can't guarantee I'll be able to reply within a reasonable timeframe at the moment, but I am trying. Running the Security Check software now.

OK, selected 'No' and it instantly opened the Malwarebytes Privacy install wizard. I manually exited that. OK, Malwarebytes uninstalled using the support tool. Now going to reboot, open the tool, then gather logs. If I understand your instructions, I'm not meant to re-install Malwarebytes yet? Sorry if that's a stupid question - want to make sure I do things correctly. Edit: uploaded the requested zip. I'm pretty sure I was meant to re-install Malwarebytes after rebooting and then generate logs, but just in case here's a (probably useless) zip. mbst-grab-results.zip

I am truly sorry. I've had personal family problems that took priority over everything. I've now completed the requested instructions, but it didn't go quite to plan.

I am genuinely sorry for the delay. With the first half of the instructions, the 'clean' process seems to remove all Malwarebytes components and files, but then instead of it rebooting as you stated above, a popup appears asking if I want to reinstall it - I selected 'yes' and it then starts the installation process. There is no restart between cleaning and re-installing. The tool also mentions that the licence key will be saved to the desktop - this does not happen. Edit: upon trying to install it, it says that Malwarebytes has been installed, but then a dialog pops up saying it's been cancelled. Edit2: After trying to find my licence key and activating it, the service "stopped working". Going to reboot now and try the second half of the instructions. Will update this post with the requested zip file, assuming it works (gremlins). For the record, I have run sfc /scannow, checked SMART, etc. (the M.2 NVMe SSD is only three months old - like the rest of the PC).

This post is of little use as I've not yet had a chance to reinstall using the above tool, but after using the PC with Malwarebytes not running, my boot time (the Windows logo) - ignoring Task Manager's time value - went from ~20s to almost instant (I think I saw the Windows logo for less than a second). Login also went from taking ~5s after entering my PIN, to now showing the desktop straight away. Previous explorer windows that are automatically opened upon login also showed instantly. I will follow the reinstallation instructions above, but I'm amazed (and very surprised) at how much faster Windows 11 Pro is without Malwarebytes.

Currently running a batch encode with three x265 processes going. Will run the tool once that's completed. Screenshot because it's only been a few months since I've gone from an 4C/8T 6700K @ 4.4 GHz to a 12C/24T 5900X @ 4.25 GHz and I'm still amazed at the performance... plus I'm so tired that I'm finding it hard to find the motivation to move from my office to my bedroom.

I've continued to test scenarios and found that the ransomware component is the cause of the slowdown. Disabling it instantly fixes the issue on all storage formats. Enabling it again brings the problem back. It seems that disabling it also reduces the Malwarebytes Service from using over 450MB of RAM, to ~295 MB.

Looks like it might be something else. I never like seeing audit failures. Although, this seemed to be when I was testing each protection layer. Hmm.

I appreciate the reply (even if the attachment is "unavailable"), but I'm not prepared to remove all temporary files on a two-month-old, clean Windows 11 installation. I can reproduce the problem by simply enabling Malwarebytes again. For now, I'll stop using it on this workstation (it still works fine on my Windows 10 server) and return to it at a later date (enabling/disabling each protection mechanism one by one to find the culprit). In terms of the following: Windows Temp - there are about a dozen files between %systemdrive%\Windows\temp and %temp% as I regularly perform maintenance Users Temp folders - please see above Edge, IE, FF, Chrome, and Opera caches, HTML5 storages, Cookies and History - I apologise, but I am not prepared to do this as the Chrome install is only a month old, with three extensions (uBlock, Privacy Badger, Session Manager). Recently opened files cache - I cleared that and disabled it from caching (assuming we're talking about the same option) just before I posted Flash Player cache - not installed Java cache - It's just been updated and, therefore, the cache has been cleared Steam HTML cache - I apologise, but I am not prepared to do this Explorer thumbnail and icon cache - I let Windows rebuild the thumbnail/icon cache about a week ago BITS transfer queue (qmgr*.dat files) - Get-BitsTransfer -AllUsers shows no queue Recycle Bin - Already emptied Again, I genuinely appreciate your help, but there's not much you can do when the user won't fully cooperate (I'm not trying to be annoying). I should point out that I installed Windows 11, activated it using my account licence, used Ninite to install a number of standard applications (Audacity, LibreOffice, etc.), including Malwarebytes, then started using the PC. It was after that time I started to restore files from my server and noticed performance issues. Edit: Going through each of the four Malwarebytes layers and enabling/disabling just one at a time (i.e. disable Exploit Protection -> test -> record result -> re-enable Exploit Protection and move on); Exploit Protection (disabled): No change Ransomware Protection (disabled): Very large (positive) change with only a slight delay Malware and PUP Protection: No change Web Protection: No change It certainly appears that Ransomware Protection is the cause.

Thank you. I don't believe there's an infection on the PC (I check any software I don't trust with Virustotal as well), but here's the requested zip file. mbst-grab-results.zip

Thank you for the reply. I've created the zip, but it contains a couple of exclusions from 'not entirely legitimate sources' (technically, one exclusion). Is that still OK?

Background My PC is relatively new (about three months old) and I performed a clean Windows 11 installation (not my first choice), installed my usual applications, and started using my PC. The Problem I can do sustained file transfers from SSD to HDD, over the network from a 4U server to NVMe, or any other configuration you can think of and the speeds are excellent. The drives perform as expected in terms of reads, writes, random, etc. However, the problem is that renaming a file or directory can take 2 or 3 seconds. Explorer will freeze whilst a file or folder is being renamed. This is frustrating. My Atom-based HTPC (Pentium J5005) renames files and folders instantly. My server (4U Supermicro, Xeon 1225, albeit with HBA card) renames files and folders instantly. Both of those PCs are far, far slower. All drives show 0% utilisation when the problem occurs. The Fix (I believe) Simply exiting Malwarebytes, and letting Windows Security turn its own built-in security application on seemed to fix the problem. Renaming files and folders is instant. Enabling Malwarebytes brings the problem back. Which part of Malwarebytes is causing this behaviour? PC Specification: AMD Ryzen 5900X Corsair H150 Pro XT (360mm radiator) Corsair 32GB (2*16) 3600 MT/s CL18 Asus ROG B550-E w/ WIFI EVGA RTX 3080 XC3 Hybrid (240mm radiator) M.2 NVMe = WD Blue SN550 (~2,400 MB/s | 2,000 MB/s write) SATA SSD WD Blue 1TB (x2) SATA HDD Toshiba N300 (7200RPM, 256MB cache) Thank you for any help.

I've been using MBAM for ... I honestly can't remember how many years it's been, but a long time. It had a clean interface and did the job it was meant to do. However, version four brought a new UX and UI that does not work (especially the UX) and requires more clicks per step and is counter-intuitive. I've been searching for an alternative app since I can't stand the UXUI that much. A loss of three licences may not be much, but I can't imagine I'm alone. Any plans to bring back a reasonable interface, or once that's less Norton/McAfee and more MBAM?

I have two licence keys purchased through Malwarebytes, although one doesn't show on my account and I gave up with the official support as it wasn't that helpful. On to my question, I have looked for an answer by reading the two help articles about third-party sellers as well as searched the forum. I have a simple question, or possibly two questions that I hope the community/staff can answer: Q1: Do third-party vendors exist for consumer licence keys? Q2: Do life time licences exist for Malwarebytes 3.x? Q3: If a licence key shows as activated on Malwarebytes, but does not activate in the Subscriptions section in my Dashboard, does this mean it is pirated, or is this the standard procedure for third-party vendors? Again, I have read documentation but it's confusing and some of it conflicts with points made by forum staff. G2A has a reputation as being shady, but I have used it four times for Steam purchases over the last six years without an issue. Thank you for taking the time to read this post. PS: I understand that third-party keys are not supported by Malwarebytes. I'm not asking for support, merely a method to verify if the keys are genuine.