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[SOLVED] Possible conflicts with Agnitum Outpost


hake

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I run Agnitum Outpost Security Suite Pro 9.0 on Windows XP SP3.

 

I have observed difficulties at startup which can be slowed greatly and sometimes the system hangs.  I have a hunch that variations in the load order of processes at startup might be a cause of inconsistencies in behaviour at system start.  Once the system is running, MBAE and Outpost seem to work well together.

 

This behaviour only occurs at subsequent restarts after MBAE is installed.  After installing MBAE, things work beautifully but the first startup after installation is especially troublesome.  Behaviour then seems to progressively improve with each startup as if there is a learning process occurring.

 

Using old versions of Outpost (e.g. Outpost free 6.5) does not seem to result in a problem.  I am using Outpost 9 (the most recent) and this setup, when run with MBAE, needs patient coaxing to start fairly reliably.

 

I see in the 'conflicts' thread that there are issues at startup so perhaps it's unsurprising that I am having difficulties with Outpost/MBAE at that stage.

 

I have very recently changed from a combination of Outpost Firewall Pro/Avast 9 free to Outpost Security Suite Pro.  The same general difficulty applies to either alternative so one might assume that the problem lies in the firewall part of Outpost.  The Security Suite alternative seems a bit trickier than the Firewall/Avast combo.

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Thanks for posting this hake.

 

As you say, it seems this might be a problem with Outpost Pro blocking certain processes from loading and/or intercepting them. You might want to check the Outppost advanced logging facilities to see if there are any hints of it interfering with MBAE and/or other software which loads at startup.

 

I'm not familiar at all with Outpost, but check to see if there is the option of excluding certain process(es) from its real-time monitor and if so add MBAE to it to see if it makes a difference.

 

Please post back with your findings so we can update the Known Issues and Conflicts list in case there is a need to do so.

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Just FYI

I also run the same setup on xpSP3 and have monitored startup and shutdowns and do not /can not identify any issues.

All seems as smooth as expected considering the OS and RAM I have available.

Interesting

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I have a handle on the problem.  I find that mbae.exe always starts but the traybar icon often does not appear.  If I logon immediately on receiving the logon prompt, the traybar icon will almost certainly appear.  If I allow a considerable time before logging on, the traybar icon probably won't appear.

 

I look at the scheduled task 'Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit' and see that the command line contains two commands : -

"C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit\mbae-loader.exe" "C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit\mbae.exe"

 

My reasoning is that if the second command "C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit\mbae.exe" executes before logon, the icon cannot be placed in the traybar.

 

The presence of Outpost appears to have an effect which helps cause the problem but I cannot understand how that could be.  I don't believe that there are any actual incompatibilities.  Once the traybar ion is visible, Anti-Exploit works great with Outpost and Outpost functions as it should.

 

Please think my hypothesis through for yourselves.  I'm not hugely confident that I am right but I think that it deserves consideration.

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Yup.  mbae.exe is running but the traybar icon is missing yet Anti-Exploit is active.  I allowed an interval of five minutes between the logon prompt appearing and my logging on.

 

QED

 

Please let me know if my hypothesis is somewhere near the mark.

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I have a kludge which does work (so far).

 

I place the Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit program shortcut in "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\"

 

Seems to work in that the icon now appears in the traybar.  Simple fix by a simple soul.

 

As soon as I post this, it will stop working.   :mellow:

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I give up.  The kludge did not work (as foretold).  Sometimes the icon appears, sometimes it doesn't.

mbae.exe always runs.

I guess it's a matter of timing during startup.

I was defeated by the 'Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit' job in the Task Scheduler renewing itself so I could not use the Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit program shortcut in "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\" as hoped.

 

I look forward to this being fixed in the next version.

 

C'est la vie.

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