Annoying Pop-ups

[siliconvalleycfo]

I have purchased and installed Malewarebytes Pro. I keep getting these annoying pop-up messages that say that a website has been blocked. That is great -- the software is doing its job -- but I would like to get rid of the annoying pop-ups. 

I went into the program and clicked on the "Protection" tab. I unclicked the boxes at the bottom that say "Show tooltip balloon when malicious website is blocked" and then I hit "Exit" (box, lower right), but the unchecking doesn't seem to stick. When I open up the program, the boxes are once again checked. Any suggestions? Note that although I did buy the program and "Activated" it, it still show up as "Trial" when I open it up. Thanks for your help here.

 

[daledoc1]

Hello and , siliconvalleycfo:
 
First:

Not sure why you are still seeing the "Trial", if you activated the PRO with your ID and key (and rebooted?).
You might want to try Method 1 of the clean reinstall process : MBAM Clean Removal Process
During the install wizard, you can decline the Free trial of MBAM PRO, if it's offered.
Just "Activate" using your ID and key once it's installed.

This should also resolve your issue with certain settings not sticking...
 
As for the IP blocks, yes, you can turn off the tooltip notifications.

However, IP blocks can indicate a number of things:

• They could indicate that MBAM is doing its job of blocking bad content on websites.

• They can also occur when running Skype and certain P2P programs, such as torrents. For example, please see this help desk topic about Skype and this one about P2P.

• In some cases the blocks are a false positive.

• However, they can also be a sign of infection, especially if the blocks are outgoing and they occur when no browsers are open.

--> There is more information about the IP blocking module in the in the Help Desk topics HERE and HERE and HERE, and in the FAQ - Section G.
They also contain instructions on how to determine what process might be trying to make the connections.
You may also research the IP in question at www.ip-lookup.net or a similar site.

On the other hand, if you think the IP blocks might be a false positive, then please read this pinned topic before starting a new topic in the Website Blocking False Positives sub-forum.

Alternatively, if you think you might be infected, based on the IP blocks and/or other suspicious computer behavior, then please read the following for the available options to have a malware expert assist you with the cleaning process Available Assistance For Possibly Infected Computers.

If you are getting a lot IP blocks, especially outgoing and with no browsers open, then this would probably be the safest course of action.

 

Please post back and let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

daledoc1

[docster]

Installed v2.0 today, and can't find a way to disable only the notifications re: blocked malicious websites — I don't want to block any other notification.  In version 1.x, there was a specific preferences item taking care of this, but I can't find the equivalent in v2.0.  Wah?

[John L. Galt]

There is a good side to all this though.  in MBAM 2.0 when you add an exclusion, it is for that particular domain only, so all other domains based upon that IP address that is blocked will still be blocked, while you can access the site that you know is not malicious.

 

I'd venture that if you start adding your good sites to the exclusion list, it won't be long before you stop seeing repeated frequent instances of the popup.

[docster]

Thanks much for the prompt reply, John.

 

The only time I receive the mass "Malicious Website Blocked" notifications is when I'm running my bittorrent client, and there're way too many notifications to track each individual IP.  I've managed to decrease the amount of pop-ups somewhat by excluding outgoing connections, but I'd really like to have a way to disable these pop-ups via a MBAM preferences item.
 

Any particular reason why you folks got rid of this particular option setting?

[John L. Galt]

TBH, I am not sure.  I've asked the same about other things that were present in 1.7 and that are not in 2.00.

 

However, if it is your BT client, there is another way - add your BT client program as an exclusion to MBAM.  That should stop all those popups that are generated specifically from the BT client.

 

Remember, though, you will be a bit more vulnerable.  If you were to use another app that happened to call that IP address, such as a browser, MBAM will still catch it - but your BT program will sail along happily without an issue.

[Firefox]

However, if it is your BT client, there is another way - add your BT client program as an exclusion to MBAM.  That should stop all those popups that are generated specifically from the BT client.

I believe this exclusion will be done under Web Exclusions => Add Process and enter the executable for your BT client.

[John L. Galt]

Oops, yes, I did not specify how to do it - my bad, and good catch Firefox, thanks!

[docster]

However, if it is your BT client, there is another way - add your BT client program as an exclusion to MBAM.  That should stop all those popups that are generated specifically from the BT client.

Thanks, John — and you too, Firefox — but my problem still remains:  I want to continue having malicious sites blocked, I just don't want to be notified on each instance of blockage.

[John L. Galt]

That would probably have to be sent in as a RFF (Request for feature) to the development team.

[Raztaman]

Why on Earth has this feature been taken out?!?! It frustrates me how this happens in all areas of software, where devs feel they should remove or fix something that wasn't broken!

I've seen plenty of people on forums asking for ways to disable these notifications even when the feature was in MBAM (and they didn't know how), so it's quite obvious that people were using the damn feature. I'm going to have to stop using MBAM completely if this isn't fixed ASAP, these notifications are so annoying, especially while playing games.

FIX WHAT YOU BROKE!!

[daledoc1]

Hi, @Raztaman:

 

Why on Earth has this feature been taken out?!?! It frustrates me how this happens in all areas of software, where devs feel they should remove or fix something that wasn't broken!

I've seen plenty of people on forums asking for ways to disable these notifications even when the feature was in MBAM (and they didn't know how), so it's quite obvious that people were using the damn feature. I'm going to have to stop using MBAM completely if this isn't fixed ASAP, these notifications are so annoying, especially while playing games.

FIX WHAT YOU BROKE!!

 

 

Please see my reply to your other reply in another user's topic here: https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?/topic/104815-in-all-seriousness-is-there-product-out-there-better-than-mbam/#entry864547

TMALSS: notifications in version 2 are currently "all or none" -- more granular user control will be added in a future release.

 

It would greatly assist us with being able to provide you with individual help if you would please start your own, separate topic, rather than cross-posting in multiple topics started a long time ago by other users.

 

Thanks for your patience and understanding.