Existing programs stall when trying to open them after Malwarebytes 2.0 install

[ebob2k]

Has anyone encountered a stalling problem when trying to open an existing program on a system with Malwarebytes 2.0 installed? (Or have you encountered a hang/stall problem when trying to install a program after upgrading to 2.0?)

 

In the past week, I've seen 2 systems that upgraded from Malwarebytes 2.0 from v1.75. After the upgrade, a 32-bit program (Sidekick 98) and a 16-bit program (SBT database) that worked fine with the old version, but repeatedly would not open after the 2.0 upgrade: They stalled during every open attempt.

 

Thinking the problem was a glitch in the existing 32-bit program that was stalling when opening, I removed the stalling program with Revo and attempted a reinstall, but repeated install attempts failed until I completely turned off Malwarebytes 2.0.

[Firefox]

Hello and

This issue may be similar to the one HERE except its with Photoshop, they are investigating that issue. I have alerted the Dev team to see what can be done and if perhaps you could help with the issue by providing some logs and/or crash dumps and a little testing.

 

Are these programs in question available for download from the internet?  Can you provide links so we can test with?

 

Thanks

[ebob2k]

You can download a copy of Sidekick 98 from

Beware, though, that because I found that link at [link removed], and because I haven't installed and tested that download yet, it might be slightly different than the US version. (If, as I suspect, it's the British version.)

 

If I find a link for the US version of Sidekick 98, I'll post it.

 

SBT is a different story: despite being an older program, it's difficult to find general info on those older versions, and near-impossible to find a download.

Edited August 8, 2014 by AdvancedSetup
Removed hyperlink

[ebob2k]

It looks as if Sidekick 98 is available at these 2 sites:

[link removed]

Edited August 8, 2014 by AdvancedSetup
Removed hyperlink

[ebob2k]

The 2 links in my previous post should be avoided. The downloads at both are infected.
Sorry for that post.

The previous post had a link for a good download.

[ebob2k]

As I thought back on the problems caused by 2.0, it occurred to me that it should not be necessary to try the Sidekick 98 program for the install, because I'll bet that at least a few other older programs will stall when an install of them is attempted.

I did see, though, during another recent install process for Sidekick 98, that the installer acts like a 16-bit program. Once the program is installed, however, it looks like a 32-bit program.

[AdvancedSetup]

There are issues where our program appears to possibly block 16-bit code from running on x86 Windows 7 systems. Note that16-bit code does not run on x64 Windows 7 systems either but that is the OS that does not support it.

 

32-bit and 64-bit programs are not affected

[ebob2k]

After it's installed, that 32-bit Sidekick 98 program is definitely affected. It stalls when I try to open it on my WinXP/SP3 system with Malwarebytes running.

 

I noticed that the links for that Sidekick 98 download were removed from my posts. Was the first link of any help to you? (I believe the only major difference is the holidays listed in the calendar. Once installed, it should have shown the program stall problem.)

[AdvancedSetup]

I'm sorry but there simply is no way for us to test software that was discontinued back in 1999. If you really need to use this product and it is not launching then you will need to exit out of MBAM. I'm reasonably certain that there is 16-bit code in the product especially back then. There were very few real 32-bit programs back then.

[ebob2k]

According to the MS test http://support.microsoft.com/kb/172194 for 32-bit & 16-bit programs, the installed-&-running Sidekick 98 is a 32-bit program.

I discovered on my own that Sidekick 98 could not coexist with MBAM 2.0 running, so I knew I needed to exit MBAM 2.0 whenever I needed to open that program.

Sidekick 98 might be an old program, but it will run on Win7 systems, and I, and many other users of it, have yet to find a program that can come close to replacing it.

Sidekick 98, however, is not our prime issue. It is MBAM 2.0 and what amounts to the possibility of program lockdown for other installed programs, because I seriously doubt that Sidekick 98, which is just one of hundreds of thousands of programs available, is the only program that will stall when opening on a system that is running MBAM 2.0.

My reason for posting the software conflict was not to have you fix the problem that arose when you improved v1.75 to v2.0 (but that would still be nice). Rather, it was to alert other users to the possible cause of their problem opening or installing some software on systems that were running MBAM 2.0.

After the AV, MBAM is the first program I install on a fresh-install system, and I also make it a point to install it on any system I encounter that's having any malware problems. However, your average user will not be a Mensa member or Fulbright Scholar, so they must be accommodated with clear instructions, which I have not yet seen, stating that some of their older software might not open and run (or might not even install) with MBAM 2.0 installed and running.

[AdvancedSetup]

I'm sorry but Microsoft does not support this software either. Again I'm sorry but at this time you will need to continue using your workaround if you wish to use this software. Yes there is other software that has been reported. Photoshop 5 (another 16 year old piece of software that came out in May of 1998) also hangs. It is on a list of things to look at but I will tell you now that we will look for anything specific that might be causing this and if possible try to correct it but due to the age of this software, and neither one of the program authors supporting it either, we will not dedicate time to correcting this issue.

 

Thank you again.

[ebob2k]

Because I’ve been very busy, this reply is more than a bit late, but I thought it needed to be posted.

 

I don’t know how to translate your ‘Microsoft…. and neither one of the program authors supporting it’ statement, since the programs don’t need support, and they seem to install and WORK on every Windows platform up to Windows 7, and possibly including Windows 8, even 64-bit versions.

 

It is very easy to summarily dismiss the program operation complaints simply because the programs are, as you seem to put it, ‘OLD’.

 

Those ‘OLD’ programs were, however, working quite well before the installation of, or upgrade to, Malwarebytes 2.0. How would you like the installation of a well-known program, such as Office 2013, neutering your Malwarebytes and making it unrunnable?

 

That, in the event that you weren’t sharp enough to catch it, is EXACTLY what many malware programs attempt to do.

 

How does your program’s effect, and your attitude regarding correcting the problem, make you a whole lot different than malware writers?

 

There comes a time when, ego or not, you must step forward and say, ‘There’s a problem with our new version that affects other programs, even those programs that were already installed and running.’. You seem to have chosen, for whatever reason, to ignore the problem and all of the users of Malwarebytes 2.0, in much the same way that Microsoft did, and continues to do, with their Windows 7 Explorer ‘drop-to-the-bottom’ folder problem: They knew there was a problem, but they refused to fix it.

 

As the months go on and more people are affected by this problem and become aware of your attitude toward it, that ignored problem will haunt you.

 

You have ‘upgraded’ a trusted, top-drawer program (Malwarebytes v1.75) to something that can’t be trusted to allow EXISTING programs on a system to even open.

 

If Malwarebytes 2.0 were an operating system, it might be understandable that some older programs would not install or run. But Malwarebytes 2.0 is not an OS, and that makes this problem all the more pathetic, because it seems that more than a few people there ‘just don’t care’.

[AdvancedSetup]

I'm sorry but that does not change anything and there will not be support for said programs. If you really cannot run it that way then I'm sorry you will need to look for another security product as we will not be recoding to support programs that old. It's not a matter of "don't care" it's a matter of business costs and referential integrity. Microsoft as I said before is the World's largest software vendor and they do not support older programs either. Again I'm sorry but it's just a fact of life that things move forward and at some point old items do get left behind.

 

Kind regards

 

Ron