The nagging "databases out of date" window!

[Collector]

Hi, it's been a while since I last was online here....about three years ago...surprised that my account isn't deleted yet! Probably thought I might come back sometime in the future and didn't bother or they dont like deleting accounts altogether for archival purposes or something. But nevermind that.

 

Just recently bought myself Malwarebytes AntiMalware Premium edition and my god it works wonders! Blocking everything it thinks is unsafe and allowing things that are safe to pass through!

 

The first time I booted this program up(after overwriting an existing v1 installation), it had the problem of no context scanning so googled for some solutions and arrived to this https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?/topic/146017-mbam-clean-removal-process-2x/ .

 

Did that, perfect - all done now, context scanning works and shows when rightclicking on a file/folder. But auto updating and manually pressing the update button in program no longer works! And then eventually you get this nagging windows that says "databases out of date" - well of course it would be out of date if it wont update upon request! Clicking on the "Update Now" button in that window does nothing but nags me more as if it doesn't want to update or something is blocking it from doing so - I'm not sure what....

 

Yes, my timezone is correct 1st of August 2014 7:37PM Monday 1/09/14 as of this sentence. Even have a watch to confirm the date and a calender too and various other sources!

 

I have tried the clean removal process again but this time, it fixed the update thing but removed the context scanning option when right clicking - even if the option is changed to yes and repeated changed from yes and no! Ok, I'll try again, 3rd tries a charm - right?! Ran it and it fixed the context scan option but now the update feature no longer works! Huuuuuuuhhhhhh?! I was thinking this is weird and googled to see a similar issue I was having hoping to find a solution - nothing came up.

 

So here I am now, creating a topic of my issue in hopes there is a fix for this or something I missed.

 

This is only happening on my laptop, my other computer is fine(though the other one I manually uninstalled v1 and then installed v2 so could this be a factor? Because I read somewhere you can just do an overide installation on top without having to uninstall v1.7...). It's a Dell Inspiron 15 3521 in case if that's of any help. If there's anything else you need to know, I will gradly provide them.

 

Thanks,

Collector

[daledoc1]

Hi:

 

Welcome back.
 
Thanks for your detailed post.
 
A couple of things come to mind...
 
Re: trouble changing settings -- do you have the MBAM Self-Protection (SP) module enabled?
Dashboard > Settings > Advanced Settings.
That setting can interfere with changing settings, so it ought to be disabled first.
I'm not sure if that's what's causing your problems with the context menu entry setting, but it wouldn't hurt to check.
Also, do you reboot the computer after changing that context menu entry setting?
It requires integration with the Windows OS, so a reboot might fix it.

So, perhaps disable SP > disable context menu entry setting > reboot > enable context menu entry setting > reboot?
 
Re: "out of date" notifications:
There is a known issue with accumulating, stacking "out of date" database notifications that will be fixed in a future release.
If the computer is powered up, able to connect to the internet and updating as scheduled, those updates will be shown in the daily protection logs (Dashboard > History > Application Logs). In that case, you ought not to get a lot of these.

But especially if this is a LAPTOP that is not "awake" all the time, that might partially explain what you are seeing, 

Changing your setting here might reduce or eliminate that issue: Settings > Update Settings > Update Options > Change "Notify if out of date by" to 4 or 5 days.

(Changing your update check schedule and "recover if missed by" settings may also help.)

 

If it's NOT updating as scheduled, then there are many possible reasons for that.
A couple of easy things to check:
>>First, please be sure your system date/time are correct.

>>Also, please check to be sure there are no "Detected Threats" that need to be dealt with first, as this can prevent the program from updating: Click the "Scan" button at the top of the dashboard and verify that there are no detected threats (especially PUPs or PUMs) awaiting your actions.
>>Then, please be sure that your AV and firewall both give MBAM full permissions. It's possible that your AV or firewall might be treating the new build as a new program and may be blocking it -- the files that need to be excluded can be found HERE (just the one reply, not the entire thread). Please post back if you need help with that.

If those suggestions don't resolve your issue - please do this (I realize you said you have reinstalled at least once, but it would help to have a known, clean starting point to continue troubleshooting):

• Please follow the steps in this pinned topic to uninstall your current version of MBAM and reinstall the latest build - MBAM Clean Removal Process 2x
• If that does not correct the issue, then please read the following and post back attached to your next reply the 3 requested logs - Diagnostic Logs (the 3 logs are: FRST.txt, Addition.txt and CheckResults.txt)
• NOTE: There is an FAQ section with valuable information located here - Common Questions, Issues, and their Solutions

Please let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks,

[Collector]

A couple of things come to mind...

 

Re: trouble changing settings -- do you have the MBAM Self-Protection (SP) module enabled?

Dashboard > Settings > Advanced Settings.

That setting can interfere with changing settings, so it ought to be disabled first.

I'm not sure if that's what's causing your problems with the context menu entry setting, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

Also, do you reboot the computer after changing that context menu entry setting?

It requires integration with the Windows OS, so a reboot might fix it.

So, perhaps disable SP > disable context menu entry setting > reboot > enable context menu entry setting > reboot? 

After doing a fourth fresh re-install of Malwarebytes AntiMalware....it would appear that you don't need to reboot or and disable the SP right after the fresh install; just go to settings and click yes to explorer context menu entry and the context scan option is there for you when you right click any file/folder! Strange I - I don't recall it being this easy....oh well it works now, how can I complain?

 

 

Re: "out of date" notifications:

There is a known issue with accumulating, stacking "out of date" database notifications that will be fixed in a future release.

If the computer is powered up, able to connect to the internet and updating as scheduled, those updates will be shown in the daily protection logs (Dashboard > History > Application Logs). In that case, you ought not to get a lot of these.

But especially if this is a LAPTOP that is not "awake" all the time, that might partially explain what you are seeing, 

Changing your setting here might reduce or eliminate that issue: Settings > Update Settings > Update Options > Change "Notify if out of date by" to 4 or 5 days.

(Changing your update check schedule and "recover if missed by" settings may also help.)

Oohh, I seee..... Yeah, my lappy's not a 24/7 computer like a file server, it's only on when I need it and off when I'm not using it. Though am planning in future it might make a good game server running 24/7, hopefully, as it consumes less power compared to the desktop/tower server setup!

 

 

If it's NOT updating as scheduled, then there are many possible reasons for that.

A couple of easy things to check:

>>First, please be sure your system date/time are correct.

>>Also, please check to be sure there are no "Detected Threats" that need to be dealt with first, as this can prevent the program from updating: Click the "Scan" button at the top of the dashboard and verify that there are no detected threats (especially PUPs or PUMs) awaiting your actions.

>>Then, please be sure that your AV and firewall both give MBAM full permissions. It's possible that your AV or firewall might be treating the new build as a new program and may be blocking it -- the files that need to be excluded can be found HERE (just the one reply, not the entire thread). Please post back if you need help with that.

Well, not sure what good scanning using outdated database would be, but I suppose it's better than not scanning at all!

 

Hm, I can't seem to find nor add these files: mbamdor.exe and mbampt.exe to my firewall list. The other three I could find and they appeared to have already been allowed as they are in the trusted zone so I guess I don't need to do anything.

 

 

If those suggestions don't resolve your issue - please do this (I realize you said you have reinstalled at least once, but it would help to have a known, clean starting point to continue troubleshooting):

• Please follow the steps in this pinned topic to uninstall your current version of MBAM and reinstall the latest build - MBAM Clean Removal Process 2x
• If that does not correct the issue, then please read the following and post back attached to your next reply the 3 requested logs - Diagnostic Logs (the 3 logs are: FRST.txt, Addition.txt and CheckResults.txt)
• NOTE: There is an FAQ section with valuable information located here - Common Questions, Issues, and their Solutions

Well, it looks the first step pretty much fixed it all for me! :D   I guess all I had to do was strike another and it works! Usually I stop after three attempts of anything unless there was something else I haven't tried but you forced me to do a fourth one and it worked!! Thankyou thankyou thankyou!!

 

Well, just gonna do a threat scan with my new updated definitions! Let's see if there was any malware that was hindering my program....

 

But something still eludes me...how come the first three attempts of a fresh-install failed to resolve my issue? A bug? Well if it is, hopefully it gets fixed or else many people will find that they have to make at least four attempts for this procedure to work correctly....

 

Thanks,

Collector

[daledoc1]

Hi:
 
I'm glad you got it sorted out.
I cannot say why it required multiple reinstalls.
As I mentioned, that setting does integrate with the Windows OS.
It is disabled BY DEFAULT during a new install of version 2 - the user needs to manually change that setting to enable it.
(AFAIK Enabling it generally ought not to entail anything more tricky than changing the setting in the GUI and perhaps restarting the system.)
 
As far as the outdated database notifications, more granular user control over those popups will be provided in a future release.

What you might be seeing is the notifications from the logging of the "failed" update checks when the system powers up and tries to catch up on a backlog?

Again, this relates to Windows power management settings, not just to MBAM.
 
Not sure what you mean about the "scanning using outdated database"?
You are correct -- it is important to keep one's database updated to stay up to date with current threats.
But the computer cannot update the databases when it is powered off.
If you have the update scheduler set for hourly (the recommended, default setting), then the laptop will update within 1 hour or so of being powered up.
If you have a "recover if missed by" setting configured properly, it will do so even sooner.
And you can always perform a MANUAL update check as soon as you have booted up the system.

If you still need more help, please read the following and post back attached to your next reply the 3 requested logs - Diagnostic Logs (the 3 logs are: FRST.txt, Addition.txt and CheckResults.txt)

 

Thanks,

[Collector]

Well, looks like a threat scan came up clean!

 

 

Not sure what you mean about the "scanning using outdated database"?

Malware database, malware definitions whatever people call them these days.

 

 

But the computer cannot update the databases when it is powered off.

Unless you do it remotely....? Or does the system has to be on and not just plugged in 'on' for this to work?

 

 

If you have the update scheduler set for hourly (the recommended, default setting), then the laptop will update within 1 hour or so of being powered up.
If you have a "recover if missed by" setting configured properly, it will do so even sooner.
And you can always perform a MANUAL update check as soon as you have booted up the system.

Yeah, update scheduler is set at default. Hm, ...or maybe I should disable that altogether and update the definitions manually, that way I don't have to worry about any popups except for the ones that alert me that the definitions are so and so old and you need to update in order to be protected.

[daledoc1]

Malware database, malware definitions whatever people call them these days.

 

Yes, I understand. I'm not sure what you meant earlier when you mentioned scanning with outdated databases.

Of course that is a bad idea.

 

In any event,  MBAM Premium is specifically designed to run in real-time alongside an AV (anti-virus) to provide layered protection against ever-changing zero-hour and zero-day threats.

That's why the Research Team works 24/7 to keep the database updated 10-12 or more times per day.

 

So, turning off scheduled, frequent update checks would NOT be a good idea.

It would defeat the purpose of running MBAM Premium.

Similarly, although Notifications can be disabled in version 2, doing that is not a good idea either.

These notifications are currently "all-or-none".

So, if you disable them, you will disable other, critical notifications (such as malware detections, etc).

Better control of popup notifications will be provided with a future program version.

 

The default settings are configured for hourly update checks for the reason mentioned above.

They will occur hourly +/- 15 minutes of the scheduled time.

However, you can Edit the task in the scheduler to pick a time that works for you.

 

>>>If you would like help with your settings, please post back with the requested 3 diagnostic logs, as mentioned in my earlier replies.

ALSO, for additional information:

There is an FAQ Section here: Common Questions, Issues, and their Solutions

And here are links to the MBAM 2.0 User Guide: Online and PDF

And there are many useful KB topics and videos at the helpdesk support page

 

Thanks,

 

[Collector]

 

Yes, I understand. I'm not sure what you meant earlier when you mentioned scanning with outdated databases.

 

Heh, "using outdated database" - grammer error there that I just corrected.

 

In any event,  MBAM Premium is specifically designed to run in real-time alongside an AV (anti-virus) to provide layered protection against ever-changing zero-hour and zero-day threats.

That's why the Research Team works 24/7 to keep the database updated 10-12 or more times per day.

 

So, turning off scheduled, frequent update checks would NOT be a good idea.

It would defeat the purpose of running MBAM Premium.

Similarly, although Notifications can be disabled in version 2, doing that is not a good idea either.

These notifications are currently "all-or-none".

So, if you disable them, you will disable other, critical notifications (such as malware detections, etc).

Better control of popup notifications will be provided with a future program version.

 

The default settings are configured for hourly update checks for the reason mentioned above.

They will occur hourly +/- 15 minutes of the scheduled time.

However, you can Edit the task in the scheduler to pick a time that works for you.

Oh I see, good point - well then I shan't disable it!

 

Assistance acknowledged, daledoc1.

 

Collector.

[daledoc1]

OK.

 

It sounds as if you are all set now?

 

Take care,