Unsolicited running in the background thrashing CPU

[akis_t]

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. Intel i7. Logged in as a USER account.

 

Malware (mbam.exe) runs in the background, thrashing two of my CPU cores/threads (2 out of 8) at 100%.

 

I did not start it. As a matter of fact I ran it yesterday from Administrator, then restarted and logged in as User.

 

So who started it? Why is it thrashing my CPU? What on earth is it doing?

 

I thought I would find the answers by running the application. Well, I try, but nothing shows on the screen. It is only in Task Manager I can see it silently killing my machine.

 

So I killed it. It starts again after a while. So I killed it again. And it starts again.

 

Which developer would ever, ever, ever, ever, write software which is SUPPOSED to protect innocent users from EXACTLY this kind of behaviour? What can you possibly be thinking when you write an application that can start on its own, be killed and auto-start again, display no windows or visible clues to the user "right now I am thrashing your PC" and even when the user starts it, it still does not pop up a window to give out some useful information like " I am busy thrashing your disk now, you'd better uninstall me if you want to be able to continue working".

 

Ah! I have just noticed a little icon in the taskbar. Was not there before. How did it get there?

 

It had everything checked "start with windows, thrash my machine by taking over 2/8 CPUS" and all that. So I disabled everything. Still in the background thrashing my PC unimpeded. "CPU Time" = "1:23:00" - 1 hour and 23 minutes worth of my CPU and I have already killed the damned thing two-three times. Now even WOW comes close to 1 hour an

 

Terrible. I am uninstalling this ridiculous piece of software.

[Firefox]

Hello and Welcome!

First off, calm down a bit... If Malwarebytes is running in the background its because you either have the Premium version or the 14 day trial installed. When did you install the software? If it was recently did you leave the option checked for Enabling the 14 day trial period?

Second, Malwarebytes is installed on hundreds of thousands of computer and most with no issues where the processor is being taking over. In cases such as this its due to either an infection or a conflict with other security products that you may have installed on your system.

Let's try this next, which usually resolves most issues, these steps need to be run under the admin account....

• Please uninstall your current version of MBAM and reinstall the latest build - MBAM Clean Removal Process for version 2x
• If that does not correct the issue, then Please read the following and in your next reply ATTACH the 3 requested logs - Diagnostic Logs

  (the three files should be CheckResults.txt, FRST.txt and Addition.txt)

• NOTE: There is an FAQ section with valuable information located here - Common Questions, Issues, and their Solutions

If you choose to not run these steps, that's entirely your choice, you installed this product by choice and your can remove it by choice.

I am only a volunteer and not an employee of Malwarebytes, but I can say I have installed Malwarebytes on thousands of computer and will continue to do so. By far its one of the best at removing Malware.

Thank You,

Firefox

[akis_t]

Thanks for the reply.

 

Under no circumstances should the software be running in the background without a visible window informing the user of every step of the process. Otherwise it is not better than the malicious software it seeks to protect against. Can you imagine a typical user that has no idea what Task Manager is and suddenly the £2,000 laptop runs like a dog, and of course the user does not have a clue. Isn't that malicious?

 

Secondly I think, but am not sure, the problem started with yesterday's automatic update. Again, the software updates itself and then decides to "take action" without asking the user, or even letting the user know that from now it will be running in the background doing crazy things. Under whose authority did it decide to take 25% of my total CPU resources (on an 8 core machine) without a running application but underhand, in the background? I really feel betrayed for the tool I trusted to prevent exactly this sort of behaviour, is not better itself.

 

Even if I re-install it, the software remains the same - it has the ability to run in the background, utilising a lot of resources, in my case 2 CPUs non-stop until I de-installed it, and it has NO VISIBLE Windows with which I can interact (even after I tried to start it).

 

The USER must be able to INTERACT with the software.

 

Remember when you say "thousands of machines and no problems" well, maybe 25% CPU without user agreement/knowledge/interaction constitutes "no problem" and surely my wife would not know the difference, she'd just say "I need an Apple because this laptop you gave me is too slow"....

 

Thank God for Task Manager.

[Firefox]

The Premium version is meant to run in the background doing silent updates and scans, as to why your not showing an icon or why its using too much of your processor we can not say unless your willing to post the requested logs....

 

On my computer for example (see specs in my sig) Malwarebytes processes are not taking up any CPU usage and not too much memory in my opinion as shown in the attached image.