Computer freeze for 5-10 minutes after reboot.

[OinkOink]

Brief description of the issue :

When I boot my computer, after everything is loaded in the icon tray, I have a small time frame where I can open programs (google chrome, explorer, etc) but after 5-15 seconds, my computer freeze and I cannot do anything. Even the ctrl-alt-delete fails. This started happening since I last updated Malwarebytes. I

Do you get the same result more than once if you follow the same steps? Y/N (No, it's random)

OS: Windows 7 Pro SP1 x64, Im using Malwarebytes Premium Paid version: 3.0.6.1469

I have attached the log files, Ive been uninstalling reinstalling malwarebytes to try fixing the issue. I also opened a thread here yesterday and someone suggest to adding some .exe of mwb in the exceptions, as well as in my kaspersky exception list, but that did not fix the issue. My kaspersky and malwarebytes don't detect anything.

I used the version 2.xx for a long time. I formatted recently and this started happening after I was using v3.xx. I also changed my SSD drive thinking it was fried.. I'm really not sure what to do.

 

 

 

logs.zip

[OinkOink]

I switched to the 2.2.1.1043 version and I had no problem since then, so it really is something with the newer version.

Hopefully it will be fixed as I cannot use it in it's current state.

[Mwewe]

You're more patient than I am -- I've never waited 10 minutes to see if it'll un-freeze! I have the same problem in Windows 10. I refreshed the OS in place just a week or two ago and still have the freeze.

I've run Malwarebytes for many years with no problems, but this last upgrade just broke my system. So I'm running without it and the first thing I notice is how much faster the system is. And my system is 3.4 gHz with eight processess and 16 gBytes, so it should run fast... but not with Malwarebytes aboard.

Like you, I've spent hours troubleshooting it and have finally given up. I'm a computer professional and I'd rather get paid for doing this kind of work.

[OinkOink]

6 hours ago, Mwewe said:

You're more patient than I am -- I've never waited 10 minutes to see if it'll un-freeze! I have the same problem in Windows 10. I refreshed the OS in place just a week or two ago and still have the freeze.

I've run Malwarebytes for many years with no problems, but this last upgrade just broke my system. So I'm running without it and the first thing I notice is how much faster the system is. And my system is 3.4 gHz with eight processess and 16 gBytes, so it should run fast... but not with Malwarebytes aboard.

Like you, I've spent hours troubleshooting it and have finally given up. I'm a computer professional and I'd rather get paid for doing this kind of work.

I spent 4-5 days honestly, tried many combination, started from a fresh format with windows updates, everything was fine until I've installed the 3.06xx version. I'm really not sure why not everyone is encountering this, it's weird. It's not like my computer is a potato and I also have basic computer knowledge as I'm a C# dev.

And the symptoms are really nasty, a 10 minutes steady freeze is really annoying. Well it appears the problem is not only on win7 x64 pro, I honestly thought it was this.

Are you usking kaspersky as well? What are your motherboard and processor?

[Mwewe]

16 hours ago, OinkOink said:

I spent 4-5 days honestly, tried many combination, started from a fresh format with windows updates, everything was fine until I've installed the 3.06xx version. I'm really not sure why not everyone is encountering this, it's weird. It's not like my computer is a potato and I also have basic computer knowledge as I'm a C# dev.

And the symptoms are really nasty, a 10 minutes steady freeze is really annoying. Well it appears the problem is not only on win7 x64 pro, I honestly thought it was this.

Are you usking kaspersky as well? What are your motherboard and processor?

It's easy to believe the problem is somehow your fault because it doesn't happen to everyone. If it did, they wouldn't release it. But developers frequently have newer computers, or at least computers dedicated to developing their product. Even the rest of the company doesn't have computers typical of home users. Computers are such a messy mixture nowadays that it's nearly impossible to make a bug-free product. But it sounds like yours is most likely apretty standard system, so this bug shouldn't have gotten past the filters.

But that said, it's business as usual to release a product and wait for all the bugs to be reported. Malwarebytes was much better at polishing their product before final release in the early years, but they face more competition now and it looks like they're rushing to keep up. They need a much bigger beta program. Obviously, if you or I were on it they wouldn't have released 3.0 - at least not without knowing how bad the problems are. But you're busy making a living and I'm busy being retired. ;-)

I'm Windows Defender as my anti-virus. It's the Microsoft Security Essentials renamed (again) and included with Windows 10. It usually scores in the middle range for AVs but it's free and has little impact on performance. You can do better, but you can also do a lot worse. Like Kaspersky, you need to include its folders the the MB exclusion list.

My system is an ASUS with a 64-bit Intel Core i7-3770 CPU @ 3.4 gHz and 16 gB of memory. It came with Windows 7, which I liked so much I vowed to keep it. But when MS offered free upgrades to Windows 10 I read up and gave in and I'm glad I did. 

[Mwewe]

Hey, OinkOink!

I found an article that may explain what's going on. It seems the exclusions lists for MB 3.0 is different from those of 2.0. So you may need to re-examine and change them. I'm using Windows Defender (renamed Essentials) and I saw this article:

https://support.malwarebytes.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2650097--malwarebytes-and-microsoft-security-essentials-conflicts?b_id=6520

It says "If your computer is unresponsive, wait 10-15 minutes for it to become responsive and then complete steps 1-8"; does that sound familiar? The steps 1-8 go through the exclusion procedures. The filenames are not for MB 3.0 and I had to adjust accordingly. Defender lets me exclude the entire MB folder, so it's a bit easier.

So I'm giving 3.0 another shot. I've just re-installed it and carefully changed the exclusions list in Defender and Malwarebytes. Defender also lets you exclude processes, so I added the three MB processes. So far, all is working, but time will tell. If it hangs again, I'll wait the 15 minutes and see if it recovers, etc.

This is a plausible theory: since the exclusions lists were out of date, Defender and Malwarebytes were scanning each other and locked in a deadly embrace that takes 10-15 minutes to untangle. It would make sense if Kaspersky and Malwarebytes were also susceptible to the same problem.

I'll let you know if this doesn't fix the problem.

Regards,
Mwewe

[AdvancedSetup]

That article is for an older version of the program but one can try and let me know.

Not a fix for everyone, but I've found it to be helpful for quite a few. Give it a try and let me know if it helps any or not.

 

 

 

1. Open a CMD Window as an Administrator on the target server and enter the following commands:

 

• cd %windir%\system32\
• lodctr /R
• cd %windir%\sysWOW64\
• lodctr /R

 

    Note: This should not affect performance on the machine. This command resyncs the counter values.

 

2. Open up Regedit and navigate to the following registry key:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\PerfProc\Performance

 

3. Make sure that the value (if it exists) for the Disable Performance Counters is not 1.  If the entry does exist and the entry is 1, change it to 0 or delete that entry within the key.  ** PLEASE NOTE ** make sure you contact your system administrator before making changes to the registry, and make sure that you back it up before you delete it.

 

4. Restart the Windows Management service.

 

Note: After completing the Microsoft instructions, a reboot is required.

 

If that does not help then I'll need to get some logs please.

 

Please read the following and post back the 3 requested logs as an attachment.
 
Diagnostic Logs
 
Thanks

 

Ron

 

[Mwewe]

Well, my conjecture was not the solution. After correcting the exclusions, it took only a day before my system froze. It happened when I tried to launch the MB UI. This time I waited and it un-froze in around 4 minutes. My diagnostics show it's the Malwarebytes program assistant.exe that initiated the problem, then the Malwarebytes service went into resource deadlock.

I couldn't see why the performance monitors would be involved, especially since it's a newly refreshed system, but I tried AdvancedSetup's suggestions anyway. The moment I tried to restart the Windows Management Instrumentation service, I saw that Malwarebytes's service depended on it, as did Security Center and IP Helper. It wouldn't completely shut down until I manually killed the MB service, then the other services restarted but when the MB service started I got a 2-3 minute freeze. Then it all came back and looked normal.

After another hour or so my system froze up once more, this time for about 4-5 minutes. So I ran the programs and made the diagnostic logs suggested by AdvancedSetup. When I examined the logs I saw lots of private info in them so I've decided not to submit them.

Instead, I'm removing Malwarebytes from my system. It seems to run better without it anyway. The Windows 10 Defender is much improved over the earlier versions and does a fair job. But neither it nor Malwarebytes caught the PUPs, PUMs, explorer hijacks and bad application paths that Panda's Web Cleaner did. I ran it for a lark the other day after needing to use it to clean my sister's computer.

I love the idea behind Malwarebytes, using behavior, etc., instead of large and obsolete signature files. But I'm afraid it's become so bulky now that it actually slows my computers and now it even freezes them. So I'm finding an alternate solution until my confidence in MB returns.

Thanks for the attention,
Mwewe