Real Time protection help

[pmcjr]

On 1/19/2017 at 0:18 PM, Will_T said:

This is a pretty common issue in this release as several other threads show.  I have a suspicion it might be a hard one to fix as it seems a bit different for different people.  In my case I never have it turn off.  Approx 50% of the time when the computer is booted, web protection starts fine.  Maybe 40% of the time it is off, but clicking "turn on" in the popup fixes it.  Of the remaining 10% or so of the time, 1/2 of the time clicking that button does not work and I have to open the interface and manually turn it on.  The remaining times, even that does not work and I have to quit MB and restart to get it to stay on.  Once on, it is on for good for me. 

But as your description, and other threads show, there are different scenarios for different people.  I hope that does not make it too hard to fix.

This does seem to be a recurring problem that I had hoped was fixed in 3.06.1469.  In 3.05, I experienced this real time protections turning OFF problem and not being able to turn back ON.  It was so bad I downgraded to 2.2.1.1043.  Last week I took the leap of faith and installed 3.06.1469.  Perfect for three days then Web Protection turned OFF.  I noticed it via the System Tray error message.  It would not turn ON until after I rebooted the computer.  I did notice, though, that it turned OFF at the same time I started a manual Windows Defender scan within seconds of waking the computer from Sleep mode.  I'm thinking there is a conflict with Windows Defender launching at the same time as part of the Start Up Options>Delay Real Time Protection....setting. This is set for 15 seconds.  Perhaps I should increase this time window?  In any event, I am not starting a Windows Defender scan until we know that MB had addressed this potential problem.  Since not starting a WDef scan, Web Protection has not turned OFF.

Win 7 SP1x64

[pmcjr]

2 hours ago, dcollins said:

@Omnimon it looks like some of your files didn't update properly to the newer version. Can you try doing an uninstall using Control Panel (doing it in safe mode might be best). Then reboot and try to install the latest version again?

Devin, for those of us that have uninstalled earlier MB versions for the install of 3.06, are you saying doing it via the Control Panel is adequate?  No need to use the MB uninstaller tool?  I also manually deleted any remaining MB files and/or folders left on the C drive.

[dcollins]

@pmcjr under normal circumstances, that's correct. The Control Panel uninstaller should remove everything; although we have seen some issues where that doesn't work as intended

[pmcjr]

On 1/30/2017 at 2:54 PM, pmcjr said:

This does seem to be a recurring problem that I had hoped was fixed in 3.06.1469.  In 3.05, I experienced this real time protections turning OFF problem and not being able to turn back ON.  It was so bad I downgraded to 2.2.1.1043.  Last week I took the leap of faith and installed 3.06.1469.  Perfect for three days then Web Protection turned OFF.  I noticed it via the System Tray error message.  It would not turn ON until after I rebooted the computer.  I did notice, though, that it turned OFF at the same time I started a manual Windows Defender scan within seconds of waking the computer from Sleep mode.  I'm thinking there is a conflict with Windows Defender launching at the same time as part of the Start Up Options>Delay Real Time Protection....setting. This is set for 15 seconds.  Perhaps I should increase this time window?  In any event, I am not starting a Windows Defender scan until we know that MB had addressed this potential problem.  Since not starting a WDef scan, Web Protection has not turned OFF.

Win 7 SP1x64

Devin...

I no longer start a Windows Defender manual scan at the same time I wake the computer and while MB 3.06.1469 is starting and have no problems with Web Protection turning OFF since then.  Does MB think that Windows Defender Win 7 and 3.06.1469 were a conflict?

[dcollins]

3 hours ago, pmcjr said:

Devin...

I no longer start a Windows Defender manual scan at the same time I wake the computer and while MB 3.06.1469 is starting and have no problems with Web Protection turning OFF since then.  Does MB think that Windows Defender Win 7 and 3.06.1469 were a conflict?

We haven't seen anything recently, and there haven't been any other reports regarding 3.x. That being said, you could try adding some exclusions to Windows Defender for Malwarebytes. Ideally you'll want to add the following exclusions.

C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-malware\mbamservice.exe
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mbam.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mwac.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mbamchameleon.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mbae64.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\farflt.sys

For anyone else experiencing this issue, please provide the logs listed on page 1 so we can help solve the issue for you

 

[pmcjr]

1 hour ago, dcollins said:

We haven't seen anything recently, and there haven't been any other reports regarding 3.x. That being said, you could try adding some exclusions to Windows Defender for Malwarebytes. Ideally you'll want to add the following exclusions.

C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-malware\mbamservice.exe
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mbam.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mwac.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mbamchameleon.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mbae64.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\farflt.sys

For anyone else experiencing this issue, please provide the logs listed on page 1 so we can help solve the issue for you

Devin, thank you for the fast and detailed response to my potential Win 7 Windows Defender conflict.  I didn't even know these specific MB files existed nor that you could add exclusions to Win Defender, but I found them and figured out how to add them as exclusion. Tools>Options>Excliuded Files and Folders>Add. I will still avoid starting a manual WDef scan when MB is starting up from Sleep Mode, but this is extra protection against Web Protection being turned OFF in that process...if that was indeed my problem.  I have received excellent support from Debbie and Lisa in the past few weeks and now you.

 

[pmcjr]

On 1/22/2017 at 6:18 PM, SimplyCraig said:

I actually fixed my issues...  It appears my settings disabled the "Enable self-protection module early start."  Enabling this option allowed everything to load up without issue.

Simply Craig, I don't really understand what turning this setting ON does.  The user guide says

• Enable self-protection module early start: When self-protection is enabled, you may choose to enable or disable this option. When enabled, the self-protection module will become enabled earlier in the computer's boot process, essentially changing the order of services and drivers associated with your computer's startup.

I believe it is OFF by default as my setting is now.  Did you notice any other effects from turning it ON?  What did you think would be accomplished by turning it ON?

[Will_T]

@pmcjr Hi - You quoted me above so I just wanted to let you know that for me at least this is fixed in 3.0.6.  But when I updated I went the long route of uninstalling and then cleaning up files, folders, and registry before installing a clean copy of 3.0.6.  That may have made the difference.  But in any case it has been a week at least now and everything seems to be as it should.