Complete removal of "Your Premium Trial Expired" dialog

[accalk]

Is there anyway to stop the "Your Premium trial expired" dialog that pops up?  Sure, you can select "Stay Downgraded - I don't need Real-Time Protection", but the popup appears after every reboot.

Thanks!

Al

 

 

Edited April 12, 2017 by accalk

[dcollins]

Are you clicking the X to close this or the Ok button? Just trying to clarify so I can see if I can reproduce

[accalk]

Hi Devin,

Either one - the X or the OK button will make it go away...however...after you reboot, the pop up re-appears...every.time.you.reboot.

I like to include the free MWB on the computers we sell (and suggest customers purchase the premium edition), but that popup gets a bit tiresome after awhile.  Yes, we know the trial has expired.  If there's no way to prevent it from returning, I will stop installing it for my customers.  MWB 2.0 never had this "feature".

Thanks!

 

Edited April 12, 2017 by accalk

[Porthos]

@accalkWhy don't you look into the Techbench program and sell MB and make some extra income.

31 minutes ago, accalk said:

MWB 2.0 never had this "feature".

It did but you could uncheck it at the time of install.

[dcollins]

OH wait, I may have misunderstood. Are you saying that you want the message to go away without choosing 'Stay Downgraded'? Or are you saying that even if you click 'Stay Downgraded' and click Ok, the popup still appears?

[accalk]

16 hours ago, dcollins said:

OH wait, I may have misunderstood. Are you saying that you want the message to go away without choosing 'Stay Downgraded'? Or are you saying that even if you click 'Stay Downgraded' and click Ok, the popup still appears?

When I select "Stay Downgraded..." and click OK. The popup goes way for the time being.  When I restart, the popup comes back. I click "Stay Downgraded" - click OK, the dialog goes away, until I reboot - then it comes back.  Kinda like the movie Groundhog Day.  This happens on multiple computers.  

[accalk]

17 hours ago, Porthos said:

@accalkWhy don't you look into the Techbench program and sell MB and make some extra income.

It did but you could uncheck it at the time of install.

Been there…most people aren't interested…even after a discussion about all the crap that's out there...

Yes, in 2.0 you could uncheck the trial version - which I did.

Thanks!

[Porthos]

14 minutes ago, accalk said:

Been there…most people aren't interested…even after a discussion about all the crap that's out there...

Yes, in 2.0 you could uncheck the trial version - which I did.

Thanks!

 

 

So you wish to install the free version for clients, Are you using it to also clean up your clients computers? It is an easy sell when you show them what It has cleaned and could have prevented with the premium version.

Edited April 13, 2017 by Porthos

[accalk]

Yes, I like to install the free version, on PCs we sell.  Yes, install the free version as part of my arsenal to clean up client's PC.  Yes, I tell them what it's found and removed.  Yes, I suggest they purchase the premium version.  "We'll think about it" is the response I usually get.    Strange but true…  We do have a couple of clients that do buy it.   Heck, many don't want to spend money on a antivirus solution. They'll download a free one, or they'll purchase the one we sell online direct from the company. We sell it for the same online price…plus we install it for them!  Go figure...

[dcollins]

I just tested this, and was not able to reproduce. Can you run mb-check on one of these devices so we can verify some settings. Thanks!

https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb3_check

[accalk]

Hi Devin,

Hmmm, interesting.  Attached is the MB3 Check log. 

Thanks!

Al

MB-CheckResult.txt

[dcollins]

Interesting.... let's try this if you don't mind. Please make sure to follow these instructions exactly so we can get the proper test results

1. Open Malwarebytes
2. Dismiss any in-app notification that pops up
3. Navigate to Settings -> Application
4. Scroll down and turn on the option for 'Event Log Data'
5. Restart the computer
6. Once MB3 starts up, verify the notification for trial expired comes up
7. Choose 'Stay Downgraded' and click Ok
8. Open Malwarebytes
9. Navigate to Settings -> Application
10. Scroll down and turn off the option for 'Event Log Data'
11. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\MBAMService
12. Right click the logs folder and choose Send to -> Compressed (Zipped) folder
13. Upload the logs.zip file from your desktop in your reply

[updates]

@OP, you are not alone, I have this exact same issue.

It's been a week since my trial expired, and I've been selecting that "stay downgraded" option every day.

The box won't even disappear on its own, and persists on top of every other window.

I've had enough and finally uninstalled the program. This behaviour is as bad as the malware it's supposed to protect me from.

On 4/12/2017 at 1:53 PM, Porthos said:

@accalkWhy don't you look into the Techbench program and sell MB and make some extra income.

On 4/13/2017 at 7:18 AM, Porthos said:

So you wish to install the free version for clients, Are you using it to also clean up your clients computers? It is an easy sell when you show them what It has cleaned and could have prevented with the premium version.

My first time visiting the help forums and I see posts like this from what looks like a staff member?

Someone comes to your site looking for simple help and you not only ignore the question, but attempt to coerce him into using scare tactics on his customers in order to get them to pay for your software?

Seriously? What a fine first impression.

[Porthos]

5 minutes ago, updates said:

I see posts like this from what looks like a staff member?

Since he is a repair shop I was offering some technician to technician advice. And NO I am NOT a Malwarebytes staff member. 

8 minutes ago, updates said:

and you not only ignore the question

I have never had to answer that prompt so I had no answer for him.

Then a staff member @dcollins started to assist. That is where I left it till YOU (in your first post) added to the help thread.

 

[accalk]

On April 14, 2017 at 5:47 PM, updates said:

@OP, you are not alone, I have this exact same issue.

It's been a week since my trial expired, and I've been selecting that "stay downgraded" option every day.

The box won't even disappear on its own, and persists on top of every other window.

I've had enough and finally uninstalled the program. This behaviour is as bad as the malware it's supposed to protect me from.

My first time visiting the help forums and I see posts like this from what looks like a staff member?

Someone comes to your site looking for simple help and you not only ignore the question, but attempt to coerce him into using scare tactics on his customers in order to get them to pay for your software?

Seriously? What a fine first impression.

Hi updates,

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Downgrade popup.  It's nice to know others are experiencing the same issue…and I'm not crazy (despite what other say about me ).  Mine would at least go away, until I rebooted.

Update on this situation:  Since I've been messing with this - the popups have stopped completely.  They no longer appear even after a reboot/shutdown-restart!  I didn't do anything other than run the mb_check software and enabling the logging like Devin wanted. Oh - I also performed the "stay downgraded" + OK to dismiss the popup that I had done every previous instance.  Very strange…  As I mentioned that has happened on multiple PCs, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Have you found a resolution to your issue?

 

No worries on PortHos posts - it's all good.  I figured he/she was another service tech trying to help.  I did further investigate TechBench.  I'd consider the Free version, but there's no way I'd be able to meet the sales quote (250 licenses) for the Advanced.  We're a small shop in a small town.  

Thanks!

Al

Edited April 17, 2017 by accalk

[accalk]

On April 14, 2017 at 1:00 PM, dcollins said:

Interesting.... let's try this if you don't mind. Please make sure to follow these instructions exactly so we can get the proper test results

1. Open Malwarebytes
2. Dismiss any in-app notification that pops up
3. Navigate to Settings -> Application
4. Scroll down and turn on the option for 'Event Log Data'
5. Restart the computer
6. Once MB3 starts up, verify the notification for trial expired comes up
7. Choose 'Stay Downgraded' and click Ok
8. Open Malwarebytes
9. Navigate to Settings -> Application
10. Scroll down and turn off the option for 'Event Log Data'
11. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\MBAMService
12. Right click the logs folder and choose Send to -> Compressed (Zipped) folder
13. Upload the logs.zip file from your desktop in your reply

Hi Devin,

 

Update on this situation:  Since I've been messing with this - the popups have stopped completely.  They no longer appear even after a reboot/shutdown-restart!  I enabling the logging like you suggested, the popups have not appeared since.  Very strange…  I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks for your help!

Al

 

[dcollins]

Thanks for the follow up, glad to hear it resolved, although I'm a bit frustrated we couldn't figure out the actual cause. Hopefully it's a one-off and never happens again

[Tassa]

Hi @dcollins

I had this same issue.  Every time I restart the PC the same message will appear.  I followed the steps you sent to Accalk and I'm attaching the logs file.

I had decided to uninstall the software, but first I thought I'd check the forums to see if there was any solution.

I'd love to hear from you before my next re-start! :-P

Thanks!

logs.zip

[Tassa]

Wow... I decided to restart the pc just to check... And the pop up about the expired premium trial didn't show up...

It's wired that enabling/disabling the log would do this..  Or maybe you guys rolled out an update of the software fixing this some time not too long ago?

Anyways, it seems my issue is resolved. 

[PapaBlacksheep]

I believe I have the answer to the problem.

I also had this issue. Every time I restarted the computer, the notice would pop up in my lower right hand corner. I would say "no thanks", and it would reappear when I rebooted.

I started to follow the instructions listed above that involve opening the MWB application. When I opened the application, the notice asking if I wanted to upgrade appeared in the application. I selected "no thanks" again. Before doing anything more, I figured I would check to see if saying NO in the application would work, as opposed to saying NO in the popup.

I rebooted - and no more popup!  

So, I believe there is a flaw in the popup itself. If you choose not to upgrade in the notice within the application, THAT will work. This is probably why people suddenly "fixed" their problem when they opened the app.  Can't say for sure that's it, but it looks that way from where I am sitting.  Hope that helps!

Edited October 6, 2017 by PapaBlacksheep

[thomas3016]

PapaBlackSheep definitely had the answer to this. I found out the same way. Just open the application before cancelling the start-up pop-up dialog box. The app's own internal pop-up with the identical questions will come up, but selecting "stay downgraded" this time actually takes effect. No more pop-up "downgrade" dialog will appear at start up.