Outlook Search Breaks After Installing MalwareBytes

[ChaosFreak]

I have confirmed this issue on two separate PCs running Windows 10 and Outlook 2016. Immediately after installing Malwarebytes, Outlook 2016 search stops working. Instead of returning search results, it just returns errors labeled "Something went wrong and your search couldn't be completed." I have been using Outlook for years and I have never seen this error before. The error appeared immediately after installing Malwarebytes on one of my PCs. I tried reinstalling Outlook, creating a new Outlook profile, running Outlook in Safe Mode etc. But none of that worked. Then when I installed Malwarebytes on a different PC, immediately the same problem occurred in Outlook search on that PC. I have tried adding "outlook.office365.com" and "office365.com" as exceptions, but this doesn't help.

This problem is definitely caused by Malwarebytes, and not by any plug-ins in Outlook. I have not added any new plug-ins to Outlook in at least six months.

I have attached a screenshot. This is a serious flaw in Malwarebytes, and has resulted in me having to uninstall Malwarebytes from my PCs. Unfortunately, I just bought three paid licenses, and the software is completely unusable since I need Outlook search for my work.

Please see attached screenshot.

[Porthos]

@ChaosFreak Hi and welcome.

Let's get some diagnostic info from you.

• Create and obtain an mb-check log
  1. Download MB-Check and save to your desktop
  2. Double-click to run MB-Check and within a few second the command window will open, then click "OK" 
  3. This will produce one log file on your desktop: mb-check-results.zip
     • Attach this file to your forum post by clicking on the "Drag files here to attach, or choose files..." or simply drag the file to the attachment area
• Create and obtain Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (FRST) logs
  1. Download FRST and save it to your desktop
     Note: You need to run the version compatible with your system. You can check here if you're not sure if your computer is 32-bit or 64-bit
  2. Double-click to run FRST and when the tool opens click "Yes" to the disclaimer
  3. Press the "Scan" button
  4. This will produce two files in the same location (directory) as FRST: FRST.txt and Addition.txt
     • Attach both of these logs to your forum post by clicking on the "Drag files here to attach, or choose files..." or simply drag the files to the attachment area

 

Please consider selecting the "Follow/Following" button, near the upper-right corner of your topic, to receive timely email notifications about updates to your topic.

Edited June 16, 2017 by Porthos

[neoman]

I have this issue too and think it is a MS issue and not MB.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_outlook-mso_win10/outlook-2016-search-broken-again-with-something/a3f87d54-15c6-4bc9-8275-0d9bd7863b1c

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/oemail-osearch/outlook-2016-something-went-wrong-and-your-search/a6c8c767-9662-4358-94a7-90091c864a27

 

 

[neoman]

I am on exchange servers.  One is MS 365.  I do not have PST.  I have this issue on three machines I use.  All on Win 10 Creator's update.  I have tried rebuilding the index, and sa,e thing happens.  Hopefully MS will put out a fix this week.

[ChaosFreak]

Hello,

I appreciate hearing from several other people who are experiencing similar problems, and that you have narrowed it down to a problem on the MS side. However, as the original poster of this thread I would like to bring back the discussion to my own case.

1. Unlike @Ebbhead, I did not have Malwarebytes installed previously on any of my PCs. This problem started immediately after I installed Malwarebytes for the first time on my first PC. I confirmed that the exact same thing happened when I installed Malwarebytes on a second PC.
2. Unlike @neoman I am not on Exchange Server (I'm on Office 365) and the Microsoft community links that @neoman posted don't apply to my situation.

I appreciate hearing from other users with similar problems, but would also appreciate it if we don't lose focus on my original problem, which is caused by Malwarebytes and not by Microsoft.

Thanks!

[ChaosFreak]

On 6/16/2017 at 1:42 PM, Porthos said:

@ChaosFreak Hi and welcome.

• Create and obtain an mb-check log
  1. Download MB-Check and save to your desktop
  2. Double-click to run MB-Check and within a few second the command window will open, then click "OK" 
  3. This will produce one log file on your desktop: mb-check-results.zip
     • Attach this file to your forum post by clicking on the "Drag files here to attach, or choose files..." or simply drag the file to the attachment area

I have completely uninstalled Malwarebytes with the uninstall tool. I'm really suspicious of companies who need a special tool to "completely" uninstall their software. Why doesn't it "completely" uninstall when I uninstall from "Programs and Features"?

Anyway, even after completely uninstalling Malwarebytes, the problem is still there. It looks like the Malwarebytes installation process changed something on my system that has broken Outlook search, and the uninstall process didn't fix it.

What a nightmare this is. I paid for three licenses based on the great recommendations of Malwarebytes from other users, but it has been a disaster for me. It blew up my Outlook, and uninstalling it hasn't fixed it.

[xtremexposure]

Problem is with the MS June updates. Fix was downloaded today on my pc.

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Outlook-known-issues-in-the-June-2017-security-updates-3f6dbffd-8505-492d-b19f-b3b89369ed9b?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

 

[ChaosFreak]

11 hours ago, Ebbhead said:

He also had the free version of MB installed.

Unfortunately, in my case I installed the PAID version, not the free version. I also do not use PST files in Outlook.

I appreciate everyone's comments, but as the original poster, I'd like us to focus back on my original issue, which was not caused by a MS update or an Outlook update, and is unrelated to corrupt PST or OST files.

[nikhils]

Hello @ChaosFreak

Can you please run FRST tool and please post the FRST.txt and Addition.txt logs so we can see exactly what might be causing this.

Create and obtain Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (FRST) logs

1. Download FRST and save it to your desktop
   Note: You need to run the version compatible with your system. You can check here if you're not sure if your computer is 32-bit or 64-bit
2. Double-click to run FRST and when the tool opens click "Yes" to the disclaimer
3. Press the "Scan" button
4. This will product two files in the same location (directory) as FRST: FRST.txt and Addition.txt
   • Attach both of these logs to your forum post by clicking on the "Drag files here to attach, or choose files..." or simply drag the files to the attachment area

[glitchyrichy]

ChaosFreak, This was a bug with the Windows updates released on 6/13. It was patched in KB4022168 which was released yesterday.

[ChaosFreak]

@glitchyrichy, thanks for the suggestion, but KB4022168 is for Windows 7 systems only. You cannot install it on Windows 10. I tried downloading it and installing it manually, and I got an error message saying that the update was not applicable to my platform. As I mentioned in my original post, I'm running Windows 10. Do you know if there is a similar update for Windows 10?

http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4022168

 

[x64]

Yes - see this page...

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4018124/windows-10-update-history (updated with each new update)

So 4022716 for the relevant new patch for Win10.

I love the way the Outlook search issue (causing major problems for my business customers) is relegated to the second to last bullet point in the relevant article ("Addressed a reliability issue in Windows Search")... Move along now, nothing to see here!!!

June was a very poor month for MS update reliability. 

x64

[ChaosFreak]

Hi @x64

Thanks for your help. I had to install the "Creator's Update" but that seems to have fixed it.

[nikhils]

Hello @ChaosFreak

Glad to know the issue has been resolved.

Best,

[x64]

56 minutes ago, ChaosFreak said:

Hi @x64

Thanks for your help. I had to install the "Creator's Update" but that seems to have fixed it.

No problem, pleased to advise.

There was a patch for the previous Win 10 version ( https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4032693 ) but that seems to have a problem of it's own.

In any case, any non-enterprise user hanging out from Creators edition and not taking extreme (and unwise) measures to avoid it would lose the ability to defer it soon.

x64  

 

Edited June 30, 2017 by x64