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Malwarebytes Locked after Restart Unable to Launch

MikeK
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MikeK

MikeK

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Have Malwarebytes Premium for close to one year now, starting about 6 months ago unable to open / launch Malwarebytes on Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.  I have uninstalled and cleaned and re-installed the program several times since and it launches & updates properly but it always locks up after computer Restart.  I see the program Running in Task Manager but I don't know if it's actually protecting my system or not, but can't open to Dashboard from Desktop ShortCut nor from Programs.  Have run most of your diagnostics software including Sophos Anti Virus (no viruses found) but I can't find anything.  Wondering if its a Setting Issue somewhere on my system.  Please let me know what to do.

Thank you.

Mike

mb-check-results.zip

FRST.txt

Shortcut.txt

Addition.txt

JRT.txt

Rkill.txt

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1PW

1PW

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Hello @MikeK and :welcome:

Thank you for reporting your system's issue and for the helpful attached logs.  The system's present MB3 install was not complete,  Please download the MB-Clean tool and save only to the ThinkPad desktop for the following procedure.  When completed, please attach only the mb-clean-results.txt (written to the desktop) and a new mb-check-results.zip.

  1. Please follow the steps in the locked/pinned topic to uninstall the remnants of MB3 and reinstall the latest build: MB-Clean Tool (NOTE: After uninstalling with the MB-Clean tool, you will be asked to reboot.  Once restarted, the tool will ask you if you want to re-install Malwarebytes, you can select YES (it will download the MB3 release version) or you can download the MB3 release version manually (currently v3.1.2.1733-1.0.160-1.0.2251) to re-install from HERE).

Please reply with your progress.  Thank you.

Edited by 1PW
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1PW

1PW

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Hello @MikeK:

The clean re-install has corrected many issues seen in earlier reports.

Please reverse the previous procedure used that created the following addition to the system's Windows 7 registry:

Quote

Compatibility Flag Settings:
=================================


HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\appCompatFlags\Layers
    C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-Malware\mbam.exe    REG_SZ        RUNASADMIN

Then, restart Windows 7 and see if MB3 starts as it should.  Please reply to this topic with your progress.  Thank you.

Edited by 1PW
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MikeK

MikeK

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1PW,

I guess I'm not that much of a computer guy :(

What are you asking me to do exactly?

The only thing I did was restart my laptop.

Do I need to clean mb again and then re-install mb again?

Or do I need to change something else?

Let me know.

Thank you

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MikeK

MikeK

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1PW,

In the meantime, not knowing what you mean by "reverse the previous procedure ", I cleaned mb once more and did a new clean install which makes mb run normally (updating, scanning and with every service to ON) and with the following mbcheck results.

mb-check-results-1.zip

mb-clean-results.txt.

 

Now, I simply and only reboot my laptop and mb just doesn't launch anymore.  Here are the results after rebooting my laptop (and doing nothing else but simply rebooting).

mb-check-results-2.zip

 

Let me know what I need to change to fix this.

 

Thank you.

Edited by MikeK
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  • Root Admin
AdvancedSetup

AdvancedSetup

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Hello @MikeK

You have a compatibility setting configured on the computer that tells Malwarebytes to "Run as administrator"

This actually causes the program to not run properly and needs to be removed.

If you open an elevated admin command prompt you can type in the following exactly and it will remove it. 

reg delete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers" /v "C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-Malware\mbam.exe" /f

You can also right click over the shortcut on your desktop for Malwarebytes and select Properties and uncheck the check box that says to run with Administrator rights.

remove_compatibility_setting_for_malwarebytes.jpg

Once you've removed that setting then please run a new MB Check and post back the log so that we can verify the entry was removed.

Thank you

Ron

 

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MikeK

MikeK

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Hi Ron,

I unchecked the Privilege Level box (so it doesn't run as admin).  But it still would not launch.

I rebooted laptop, looked to make sure admin box is still unchecked, which it is, but mb still won't launch.

Here is the mb check after all of this.

Let me know what to do, and happy 4th if your in the usa !

mb-check-results.zip

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AdvancedSetup

AdvancedSetup

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Thanks for the good Holiday wishes Mike,

Okay, I've gone ahead and moved your topic into the Malware Removal forum so we can look and check for possible malware or other issues.

Please follow the directions from this topic. If it too won't run then look for the file named mbar.cmd and right click and choose "Run as administrator" and see if it will run that way.

Post back the logs as an attachment when ready.

Thank you

Ron

 

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MikeK

MikeK

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Thanks Ron,

I downloaded, updated and ran the mbar.cmd as instructed and the results were a green check mark followed by "No Malware Found"......

I checked again in my WIndows Task Manager and under Services it says mb "Running".....

But I still can't Launch mb..  So I don't know what's going on with it unless its a setting somewhere...

And even though I turned off the Run As Administrator, the Desktop Icon still had that Blue/Yellow shield in the icon....

Let me know what to do next.

Thank you for all your help.

Mike

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AdvancedSetup

AdvancedSetup

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Let's do another clean removal, but this time do not let the clean removal tool reinstall Malwarebytes.

 

Please read the following topic and then run the Malwarebytes Clean Removal tool mb-clean

https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/196955-malwarebytes-mb-clean-tool/

The download link for the tool is:   https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb_clean

Restart the computer when done, but do not reinstall Malwarebytes.

After the reboot please run FRST again and make sure you place a check mark on the Additions.txt check box and attach back both new logs.

 

Please download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool 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

  • Double-click to run it. When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.
  • Press Scan button.
  • It will make a log (FRST.txt) in the same directory the tool is run. Please attach it to your reply.
  • The first time the tool is run, it also makes another log (Addition.txt). Please attach it to your reply as well.

 

Thanks

Ron

 

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Let me go ahead and have you run the following please.

Please download the attached fixlist.txt file and save it to the Desktop.
NOTE. It's important that both files, FRST or FRST64 and fixlist.txt are in the same location or the fix will not work.

NOTICE: This script was written specifically for this user, for use on this particular machine. Running this on another machine may cause damage to your operating system.

Run FRST or FRST64 and press the Fix button just once and wait.
If the tool needs a restart please make sure you let the system restart normally and let the tool complete its run after restart.
The tool will make a log on the Desktop (Fixlog.txt). Please attach or post it to your next reply.

Note: If the tool warned you about an outdated version please download and run the updated version.

fixlist.txt

Thanks

Ron

 

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MikeK

MikeK

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Hi Ron,

Yes, I'm running a i7-3520M CPU @ 2.9GHz with 16 GB of RAM and a 1T Crucial MX200 SSD SATA 6Gb/s hard drive.

In a Lenovo ThinkPad X230 Tablet 34352TU 12.5" LED Tablet PC.

I hate waiting for normal computers to process things ;-)

It's extremely instantly fast.  Do you think we need to delay mb start up time?

Let me know.

Thank you

Mike

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AdvancedSetup

AdvancedSetup

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Let's try the following scanner and see if it can help fix a few other things for us.

Please give the computer a lot of time to run this. It says 10 minutes, but in some cases it can run for hours. Please do not stop it from running otherwise it won't create the log file we need to see what it did. In rare cases you may have to let it run overnight, but hopefully that's not the case for you.

 

Please visit this web page and read the ComboFix User's Guide:

  • Once you've read the article and are ready to use the program you can download it directly from the link below.
  • Important! - Please make sure you save combofix to your desktop and do not run it from your browser
  • Direct download link for: ComboFix.exe
  • Please make sure you disable your security applications before running ComboFix.
  • Once Combofix has completed it will produce and open a log file.  Please be patient as it can take some time to load.
  • Please attach that log file to your next reply.
  • If needed the file can be located here:  C:\combofix.txt
  • NOTE: If you receive the message "illegal operation has been attempted on a registry key that has been marked for deletion", just reboot the computer.
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