Malwarebytes System Tray Icon Missing After Latest Update

[bha19]

I will try that but as I posted in my own thread even Norton back in April would go missing from the tray. Norton seems fine now but I hope your fix works but do I really need to disable self protection as it serves some function? So I disabled self protection mode and shut down my computer and when I restarted there was no Malwarebytes again. I am running Windows 10 x64. I ran process lasso and it shows that Malwarebytes services is running.

Edited January 21, 2018 by bha19

[lmacri]

1 hour ago, bha19 said:

I will try that but as I posted in my own thread even Norton back in April would go missing from the tray. Norton seems fine now but I hope your fix works but do I really need to disable self protection as it serves some function? So I disabled self protection mode and shut down my computer and when I restarted there was no Malwarebytes again. I am running Windows 10 x64. I ran process lasso and it shows that Malwarebytes services is running.

Hi bha19:

I wouldn't advise leaving MB v3's self-protection permanently disabled, since this module prevents MB files from being deleted or modified if your system is ever infected with malware.  MadDemon64 and I only disabled this module for testing purposes.

I'm not sure what username you use in the Norton forum, but did anyone suggest that you disable Fast Startup in your power settings?  This setting is only available with Win 8.x and Win 10, and if it is enabled your computer performs a hybrid shutdown instead of a full power down when you shutdown your computer (see the How-To Geek article The Pros and Cons of Windows 10’s “Fast Startup” Mode ), and Fast Startup could be causing problems with with loading of Norton and Malwarebytes services at boot-up.  Try re-testing with MB v3's self-protection disabled after you have ensured that Fast Startup is disabled and you have re-booted your computer a few times, or the setting changes you made in MB might not immediately take effect.  See my comments in pdracing's thread Repeated pop-up "! Verifying Subscription" for more information about Fast Startup.

And just to clarify, I also find that the main mbamservice.exe process continues to run in the background if mbamtray.exe crashes at boot-up and fails to load the MB icon in my system tray.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.5.3 * NS Premium v22.11.2.7 * MB Premium v3.3.1.2183-1.0.262

Edited January 21, 2018 by lmacri

[MadDemon64]

On 1/21/2018 at 2:03 PM, lmacri said:

Hi bha19:

I wouldn't advise leaving MB v3's self-protection permanently disabled, since this module prevents MB files from being deleted or modified if your system is ever infected with malware.  MadDemon64 and I only disabled this module for testing purposes.

I'm not sure what username you use in the Norton forum, but did anyone suggest that you disable Fast Startup in your power settings?  This setting is only available with Win 8.x and Win 10, and if it is enabled your computer performs a hybrid shutdown instead of a full power down when you shutdown your computer (see the How-To Geek article The Pros and Cons of Windows 10’s “Fast Startup” Mode ), and Fast Startup could be causing problems with with loading of Norton and Malwarebytes services at boot-up.  Try re-testing with MB v3's self-protection disabled after you have ensured that Fast Startup is disabled and you have re-booted your computer a few times, or the setting changes you made in MB might not immediately take effect.  See my comments in pdracing's thread Repeated pop-up "! Verifying Subscription" for more information about Fast Startup.

And just to clarify, I also find that the main mbamservice.exe process continues to run in the background if mbamtray.exe crashes at boot-up and fails to load the MB icon in my system tray.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.5.3 * NS Premium v22.11.2.7 * MB Premium v3.3.1.2183-1.0.262

I would say the test was a success.  The tray has yet to crash once after disabling self-protection.

[plb4333]

1 hour ago, rjolbrich said:

Hello,

I just updated to MB 3.4.5 FREE on Windows 7. I have a mbamtray.exe process running but no taskbar icon.

I also have Norton Security. Should I have a taskbar icon?

Thanks

Is it showing in ''Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Notification Area Icons''? Make sure its always visible

[rjolbrich]

Hello again,

 

At the bottom of the page "Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar" is checked.

Thanks

[MadDemon64]

Well, I regret to inform you that, after turning on the self-protection modules for 3.4, the problem went away, but after updating to 3.5, it came back.

[MadDemon64]

I've been thinking...if turning off self-protection prevents the system tray from crashing, what would enabling self-protection early start do?

[lmacri]

5 hours ago, MadDemon64 said:

I've been thinking...if turning off self-protection prevents the system tray from crashing, what would enabling self-protection early start do?

Hi MadDemon64:

I tried two system restarts this morning on my Vista SP2 machine with the MB setting at Protection | Start-up Options | Enable Self-Protection Module Early Start turned ON and mbamtray.exe still crashed.  Note that mbamtray.exe is owned by USER and only attempts to load shortly after I log in to my Windows user account, and not when MBAMService.exe (which is owned by SYSTEM) is loaded at boot-up.

However, the MB icon eventually appeared in my system tray about 1 min after I logged in to my Window user account, so it looks like mbamtray.exe was able to recover from both crashes.  I've never seen that happen when self-protection early start is disabled.

Here are both dump files (saved in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\CrashDumps) for this morning's mbamtray.exe crashes after MB self-protection early start was enabled, as well as the pop-up message my Vista SP2 OS displays every time the MB tray application crashes...

mbamtray.exe.1096.dmp
mbamtray.exe.4192.dmp

..and a sample of one of the mbamtray.exe APPCRASH errors logged in the Event Viewer showing that kernel32.dll is still the faulting module.

MB v3_5_1 mbamtray_exe APPCRASH Error Log 21 May 2018.txt

As I previously reported in post # 96, the MB icon will consistently load in the system tray without crashing if MB's self-protection is completely disabled .
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.8.0 * Norton Security Premium v22.14.0.54 * MB Premium v3.5.1.2522-1.0.365

Edited May 21, 2018 by lmacri

[MadDemon64]

12 minutes ago, lmacri said:

Hi MadDemon64:

I tried two system restarts this morning on my Vista SP2 machine with the MB setting at Protection | Start-up Options | Enable Self-Protection Module Early Start turned ON and mbamtray.exe still crashed.  Note that mbamtray.exe is owned by USER and only attempts to load shortly after I log in to my Windows user account, and not when MBAMService.exe (which is owned by SYSTEM) is loaded at boot-up.

However, the MB icon eventually appeared in my system tray about 1 min after I logged in to my Window user account, so it looks like mbamtray.exe was able to recover from both crashes.  I've never seen that happen when self-protection early start is disabled.

Here are both dump files (saved in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\CrashDumps) for this morning's mbamtray.exe crashes after MB self-protection early start was enabled, as well as the pop-up message my Vista SP2 OS displays every time the MB tray application crashes...

mbamtray.exe.1096.dmp
mbamtray.exe.4192.dmp

..and a sample of one of the mbamtray.exe APPCRASH errors logged in the Event Viewer showing that kernel32.dll is still the faulting module.

MB v3_5_1 mbamtray_exe APPCRASH Error Log 21 May 2018.txt

As I previously reported in post # 96, the MB icon will consistently load in the system tray without crashing if MB's self-protection is completely disabled .
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.8.0 * Norton Security Premium v22.14.0.54 * MB Premium v3.5.1.2522-1.0.365

So, even though the tray crashed, it eventually reappeared?  But only when you had self-protection set to early start?

[lmacri]

37 minutes ago, MadDemon64 said:

So, even though the tray crashed, it eventually reappeared?  But only when you had self-protection set to early start?

Hi MadDemon64:

Correct.  I only tested twice (i.e., two system restarts) after setting MB's self-protection to early start, but the MB icon eventually appeared in my system tray about 1 min after the initial crash by mbamtray.exe for both system restarts.  Two tests isn't conclusive, but I don't recall ever seeing mbamtray.exe recover from one of these crashes and load the MB icon in the system tray in any of my previous testing going back to MB Premium v3.2.2.

During testing I monitored the start time of MBAMService.exe and mbamtray.exe with MS Sysinternal's Process Explorer.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.8.0 * Norton Security Premium v22.14.0.54 * MB Premium v3.5.1.2522-1.0.365

Edited May 21, 2018 by lmacri

[GLL]

I've same problem in my PC with Windows 8.1 and Avast antivirus. Sometimes icon tray don't appear and I' ve to load it manually through mbamtray.exe

Also, sometimes, the icon tray appears but anyone of protections are no activated. If I turn off MBAM and on again, all protections are activated.

Edited May 26, 2018 by GLL

[lmacri]

1 hour ago, GLL said:

I've same problem in my PC with Windows 8.1 and Avast antivirus. Sometimes icon tray don't appear and I' ve to load it manually through mbamtray.exe.  Also, sometimes, the icon tray appears but anyone of protections are no activated. If I turn off MBAM and on again, all protections are activated.

Hi GLL:

Some users have reported that disabling the Win 8.x / 10 Fast Startup feature will decrease (or even solve) these types of problems.  I believe MadDemon64, the OP of this thread, has a 64-bit Win 8.1 computer so disabling Fast Start might not completely solve the problem but it could help.  If you haven't already disabled this feature you can find instructions in the EightForums at Fast Startup - Turn On or Off in Windows 8.

Creating scan exclusions in Avast for your Malwarebytes files and folders might also help to reduce any possible conflicts between the two programs.  See the Malwarebytes v3.x support article at  https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1123 and the Avast support article Excluding Certain Files or Websites from Scanning in Avast Antivirus for further instructions.  I've also posted a sample image <here> showing how I've also created scan exclusions in Malwarebytes for my Norton Security folders and main executable at Settings | Exclusions | Add Exclusion.  I've never used Avast but you should be able to find the installation folder and executables for your third-party antivirus at C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\AVAST or some similar location.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.8.0 * Norton Security Premium v22.14.0.54 * MB Premium v3.5.1.2522-1.0.365

Edited May 26, 2018 by lmacri
Added link to AVAST support article

[GLL]

Yes. I've Fast Startup feature disabled and I've created scan exclusions in Avast , and the problems persist occasionally.

Edited May 26, 2018 by GLL

[lmacri]

1 hour ago, GLL said:

Yes. I've Fast Startup feature disabled and I've created scan exclusions in Avast , and the problems persist occasionally.

Hi GLL:

MadDemon64 and I have run several tests and we both observed that the MB system tray icon (mbamtray.exe) would consistently load at boot-up if we disabled MB's self-protection module (Settings | Protection | Startup Options | Enable Self-Protection Module | OFF).  That's fine for testing purposes,  but I wouldn't advise leaving this module permanently disabled since it prevents MB files from being deleted or modified by outside agents (e.g., if your system is ever infected with malware, if your antivirus incorrectly removes a MB executable because of a false positive detection, etc.).

You could also try setting self-protection to load early in the boot-process (Protection | Start-up Options | Enable Self-Protection Module Early Start | ON).  I noted in post # 108 that this seemed to reduce the severity of the problem on my Vista SP2 machine.

Malwarebytes has acknowledged the system tray icon problem and has been looking for a solution for quite a while now, so I'm not sure there's much else you can do at the moment short of trying a clean re-install of MB v3.5.1 with the MB Clean tool built in to the new Malwarebytes Support Tool (Advanced | Clean) to see if that fixes some of the other glitches you're experiencing with your real-time protection.  I've seen other threads in this forum about problems with real-time protection disabling itself at boot-up so if that issue persists I'd advise that you start a new topic (you should receive an automated reply with instructions for collecting diagnostic logs) for customized support.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.8.0 * Norton Security Premium v22.14.0.54 * MB Premium v3.5.1.2522-1.0.365

Edited May 26, 2018 by lmacri

[GLL]

Thank you for your answers.

Obviously, none of these two problems are "big problems", as they can be solved  easily when appear. But what's more surprising is their randomly appearance. As is proposed somewhere in this  threat, perhaps it would be related with the boot loading order of services and programs, that seems changing from boot to boot (as could be see by the order of appearance of tray icons).

Perhaps problems will be solved with next updates.

 

[lmacri]

7 minutes ago, GLL said:

...As is proposed somewhere in this  threat, perhaps it would be related with the boot loading order of services and programs, that seems changing from boot to boot (as could be see by the order of appearance of tray icons).

Hi GLL:

I agree that the load order of processes at boot-up must be part of the problem.  I've shown in my own thread MB v3.2.2 - SystemTray Icon Missing After mbamtray.exe APPCRASH that the MB icon will fail to load in my system tray if Windows Calendar loads at boot-up to remind me about a scheduled task/appointment.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.8.0 * Norton Security Premium v22.14.0.54 * MB Premium v3.5.1.2522-1.0.365

[GLL]

Ok, but in my case there isn't a crash of mbamtray.exe. Simply, it don't loads. When I manually run mbamtray.exe the icon tray appears and all is fine then.

[lmacri]

3 hours ago, GLL said:

Ok, but in my case there isn't a crash of mbamtray.exe. Simply, it don't loads. When I manually run mbamtray.exe the icon tray appears and all is fine then.

Hi GLL:

If you want to collect and post diagnostic logs using the Malwarebytes Support Tool as instructed <here> (Advanced Options | Gather Logs and then post the mbst-grab-results.zip file in your next post) it's possible dcollins or one of the other Malwarebytes employees following this thread might be able to provide further assistance.

There are other users who have reported that mbamtray.exe doesn't crash when it fails to load in the system tray at boot-up (see exile360's comment in post # 16 of the thread [Possible BUG] System tray icon missin when fast start is on) but I'm not entirely certain these users are looking in the correct location for evidence of an application crash.  You might find evidence of a crash if you look for dump files named mbamtary.exe.xxx.dmp in the hidden folder C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\CrashDumps (you must unhide this folder to see the contents), and you might also be able to find errors logged for Malwarebytes Tray Application at Control Panel | System and Maintenance | Problem Reports and Solutions | View Problem History or in your Windows Event Viewer (Source = Application Error; Even ID =1000; Task Category =100).

I don't know if you use MB Free or Premium, but if you use the latest MB Premium v3.5.1 also note that the product update announcement Ladies and Gentlemen, Malwarebytes 3.5 was edited this past Thursday (24-May-2018) to confirm that there are known issues with the latest Ransomware Protection module that might be causing unexpected problems at boot-up on your Win 8.1 machine.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.8.0 * Norton Security Premium v22.14.0.54 * MB Premium v3.5.1.2522-1.0.365

Edited May 26, 2018 by lmacri

[GLL]

Finally I think I've found a solution that works for me.

I've put a direct link to mbamtray.exe at the start menu, and I've established a 90 seconds delay on "Delay Real-Time Protection when Malwarebytes starts".

Since then I've had various boots up of the system without any trouble. First appears the icon of Malwarebytes in the task bar whit protections disabled,  but after the 90 seconds delay they all turn on enabled.

[dcollins]

If you're still experiencing this issue on the latest version of Malwarebytes, please gather a new set of logs as outlined in the following post and post them here.

 

[lmacri]

2 hours ago, dcollins said:

If you're still experiencing this issue on the latest version of Malwarebytes, please gather a new set of logs as outlined in the following post and post them here.

Hi dcollins:

Malwarebytes discontinued MB program updates for my Vista SP2 machine a few weeks ago (see post # 8 of the MB v3 FAQ) which means I won't be receiving the latest v1.0.374 component package update. I already posted in my own thread MB v3.2.2 - System Tray Icon Missing After mbamtray.exe APPCRASH that the 10-May-2018 update to MB Premium v3.5.1-1.0.365 didn't fix my mbamtray.exe problem so there's no point in me providing another set of Malwarebytes Support Tool diagnostic logs.

Sadly, that also means that more serious conflicts I've reported between MB Premium v3.x and Norton Security v22.x real-time protection (e.g., intermittent Norton LiveUpdate failures when MB Web Protection is enabled) will never be fixed on my Vista SP2 machine - even if bug fixes are released in future program updates - so I've deactivated my MS Premium license and will have to use MB v3.5.1 as a on-demand scanner.

Good luck to MadDemon64 et al with their troubleshooting.  Sorry I won't be able to provide further assistance.?
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.8.1 * Norton Security Premium v22.14.2.13 * MB Premium v3.5.1.2522-1.0.365

Edited June 11, 2018 by lmacri

[exile360]

Don't lose heart, bugfix updates are still going to continue for legacy operating systems (XP & Vista) according to this information:

Malwarebytes will continue to release bug fixes, stability improvements, and other upgrades for the XP and Vista platforms on an as needed basis.

 

[Buffalo]

I have the same problem as others upon a cold boot. The MBAM tray icon is missing and it is not listed in the Task Manager. This happens around 9 in 10 times upon first bootup. I do have MBAM premium. 3.5.1.2522  Ver 1.0.374 Update pkg ver 1.0.5510.

I am running Win10 Home 64bit  ver 1803  17134.112  

If I reboot, it will show the tray icon almost every time. This has only happened since I switched to a SSD HD instead of my previous HDD. Could the problem be the much faster bootup with the SSD??? The system tray problem started AFTER I switched to the SSD several months ago, BUT, I am not sure if it happened immediately after I did the switch.

Still, it does seem strange that this fairly common problem has been going on for a long time and MBAM hasn't solved it yet. 

I also have disabled my WinPatrol my SAS premium and it made no difference. I use the free Avast anti-virus program and have used all three of those programs while I had the HDD in with never a problem. The system tray problem started AFTER I switched to the SSD several months ago, BUT, I am not sure if it happened immediately after I did the switch.

I also tried the MBAM complete uninstall reinstall procedure with no change.

So, could it be the much faster bootup that the SSD does?

Thanks,

Buffalo

[Buffalo]

I also noted that when MBAM doesn't show in the system tray, the two MBAM entries in Task Manager are Malwarebytes Service and Malwarebytes 32 bit.

When MBAM actually shows up in the System Tray, the two MBAM entries in Task Manager are Malwarebytes Service and Malwarebytes Tray Application.

 

I just changed the Fast Start option in  Win10 to not and clicked Save Settings (didn't do that the first time) and Shut down and when I restarted, MBAM showed up in the System Tray.

 

Hopefully this will continue. Again, this problem started after I switched from a HDD to a SSD main HD.

I will post back if this 'fix' does continue to work or not, for me.

Buffalo

 

PS: When MBAM didn't load in Systray, I also checked the Dump file in C:\users\[name]\AppData\Local\Crash Dumps and there was no info there.

[dcollins]

The fast startup issue is a known one that we are tracking a solution for, so if it works for you, it should continue to do so.