New Malwarebytes update removed the program from my PC

[Vengarl]

As the title suggests, Malwarebytes alerted me that I had a new update to install so I did.  It then asked me to restart the PC after installing, so I did.  After everything booted back up, Malwarebytes was literally nowhere to be found on my PC anymore.  It just uninstalled itself or something, so I had to install it again.  Can someone explain why this happened or if anyone else had a similar issue...?

[jerryleitz]

same thng happened to me when I did reboot lost all icons and  malware and had to reinstall now how do I get the icons back, because computer wont let me do  no matter what I do

 

[nikhils]

Hello @Vengarl, @jerryleitz

There is an issue we are tracking on our end for this.

For now the best recommendation would be to download the latest installer and re-install the product.

You can download the installer from https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb3

Thank you.

[wishbonenm]

Same issue for me, but I am finding that I can't use using Mozilla browser or (and I admit this is weird) Hulu programs won't play, the commercials do but not the actual shows.  When I uninstall Malaware everything is fine.  Any way to get the previous version available to reinstall?

[Porthos]

3 minutes ago, wishbonenm said:

but I am finding that I can't use using Mozilla browser

Turn off self-protection in Malwarebytes. 

[wishbonenm]

Thanks Porthos!  That did the trick

[Santos117]

Hello @wishbonenm, yes that issue is logged in our backlog at the moment. It is an issue with Self Protection. The devs should be looking into it soon. 

Hello @Vengarl,

If you still have the same setup available could you run mbcheck for me and attach the zip file that it creates on your desktop please: https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb3_check

Other useful logs are the MB3 Uninstall logs. Those can be grabbed from the %temp% directory and they have the following naming scheme: Uninstall Log 2017-08-28 #001.txt.

Do you know what Version of MB3 you had before you ran the upgrade? 

Thanks in advance for the info!

[Santos117]

Hello @Vengarl,

We have a new installer where we fixed the issue of the installer not spawning after reboot. You can download it from this link directly: https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb3

if you wish to test the upgrade again. 

Regards,

[linlyons]

nikhils ... You can download the installer from https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb3
I did that. And started it. And nothing at all is happening.
It's not going.  It won't cancel.

[nikhils]

Hello @linlyons

Can you please attach a screenshot of what you are seeing?

Another thing you can try is boot into safe mode and run the installer and check if it installs in safe mode.

Do let us know.

[BirdieKate]

Same thing happened to me this morning.  What a nasty little experience this was.  How often do I ever say yes to a freaking popup anyways?  But this time I did.  And if I hadn't gone specifically looking for Malwarebytes after the update was installed, I would not have known it wasn't there.  Sooooo wrong.  I followed the "download this installer" link at the top of this thread and it appears to be back and running properly, but now I'll have to watch.  Outrageous design flaw.

[deidrewolf]

It did it to me in December last year and then again last week. You really need to fix this issue. I am a paid member as well and it shouldn't delete your software when installing an update from you.

Edited April 16, 2018 by deidrewolf

[exile360]

1 hour ago, deidrewolf said:

It did it to me in December last year and then again last week. You really need to fix this issue. I am a paid member as well and it shouldn't delete your software when installing an update from you.

Greetings,

Yes, this is a known issue.  It occurs because during upgrades, the old version must first be removed before the new version can be installed because its files must be replaced.  Since some of these files are drivers and services as well as a couple of DLLs which are loaded into memory, it is not always possible to replace them while the system is active so after the existing version is removed, the system needs to be restarted after which point the new version's installer is supposed to launch (you'll find that an entry for the installer is placed in the registry under one of the RunOnce keys if you check), however for some unknown reason it doesn't always actually run in some cases, and instead the system ends up with Malwarebytes removed completely and no prompt or notification to install the new version.  The fix is fairly easy since all you have to do is run the installer for the new version (generally located under C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\MBAMService\instlrupdate, and also available for download here as mentioned above in this thread and other similar topics), but obviously this is not ideal and it is not the intended behavior of the software not to reinstall following the reboot.

The team is investigating this issue and doing research to replicate the problem and find a solution, and as soon as they have, it will be corrected in an upcoming release.  Unfortunately no ETA is known at this time to my knowledge as I do not believe they have discovered the exact cause or solution yet, though I am confident that they will given time.

In the meantime, I would advise that you keep an eye on it whenever you are prompted to download/install a new version to verify that it successfully launches the installer or that Malwarebytes is still present following system restart if prompted in order for the installation/upgrade to complete to ensure that you do not lose your protection.

If there is anything else we might be able to assist you with please let us know, and I do apologize for the inconvenience and problems this issue may have caused.  It certainly was not intentional and I personally suspect that a recent update to the installation package used by Malwarebytes (Inno Setup) is somehow at the root of it and that once it is fixed by the developers of Inno Setup and the fixed version is used for later releases of Malwarebytes, the problem should be resolved, however this is just my hypothesis and it may not be accurate.

[Disconcerted]

I discovered this problem yesterday 21 June 2018, quite by accident.  I was going to install a program, and per common practice even though it came from the reputable (source) website went to run a scan on it.  Wait - where was Malwarebytes in my right-click menu?

While I have locked away the important bits of Malwarebytes setup with a secure password, the number one suspicion is that something bad has made its way into my machine.  This thread gives me some consolation, but does not entirely eliminate the concern that something may have installed itself while my security software was uninstalled!  As for when the problem occurred, I have no clear idea - except for assuming it came with the latest PC reboot... or the one before that... or the one before... in other words, this is a major concern for those of us who expect certain software to operate on the 'set and forget' model.

I wonder how many people have found Malwarebytes suddenly missing from their system, and gone in a panic to their nearest IT security expert - thus paying a fortune to fix what may in fact have simply been a bug (but how can one tell?).  This is consumer software, and most consumers don't even know their way around the web enough to find this forum post - let alone to understand it.

This needs to be:

1. Advised to all MBAM customers, some (many?  A majority?) of whom may inadvertantly have lost one of their key computer protections without noticing;
2. Fixed as a matter of priority!

Has Malwarebytes performed any sort of analysis on the numbers of customers who are running the latest version, and the number of customers who appear to have 'dropped off the radar' - possibly due to this major flaw?

[dcollins]

This issue was fixed in our installer release around mid-May, so it should not be happening any longer.