MalwareBytes Premium doesn't automatically install updates

[DrewGee]

Every morning when I start my computer, MBAM's taskbar icon shows a red exclamation mark. A while later I get a pop-up warning me that my definitions aren't current.

If I open MBAM, it downloads and applies the new definitions.

Under Settings > Application > Application Updates, both options are enabled.

Why does it make me take manual action to update definitions? Other AV programs update automatically.

[Porthos]

2 hours ago, DrewGee said:

Why does it make me take manual action to update definitions?

Let's try and get some logs first so the team can review them and see if they can tell what may be causing your issues....

1. FIRST: Create and obtain Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (FRST) logs
2. 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
3. Double-click to run FRST and when the tool opens click "Yes" to the disclaimer
4. Press the "Scan" button
5. This will product two files in the same location (directory) as FRST: FRST.txt and Addition.txt
   NOTE: These two files will be collected by the MB-Check Tool and added to the zip file for you
6. NEXT: Create and obtain an mb-check log
7. Download MB-Check and save to your desktop
8. Double-click to run MB-Check and within a few second the command window will open, then click "OK"
9. This will produce one log file on your desktop: mb-check-results.zip
10. 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

 

[DrewGee]

Thanks for offering to look at this, Porthos.

In case this helps anyone else, the problem seems to have been caused by my VPN provider, Windscribe. Even when the VPN wasn't set to start automatically -- the icon didn't even appear in the task tray -- I frequently saw these warning messages from MBAM. 

A few days ago I uninstalled Windscribe and the problem has stopped, even after I installed a different VPN provider (NordVPN). I haven't seen the message since uninstalling Windscribe.

It's strange that a theoretically-inactive VPN layer would interfere with MBAM's updates, but it appears to have been the case. 

[Porthos]

Thanks for the update and if issues persist please feel free to post.