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Malwarebytes Unable to connect to service

tamarisk

By tamarisk
in Resolved Malware Removal Logs

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tamarisk

tamarisk

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I'm trying to run the latest version of Malwarebytes (Free) mb3-setup-consumer-3.3.1.2183 on an Acer Aspire 5920 laptop running Windows 10 version 1703 (OS Build 15063.674) but I keep getting the error message: Unable to connect to service. This happens in both Normal Mode and Safe mode.

 

I've reinstalled it, using the tool mb-clean-3.1.0.1031 first, several times.

I've checked that the RPC and WMI services are running.

I've run Tweaking.com - Windows Repair which found and repaired several issues.

I've also run tried to run Malwarebytes with other Anti-virus/anti-malware disabled.

I've scanned the lappy with Avast (free), Trendmicro House call, SUPERantispyware(free), Adware Cleaner and all they found was a few tracking cookies.

I haven't tried it with the Windows(10) Security Centre Service or Windows(10) Defender Security Centre disabled in part because I'm not sure how to disable them.

The Windows(10) Defender Security Centre was disabled in preference to the Avast but it has now been enabled but not intentionally by me. Although I have always understood that multiple antivirus should not be run together in realtime the Avast website suggests its OK with Win 10

Can anyone provide a solution to this 'Unable to connect to service' problem

 

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Porthos

Porthos

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1 minute ago, tamarisk said:

Can anyone provide a solution to this 'Unable to connect to service' problem

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
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tamarisk

tamarisk

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Posted (edited)

Please accept my apologies for not thanking you for your assistance.

Just read your link Malwarebytes 3 files to be set as exclusions in other security software. I had already set some of these exclusions in Avast but looking to see which ones I see the gremlins seem to have deleted them and I'm not sure if that was before or after retrying Malwarebytes

Edited by tamarisk
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tamarisk

tamarisk

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That's the version I've already installed but I've uninstalled it again using the mb-clean-3.1.0.1031 uninstaller and reinstalled using the link you provided.

Ran Malwarebytes with Avast disabled but had the same 'Unable to connect to service' error.

I also tried to add the exclusions to the Avast AV detailed in your link but they appear to disappear so I'll have to contact Avast to see what's happening.

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tamarisk

tamarisk

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That's the version I've already installed but I've uninstalled it again using the mb-clean-3.1.0.1031 uninstaller and reinstalled using the link you provided.

Ran Malwarebytes with Avast disabled but had the same 'Unable to connect to service' error.

I also tried to add the exclusions to the Avast AV detailed in your link but they appear to disappear so I'll have to contact Avast to see what's happening.

UPDATE:

I've sorted the issue with adding the Malwarebytes exclusions to Avast but I still get the 'Unable to connect to service' error message when trying to run Malwarebytes.

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tamarisk

tamarisk

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Ok, I've reinstalled over the existing Malwarebytes using the file from your link and the problem remains the same; the Avast was disabled for this attempted run.

As a point of interest a Smart Scan by Avast lists several hundred system problems including registry errors. Whilst I appreciate the report may be trying to panic me into buying Avast products to solve the issues and that many of them may be of no real consequence, I wonder if some may be causing the problem with Malwarebytes. Unfortunately the free version of Avast does not seem to have the facility to save the report. In the past I've used Piriform CCleaner to resove many of the issues Avast has highlighted but so far not on this install of Windows. 

The laptop is also running quite slow

Edited by tamarisk
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tamarisk

tamarisk

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Here are the logs sent previously in response to post 2.

Note: Since these reports were generated Malwarebytes has been uninstalled using the mb-clean-3.1.0.1031 and reinstalled, then reinstalled again over the top without first using the mb-clean (Hope that makes sense).

mb-check-results.zip

Edited by tamarisk
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vbarytskyy

vbarytskyy

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It looks like there have been some repairs that were tried on this based on some of the files I see:

C:\Users\Anne\Downloads\tweaking.com_windows_repair_aio_setup (1).exe

 

Was this related to the Windows Management service or something else? 

 

Also, can we get a link to the bleeping computer thread so we can see what was performed? 

Edited by vbarytskyy
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vbarytskyy

vbarytskyy

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@tamarisk

We are still seeing an issue with WMI.. 

Try this for me--

Download the Windows Repair (All in One) tool from here: Download here

  1. Run it, when it opens look across the top and you'll see tabs.
  2. Click the Backup Tools tab and make sure you Backup the Registry and Create a Restore Point. The screen is very clear on how to do that – just click the related buttons.
  3. When those have completed, you're now ready to click the 'Repairs' tab.
  4. When that window opens, uncheck the "Automatically Do A Registry Backup checkbox and then click the 'Open Repairs' button. 
    • Now you will see a list of all the things it can repair. Many (if not all)  will be automatically checked off – we do NOT want to repair everything!
  5. Uncheck the box at the very top next to 'All Repairs' and that will uncheck them all.
  6. Place a check in the following box:
    • 05 - Repair WMI
  7. Click the Start Repairs button and give it some time. Do not use the computer while this is carrying out the repairs. Reboot when prompted.
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tamarisk

tamarisk

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Carried out your instructions and Malwarebytes now runs,

The scan identified a Rogue.MalwareScanner in a Desktop Shortcut.lnk  This Shortcut.lnk is for a folder that contains tools used when Bleeping Computer recently helped me with a possible infection. Hopefully the threat is a false positive but I'll have to look into it. I've attached a copy of the scan logfile.

In the meantime, thank you to all for your help.

 

Malwarebytes scan result.txt

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Ried

Ried

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I'll step in here for a moment if you don't mind. :)

It is detecting that based on the name you gave it as it is so very similar to a known malware called Malware Scanner.  You can tell Malwarebytes to ignore this detection or perhaps a better idea would be to rename the folder something like  BC Help

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