WHere are the updates of definition tables for Win 7?

[lengo67]

I get new definitions  alerts from Microsoft for Windows protection. These definitions come nearly every month. I've had Malwarebytes for months now, but not one alert from them comes saying there are new definitions. WHERE ARE THEY?  HOW DOES THIS WORK?

What am I paying for?

[exile360]

Greetings and welcome,

Windows Defender processes its updates through the Windows Update interface built into Windows which is why you see alerts about new definitions/database updates.  Malwarebytes handles its updates silently and automatically, checking for updates every hour by default.  You can check your Malwarebytes program version, component package version as well as database version info in the Settings>About tab.  Also, by default, if Malwarebytes is more than 24 hours out of date it will display an alert from the tray notifying you of the issue and prompting you to download the latest updates.  Aside from that, Malwarebytes also checks for new definitions every time it performs a scan, including scheduled scans, to ensure that it has the latest updates when it scans.

Malwarebytes also logs updates under C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\MBAMService\LOGS\MBAMSERVICE.LOG and you can locate them by searching for the phrase Starting check for updates within the log to see each instance where it checks for updates and look at the lines that follow to see when updates were available and when it downloaded them.  On a typical day the Malwarebytes threat Researchers generally update the definitions 10 or more times throughout the day depending on how many new threats have been identified.

You can control the frequency of automatic update checks under Settings>Protection in the Updates section; this is where it is configured to check hourly by default.

If you wish to check for updates manually you may do so by either right-clicking on the Malwarebytes tray icon and selecting Check for Updates or by opening Malwarebytes and clicking on the blue word next to Updates in the Dashboard tab on the lower right side (the word is generally Current as long as the definitions are not too old) and it will also show the status there when checking for updates such as checking, downloading and applying updates when that is happening.

If there is anything else we might assist you with, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Thanks

[lengo67]

Yes, there is something. Have Malwarebyte report that new updates were installed. It doesn't do that presently.

[exile360]

It actually used to in the past, however a significant number of users complained about it stating that it was non-essential information and that they just wanted Malwarebytes to quietly do its job and only notify them if there was a problem so this was changed.  I will request that they add an option to re-enable these types of notifications for the users like yourself who wish to see them, however do be aware that it is very unusual for security applications to do so these days and that Windows Defender is definitely the exception, not the rule.

I personally believe that users should have the ability to customize the application's notifications to their liking, so I will make this request on your behalf, however it likely will not happen until they re-work the UI and notification system in a future major release (likely something along the lines of a version 4.0) and of course it is up to the Product team to make the final decision on whether or not to add this capability, but I will make certain that your request is heard by them.