New to Malwarebytes, should I uninstall Avast free prior to install?

[hardrock2112]

Title kind of says it... been using Avast for years, want to add Malwarebytes Premium.  Seeing conflicting info on Google, as to some say run Avast and Malwarebytes side by side... other posts say the latest version of Malwarebytes literally replaces other A/V software... so to uninstall Avast or not?  Prior to install or after?  Thanks for any guidance.  Also, I thought I saw that a home user can use on 3 computers, but on the website it looks like just one license.  Any clarification appreciated.

[Malwarebytes]

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[exile360]

Greetings,

Malwarebytes 3 has been designed to run alongside AV software, however thanks to the additional modules and capabilities which were added in Malwarebytes 3 you may run it alone if you wish as it is considered an AV replacement in that regard, however it is fine if you would still prefer to use both Avast and Malwarebytes.

With regards to licenses, if you have one of the old lifetime licenses then it is for 1 device, however if you purchased one of the more recent yearly subscriptions then it could be for 1 device or 3 depending on how many devices the license you purchased was authorized for.  This info should be included in your original purchase email if you still have it, or you may log into my.malwarebytes.com to check there or you may contact Malwarebytes Support directly via the options found on this page to have them look up your license type/info for you.

If there is anything else we might assist you with please let us know.

Thanks

[hardrock2112]

Thank you for the reply.  I haven't made the purchase yet, but I have now downloaded the free trial and plan to purchase.  We have 2 computers on our home network.  I do have 2 follow up questions if I may ask.  I apologize, but I am brand new to your product.

a) I ran the suggested initial scan.  It scanned a couple hundred thousand files, but I am sure it did not scan everything as I have multiple drives and it just seemed that it didn't get deep into data to 'look' for anything.  I didn't see a setting to tell it what to scan which I've seen in other products in the past.

b) I download a lot of videos from youtube and have I guess some kind of plug in call fastest tube.  On the initial scan it found maybe 90+ files all related to fasttube.  Should I really delete those?  I'm not aware that I've had any problems related to fastube.

Thank you very  much for helping me get started.

[nukecad]

I'll leave exile to answer the 'what it scanned' question.

But as exile is not online at the moment I'll talk about the fastest tube detections -

Firstly to say that I don't know that application, but from a quick search some like it and some wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.

I expect that it's files are being found as "PUP"s, which stands for "Potentially Unwanted Programmes".

Tthese are often programmes that have been 'bundled' and got installed when you installed something else.

This doesn't mean that PUPs are malware, just that they may not be wanted by that particular user, who may never use them (and didn't even know they were installed).

If you do use them and want them it's your choice to keep them.

Make them exclusions in Malwarebytes and it will not detect them again because it then knows that you want to keep them.
Here's how to make an exclusion in Malwarebytes: https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1130

Edited September 21, 2018 by nukecad

[exile360]

The default scan is what is referred to as the Threat scan.  It checks the locations where malware is known to install itself, including system folders, program folders, temp/data folders, the default downloads location, the desktop folder (including all of these locations for all user accounts on the system), as well as the registry.  You can access additional scan types via the Scan tab found on the left side of the main UI so that you may modify what is scanned if you choose, however the locations included in the default Threat scan are configured by the Malwarebytes Research team to look at the locations where malware installs itself as well as the most common locations where a malware dropper/installer might be stored.  The locations that are checked are updated dynamically with database updates, so whenever a new location is discovered to be used by threats the Research team adds that location to the database so that when you update the database (which happens by default prior to every scan) the new location will be checked in addition to the others.

It is likely that the detections you're seeing are PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) detections. as mentioned by nukecad above.  The specific reason for the detections I cannot say without asking someone from Research, however common reasons for detecting PUP browser plugins are the insertion of ads/links into search results and/or websites when browsing, monitoring/gathering of your browsing info (sites you visit etc.) and uploading that info to their servers for telemetry/profit purposes and altering your search results.  Without talking to Research, that's only speculation though.  You may post your scan log if you wish and we can take a look and advise you further on the detections if you would like us to, otherwise you may exclude the extension as mentioned by nukecad above.