Another Windows 7 x64 freeze after the 1.0.508 update

[LiquidTension]

40 minutes ago, exile360 said:

OK, thanks.  Unfortunately this thread is full of users affected by both issues as all of the Windows 7 freeze issues got merged into a single discussion so separating it out for fixing the Ransomware Protection issue may prove problematic.  In fact, I believe most of the recent reports came from users affected by the Ransomware Protection issue, not the Web Protection issue (and I also believe the latter is much more frequently a case of AV web filter conflicts than anything else, though this is not always the case).

The various performance issues involving Ransomware Protection do not appear to be related to the issue at hand. Disabling Web Protection has been provided as a potential workaround for a while now to many users reporting complete system freezes (both on the forum and Support helpdesk) and we have yet to hear that this was unsuccessful. We are also investigating Ransomware Protection-related performance issues (such as startup/shutdown lag, application freezes, etc), but separately to this complete system freeze. 

[n8lbv]

Of those reporting problems, can you please report on what internal network range you are using  on the system 

I've noted that the ones that I have worked with all seem to be on various 10.x.x x/24 numbered networks.

Also the lockups seem to be most prevalent just after startup as things are being loaded. Or as soon as "they try to do anything" just after startup 

I personally have not seen rh in s on a "192.168.x.x/24" network connected system yet.

[Telliege]

2 minutes ago, n8lbv said:

Of those reporting problems, can you please report on what internal network range you are using  on the system 

I've noted that the ones that I have worked with all seem to be on various 10.x.x x/24 numbered networks.

Also the lockups seem to be most prevalent just after startup as things are being loaded. Or as soon as "they try to do anything" just after startup 

I personally have not seen rh in s on a "192.168.x.x/24" network connected system yet.

First computer to report having an issue (ironically) in my case is running on "192.168.x.x/24" .

Yes the computers seem to act up more on startup. Or seem to crash after long period of stable idle. Or if you load up certain networking programs (game or applications etc.) it locks up. I am wondering if certain ports trigger it.

Edited January 13, 2019 by Telliege

[n8lbv]

1 minute ago, Telliege said:

First computer to report having an issue (ironically) in my case is running on "192.168.x.x/24" .

Thanks was curious. Had one client take it home and put it in 192.168.x and it wouldn't happen there in four days. Took it back to work put it on 10.x and problem was back. (Non- domain).  I had to at least ask.

 

[Telliege]

3 minutes ago, n8lbv said:

Thanks was curious. Had one client take it home and put it in 192.168.x and it wouldn't happen there in four days. Took it back to work put it on 10.x and problem was back. (Non- domain).  I had to at least ask.

 

Totally understand, but seems to be some random plus software and who knows whatelse involved =(. Another irony my brothers network is on same LAN network range and experiences it infrequently. Now one big difference and it makes me wonder I am noticing (could be another coincidence. ) Connections on High end routers with low traffic seem to have less lockups.  Is his home network low traffic and the one at work high? This is one thing I keep noticing and I don't feel is a coincidence.

[abs7125]

My freezing issues, are only with Web protection, however, I do have issues with startup, and shut down lag, due to ransomware.

[Curley]

I have experienced a Win 7 Professional system freezes this morning. It was a hard freeze as reported by many users; nothing worked other than a hard system reset. Upon reboot Windows had to check my system disk and fix some errors. Other than the original MB postings has there been any progress made on this serious problem? For the moment I have disabled Web Protection as suggested. I hope that stops the freezes until a corrective update is released. 

[T3chH3adach3]

when did freeze first occur?  12.14.18 or earlier (like others I was trouble shooting) contacted support 12.17.18

what were you doing prior to latest freeze?  so long ago don't remember  much too random

anything significant? not really again to random 

freeze when idle? freezes: reading email,watching video, idle with screen saver running, froze during sleep (could not reawake),frozen immediately after boot,

froze running MB scan (was able to run intensive custom MB scan in safe mode with networking no freeze) really random

correlation during network traffic? see previous answer I would say not necessarily 

how often does it freeze? randomly often as noted

able to reproduce on demand? not definitely - turn on web protect and it will freeze sooner or later

 how old is pc? about 4 years custom build 

upgraded? no always win 7 pro 64

windows updates ? yes (at time of first freeze would have been dec stuff)

updates after first freeze ? Jan stuff but have been without web protect since dec no freeze yet

multiple adapters? yes have only used 1 for the time period involved all others disabled in use is Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (2) I218-V

have not disabled adapter because I have 3 win 7 pro 64s - 1 pc freezes , 1 pc does not freeze , 1 laptop does not freeze - the no freeze are on different wifi adapters - the freeze is as follows : att router to tp link router (at which point all connections in house are made because att equipment ain't so great) to tplink switch to pc - incoming ethernet cable runs thru apc battery backup first if that matters

Operating System
    Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1
CPU
    Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.00GHz    29 °C
    Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
    16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 932MHz (9-10-9-28)
Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1/USB 3.1 (SOCKET 1150)    27 °C
Graphics
    DUAL-DVI (1920x1080@59Hz)
    2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB (EVGA)    28 °C
Storage
    1863GB Western Digital WDC WD2003FZEX-00Z4S SCSI Disk Device (SATA)    27 °C
    465GB Western Digital WDC WD5003AZEX-00MK2 SCSI Disk Device (SATA)    25 °C
    931GB Western Digital WDC WD1003FZEX-00MK2 SCSI Disk Device (SATA)    25 °C
 

[tend2it]

3 hours ago, LiquidTension said:

Yes, this program in particular has allowed us to reproduce the freeze on an internal system.

Glad battle.net updater was repeatable on your internal test environment ... hopefully, you can get to the bottom of this very soon.

I actually rolled back my son's system to August 2018 using SW to backup/restore because of the random freezes.  He had to re-install/update everything past Aug to bring the system up to present.  However, since MB was not known to be the cause, Its auto-update component was still active and installed the latest updates.  This of course made it appear that the backup was also freezing.   Very misleading issue indeed, as I was thinking perhaps a HW component might be failing since the freeze was also occurring on the backup as well.  Definitely a hair-pulling troubleshooting nightmare.

This issue definitely needs a higher exposure to the general public, especially for the non-tech savvy folks as mentioned above.

[MajesticWi]

On 1/9/2019 at 3:06 PM, MajesticWi said:

I don't know if this is related, but I have been doing some experimenting on my own.  Since the hard freeze never occurs for me right after boot up or for a period of time after boot up, I decided to play around with some of the Malwarebyte settings that interact with Windows 7 during my time on the computer.  With Malwarebytes set for FULL protection I have found that if I disable Malwarebytes' Automatically Check for Updates setting and do the updates manually the freeze problem is gone.  So far my testing has been only for 2 days, but prior to this I was experiencing at least one freeze once a day.

  <snip>

Just to update my previous post....... subsequent trial on my end showed that disabling the Automatically Check for Updates option doesn't totally resolve the hard freeze issue.  It still occurred, but less frequently. 

I have since reverted my version of Malwarebytes back to the earlier version.  The hard freeze problem has been totally resolved now.

[Curley]

48 minutes ago, tend2it said:

Glad battle.net updater was repeatable on your internal test environment ... hopefully, you can get to the bottom of this very soon.

I actually rolled back my son's system to August 2018 using SW to backup/restore because of the random freezes.  He had to re-install/update everything past Aug to bring the system up to present.  However, since MB was not known to be the cause, Its auto-update component was still active and installed the latest updates.  This of course made it appear that the backup was also freezing.   Very misleading issue indeed, as I was thinking perhaps a HW component might be failing since the freeze was also occurring on the backup as well.  Definitely a hair-pulling troubleshooting nightmare.

This issue definitely needs a higher exposure to the general public, especially for the non-tech savvy folks as mentioned above.

I absolutely agree, MB should be more open about issues like this. I pity the poor, new, unknowing customer who just installed MB suddenly have this problem. I was looking a possible hardware issues until I found it was a new MB update causing the problem. 

[Porthos]

1 hour ago, tend2it said:

This issue definitely needs a higher exposure to the general public, especially for the non-tech savvy folks as mentioned above.

Since it has already been established that emails would only reach some of the user base, where else should they "announce/advertise" the issue to please all these people suggesting notifications for the non-tech savvy since not everyone is affected.

Edited January 13, 2019 by Porthos

[abs7125]

Maybe at least start with an email, and go from there?? Its been 5 weeks now. 

[buckyswider]

On 1/11/2019 at 8:37 AM, LiquidTension said:

Thanks everyone for your continued feedback on the issue. For those affected by the issue, please provide the following information:

• When did the freeze first start occurring?  Around 12/20/2018
• What were you doing on the computer immediately prior to the latest freeze?  General web surfing
• Did you notice anything significant occur around the time of the latest freeze (e.g. AV notification, application crash, etc)?  No, but just today I started noticing "Realtime Protection Disabled" pop-ups
• Has a freeze occurred when the computer is idle?  yes, lots of times.  In fact every morning when I wake up I've had to power cycle.  
• Have you noticed a correlation between high network traffic and the computer freezing?  No
• How often does the computer freeze?  2-3x daily
• Are you able to reproduce the freeze on-demand? If the answer is yes, what are the steps?  No
• How old is the computer? 4 years (Dell XPS8700 / Core i7 Gen4)
• Was the computer upgraded from XP/Vista to Windows 7? No
• Is the computer fully up-to-date with Windows Updates? Which updates have been installed after the first freeze occurred? Yes.  whatever has come out.  
• Does the computer have multiple network adapters? If it does, what happens when you disable the adapter currently in use and switch to a different adapter?  It has ethernet along with Wifi, but I always use wired.  If it will help to switch over to wifi I will.  

 

 

[buckyswider]

Thanks to user LavaLamps for pointing me here from sevenforums.  And a HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to axe0 over at sevenforums who has been working with me for 3+ weeks now trying to troubleshoot my consistent hangs and occasional BSODs.  

The most suspect component (as usual) was the NVIDA drivers.  I tried pretty much every version of driver out there.  I bought a "new" video card (same model) to replace mine to see it was a hardware issue.  Didn't help.  Finally went out and replaced the NVIDIA based card with a RADEON based card.  No good.  

I actually had a new Win10 system in my shopping cart and almost pulled the trigger, but I don't have the cycles at this point in time to migrate to a new PC.  I break out in a cold sweat thinking about re-installing / migrating Outlook, One Note, Adobe Acrobat full, AcrGIS Pro, Visio, ent other license-based components.  I know someday I will have to, but I'm smack dab in the middle of a boatload of stuff right now and besides, my system really ones well (ya know, aside from the hangs!!!)

What's my best move for the short-term:  disable realtime protection??  

[Telliege]

1 minute ago, buckyswider said:

Thanks to user LavaLamps for pointing me here from sevenforums.  And a HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to axe0 over at sevenforums who has been working with me for 3+ weeks now trying to troubleshoot my consistent hangs and occasional BSODs.  

The most suspect component (as usual) was the NVIDA drivers.  I tried pretty much every version of driver out there.  I bought a "new" video card (same model) to replace mine to see it was a hardware issue.  Didn't help.  Finally went out and replaced the NVIDIA based card with a RADEON based card.  No good.  

I actually had a new Win10 system in my shopping cart and almost pulled the trigger, but I don't have the cycles at this point in time to migrate to a new PC.  I break out in a cold sweat thinking about re-installing / migrating Outlook, One Note, Adobe Acrobat full, AcrGIS Pro, Visio, ent other license-based components.  I know someday I will have to, but I'm smack dab in the middle of a boatload of stuff right now and besides, my system really ones well (ya know, aside from the hangs!!!)

What's my best move for the short-term:  disable realtime protection??  

Disable web protection and if still have an issue disable ransom ware protection. Realtime does not seem to be an issue. Or you can downgrade as explained by others.

[buckyswider]

Thanks Telliege.  I disabled Web- we'll see what happens.  I'm far from an MWB power user- I pretty much install it and let it do its thing, so I'm not familiar with much of the vernacular...

[tend2it]

1 hour ago, Porthos said:

Since it has already been established that emails would only reach some of the user base, where else should they "announce/advertise" the issue to please all these people suggesting notifications for the non-tech savvy since not everyone is affected.

Perhaps the best way to directly contact users is a software update that pushes a warning Malwarebytes Main Graphical User Interface (that displays options to run) which can display a Big Red Banner (at startup or Notification if system is not restarted) clearly stating the Issue that may affect certain computers running Win7 and current workaround info link.

[tend2it]

This banner can also be used as a News feed on status/fix confirmation/etc. ... but wouldn't be helpful for us who rolled back to a previous version ... unless you also push an updated version of that older version with this update feature.

[LAVA]

59 minutes ago, Telliege said:

Disable web protection and if still have an issue disable ransom ware protection. Realtime does not seem to be an issue. Or you can downgrade as explained by others.

You're welcome. I"m glad you found your way over here. However, I would recommend a roll-back to Component Package version 1.0.418 so you have full protection online.

There are many other Windows 7 users out there trying to troubleshoot their systems by throwing good money after bad, along with a lot of wasted time and productivity. 

In almost every case, nobody suspects MBAM software to be the source of their problems.  Affected users start testing RAM, swapping video cards, changing drivers, power supplies, mice/keyboards, updates, etc... until they do a search on 'Windows 7 Freeze MBAM', or someone tells them about the issue, the problem remains unsolved (for weeks in some cases).

I know the MBAM staff has been working on the issue, but a few of us indicated the problem was likely more widespread than they realized (partly because it was holiday break). If you look at our profiles, you'll notice many of us are new. i.e. We've been cruising along for years without any issues on Win7 + MBAM, and many of us are computer or IT veterans.

More sites are encountering the issue and are surprised when they are informed the problem lies with MBAM.  A few prominent sites are questioning why Malwarebytes hasn't 'taken ownership' of the problem after 3 weeks with some sort of advisory or annoucement.  This is a PR disaster in the making, yet they had a chance to get in front of it 2-3 weeks ago...

One editor wondered if the problem was bigger:  "How many Windows 10 users encounter this problem and just 'chalk it up to MS' and Windows 10 updates?  Hello MBAM?"

 

 

[LAVA]

buckyswider

Previous message #303 was intended for buckyswider.

[GK2005]

1 minute ago, LAVA said:

You're welcome. I"m glad you found your way over here. However, I would recommend a roll-back to Component Package version 1.0.418 so you have full protection online.

There are many other Windows 7 users out there trying to troubleshoot their systems by throwing good money after bad, along with a lot of wasted time and productivity. 

In almost every case, nobody suspects MBAM software to be the source of their problems.  Affected users start testing RAM, swapping video cards, changing drivers, power supplies, mice/keyboards, updates, etc... until they do a search on 'Windows 7 Freeze MBAM', or someone tells them about the issue, the problem remains unsolved (for weeks in some cases).

I know the MBAM staff has been working on the issue, but a few of us indicated the problem was likely more widespread than they realized (partly because it was holiday break). If you look at our profiles, you'll notice many of us are new. i.e. We've been cruising along for years without any issues on Win7 + MBAM, and many of us are computer or IT veterans.

More sites are encountering the issue and are surprised when they are informed the problem lies with MBAM.  A few prominent sites are questioning why Malwarebytes hasn't 'taken ownership' of the problem after 3 weeks with some sort of advisory or annoucement.  This is a PR disaster in the making, yet they had a chance to get in front of it 2-3 weeks ago...

One editor wondered if the problem was bigger:  "How many Windows 10 users encounter this problem and just 'chalk it up to MS' and Windows 10 updates?  Hello MBAM?"

 

 

Exactly what happened to me - two systems; only one was experiencing issues at the time. I spent days switching hardware around trying to figure out what was going on. I even ended up reinstalling windows numerous times. Eventually ended up buying a new power supply; switched it out; and then the other system started having issues as well - and then I found this thread. Turning off the web protection did the trick for both systems. Not mad about the new power supply because I'm looking to upgrade video boards so will need it eventually anyhow. I understand that things happen - but a bit more transparency with user-base would be nice.

[belsnerd]

To say that I am mortified that the Random PC freezes on my Windows 7 PC occurring  since 17/12/2018 was a known problem at Malwarebytes about which I was not advised, is an understatement.

It is only my long term respect and value for what Malwarebytes provides for me that prevents me from deleting your software on my two PCs and Notebook for ever and having nothing more to do with your corporation.

 

It is all very well for current administrators and people intimately involved with MB and your Forums to know about the problem and to be investigating solutions.

I can also understand 'mediocre' small scale developers being reluctant to advise users about serious bugs in their software but something as potentially nasty as this fault requires advice to all possibly affected users.

 

You have no trouble finding my E-Mail address for advertisements about new products, why couldn't you warn me about a serious problem such as this?

 

MB staff working on the problem should put themselves in the shoes of a 75 year old (retired 20 years IT administrator) now purely a home user, using his PCs for important personal activities.  A long term satisfied MB user, from your earliest days, unaware that there was any possibility that your software could be the cause of his Windows 7 PC  freezes and lockups.

 

Consider the expense, hours of work and distress (to me and my wife) during the Christmas New Year period of frantically working to identify and find a solution to the most irritating fault I have ever experienced.

 

A fault that randomly, at intervals from 2 minutes to 200 minutes froze my PC screen and locked my system up, requiring a power down restart into Windows Safe mode, with that mode's limited facilities.

 

After finally identifying MB entries in system logs at the exact time of failures and finding a posting on your  forums dated March 2018, about MB causing lockups (that's the word I use but your forums use 'freezes') I suspected that it may be causing my problem and completely uninstalled MB from my Windows 7 PC . 

Following removal of MB on 11/01/2019 I have had no further lockups in the days since.

To then find so many postings about Windows 7 freezes/lockups here is the pits.  My respect for Malwarebytes has fallen to  an extremely  low level.  

This fault caused me so much grief that at present I am not willing to re-install MB until you fix the problem and assure me that I won't receive any further freezes, or lockups.

AND that if a similar fault of this scale ever occurs again you will promptly notify users of their potential risk.  You have a Facebook group, why not make that the notification centre for such problems?

Happy New Year.

[Darkdirk]

2 hours ago, belsnerd said:

You have no trouble finding my E-Mail address for advertisements about new products, why couldn't you warn me about a serious problem such as this?

^^^^THIS IS AN EXCELLENT POINT^^^^

I shudder to think how many hundreds of thousands of hours have been wasted by individual users such as ourselves  chasing our tails and needlessly replacing hardware / reinstalling entire systems from scratch, and how many others STILL DON’T KNOW why their systems are freezing.  And how much of everyone’s TIME AND MONEY could have been so easily saved by a simple email to so-called “premium” customers (something that they already do every few weeks anyway).

You guys can keep claiming that it only affects a “very small percentage of users”, but I’m not buying it anymore.  Of the fifteen MBAM Premium / Win7 users that I personally know of (because I recommended it to each of them), only one has remained unaffected by this.  ONE.  14/15 is not a small percentage.  My guess is that Malwarebytes is justifying calling it a “small percentage” based on total installations (not just Premium) and only counting those who have reported problems.  My bet is they’re not sending out an email warning because it would probably verify what they should already suspect at this point, which is that this affects most, if not all, MBAM Premium/Win7 installations.

You know how food companies sometimes do massive recalls of millions of pounds of tainted products, even though just a few people actually got sick?  Imagine if an expensive food recall could be replaced by a simple email.  I guess what I’m saying is, I hope Malwarebytes never gets into the food packing business.

[uni1108]

This may be unrelated but just prior to one of my hard freezes, I noted my system became sluggish and that the program ip2launcher was consuming excessive amounts of CPU.  Before I could kill the thing, the system froze tight.