High CPU Usage freezes my PC

[Axite83]

First, i'm sorry if this has been posted before. I did do a search, but didn't find any help.

While i'm using my PC the entire system will become unresponsive for 5-10 seconds. This happens fairly often, on average twice an hour, but sometimes up to 6 times an hour! I have left my task manager open and whenever this happens I can see the "Malwarebytes Service" shoots to the top taking upwards of 60% CPU, and then drops back down to normal when the PC becomes responsive again.

It's extremely annoying and seems to happen no matter what i'm doing. I can just reading a document, or I can be playing a game. Doesn't make a difference, Malwarebytes suddenly takes all available CPU resources and everything else freezes.

I paid for the premium and really regretting it as I'm going to have to remove the software if this can't be fixed.

[Malwarebytes]

***This is an automated reply***

Hi,

Thanks for posting in the Malwarebytes 3 Help forum.

 

If you are having technical issues with our Windows product, please do the following: 

Spoiler

If you haven’t already done so, please run the Malwarebytes Support Tool and then attach the logs in your next reply:

NOTE: The tools and the information obtained is safe and not harmful to your privacy or your computer, please allow the programs to run if blocked by your system.

1. Download Malwarebytes Support Tool
2. Once the file is downloaded, open your Downloads folder/location of the downloaded file
3. Double-click mb-support-X.X.X.XXXX.exe to run the program
   • You may be prompted by User Account Control (UAC) to allow changes to be made to your computer. Click Yes to consent.
4. Place a checkmark next to Accept License Agreement and click Next
5. You will be presented with a page stating, "Get Started!"
6. Click the Advanced tab on the left column
   
7. Click the Gather Logs button
   
8. A progress bar will appear and the program will proceed with getting logs from your computer
   
9. Upon completion, click a file named mbst-grab-results.zip will be saved to your Desktop. Click OK
10. Please attach the file in your next reply. Before submitting your reply, be sure to enable "Notify me of replies" like so:
       

Click "Reveal Hidden Contents" below for details on how to attach a file:
 

Spoiler

To save attachments, please click the link as shown below. You can click and drag the files to this bar or you can click the choose files, then browse to where your files are located, select them and click the Open button.

 

One of our experts will be able to assist you shortly.

 

If you are having licensing issues, please do the following: 

Spoiler

For any of these issues:

• Renewals
• Refunds (including double billing)
• Cancellations
• Update Billing Info
• Multiple Transactions
• Consumer Purchases
• Transaction Receipt

Please contact our support team at https://support.malwarebytes.com/community/consumer/pages/contact-us to get help

If you need help looking up your license details, please head here: https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1264 

 

Thanks in advance for your patience.

-The Malwarebytes Forum Team

 

[Axite83]

Logs attached.

mbst-grab-results.zip

[exile360]

Greetings,

I'm sorry that the software is causing performance issues, but we'll do our best to get the problem sorted for you.

First, I noticed that your system logs show that a system reboot is pending to install several Windows Updates and possibly a product update for your Symantec Endpoint Protection product.  I'd recommend restarting the system to see if that makes any difference.  It's not too likely, but it is possible so it's definitely worth a try.

Next, if that fails to resolve the problem, I noticed that you have Acronis TrueImage installed on your system.  With its constant disk monitoring and backup processes, it has been known to sometimes cause performance issues with the Ransomware Protection component in Malwarebytes Premium.  You may exclude Acronis' folders/processes/services from Malwarebytes' Ransomware Protection component by following the instructions in this support article under the Exclude a File or Folder section and selecting the option to Exclude from detection as ransomware only (or if you prefer, you may leave the first option selected which will exclude the items from all of the protection components in Malwarebytes, though it shouldn't be necessary).

Once that's done, check to see if the issue still remains and if it does, then please try disabling just the Ransomware Protection component in Malwarebytes temporarily to verify that this is the problematic component.  To do so, simply right-click on the Malwarebytes tray icon in your notification area near your system clock and click where it says Ransomware Protection: On and then click Yes when prompted by User Account Control.  Once that's done test to see if the issue is now eliminated.  If it is, please let us know and we will assist you in determining how best to proceed.

Please let us know how it goes and if any of the options above resolved the performance issue.

Thanks

[Axite83]

Hello, update on this. I did as you suggested.

First, I made sure all updates were installed, then I added an exception to Acronis Trueimage from the Ransomeware Protection. Unfortunately, this did not fix the issue.

However, after I completely turning off the Ransomeware Protection, by right clicking the tray icon and unchecking it there, the problem has gone away. I tested it by leaving it off for a week, and didn't have 1 single freeze. What's the best way to proceed?

[exile360]

Excellent, I'm glad that it worked.

At this point you basically have two choices; it is up to you which solution best suits your needs:

1. Leave Ransomware Protection off from now on to eliminate the performance issues.  While this obviously reduces your level of protection, as I mentioned previously this component of Malwarebytes is far less proactive than the others and is very unlikely to detect any threats that the other modules would not have prevented beforehand so it is largely redundant (I keep this module disabled on my own systems for similar reasons as it tends to impact performance and have not had a single threat get through).

2. Remove Acronis or simply disable its automated backups/background processes.  While this obviously reduces its usefulness for keeping your data backed up, as long as you remember to make regular backups manually (something you should be able to do even if Acronis' scheduled/automated backups are disabled) then it shouldn't be much of a risk.  In fact, you can probably change Acronis' settings to stop doing the constant backups whenever anything is changed/disable its background monitoring and instead schedule something like a daily or weekly backup so that your backups are still kept current without you needing to remember to run the backups manually and as long as the backups are able to complete even with Ransomware Protection enabled (though the system may perform slowly while the backups are running) then it should be OK; otherwise you could simply disable Ransomware Protection temporarily while running the backups manually or just remember to disable Ransomware Protection whenever your scheduled backups are going to start.  You may need to do some additional testing with Acronis and Malwarebytes to see how they behave and how the system performs to determine which method would be best.

Obviously neither solution is ideal, but for the time being those seem to be the only real options.  You could pursue a different backup solution to see if it fares any better than Acronis, however there is no guarantee that it would not suffer from the same issues.  There are several alternatives available such as Macrium, Paragon, EasUS etc.  There are several listed in this article and most if not all of them provide some kind of free version or free trial allowing you to try them out before deciding.