Malwarebytes free system tray icon sometimes just does not appear

[AliAbbas1988]

Hey guys I have a clean install of windows 10 a brand new pc built and I installed malwarebytes been using it for a long time never had a issue with it until recently. I installed the program all was well until the system tray icon just vanished and i unistalled malwarebytes and re installed it and for two days the system tray icon appeared as normal i even turned on my pc a few times a day to see if the icon would appear and it did and it wasnt until a few minutes ago i turned my pc on to find the icon was not there so what I did was restart the pc and it came back. It seems this is a Bug with the system tray icon just randomly not loading. Anyone else have a issue or fix or know anything about this.

 

Pc specs:

gtx 1070

asus strxi z390 e mobo

i5 9600k

16gb ram ddr4 ram

 

[Malwarebytes]

***This is an automated reply***

Hi,

Thanks for posting in the Malwarebytes 3 Help forum.

 

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[AliAbbas1988]

I turned my pc off and went to eat and upon returning to it and turning it back on malwarebytes system tray icon has once again vanished all my other system tray icons are still there, upon this I ran the malwarebytes support app and gathered logs which i will uploading here. I also uploaded a screen cap of my desktop to show there is no system tray icon.

mbst-grab-results.zip

[1PW]

Hello @AliAbbas1988 and

Thank you for the valuable grab-results archive which may have showed some Malwarebytes inconsistencies.  The installed Avast product may have interacted with Malwarebytes in an unfavorable manner.  Please sequentially follow the procedure steps below:

1. Save all open work and terminate all open user applications. (Browsers, Email, games, etc.)
2. Only download (do not run) the Avast uninstall utility avastclear.exe from https://www.avast.com/en-gb/uninstall-utility to the system's desktop.
3. Restart the Windows system into the SAFE MODE
4. Temporarily remove the Avast product from the system by running avastclear.exe Avast uninstall utility from the desktop.
5. Restart the Windows system into the Normal Mode.  Do not launch any other user applications except as below.
6. Perform a Malwarebytes clean reinstall using the procedures within the Uninstall and reinstall using the Malwarebytes Support Tool document.
7. Insure that the Malwarebytes databases are up-to-date.

The previously uninstalled Avast product may be reinstalled later at your discretion.

Please reply to this topic and let the forum know how it went.

Thank you.

cc: @LiquidTension

Edited May 19, 2019 by 1PW

[AliAbbas1988]

10 minutes ago, 1PW said:

Hello @AliAbbas1988 and

Thank you for the valuable grab-results archive which showed some Malwarebytes inconsistencies.  The installed Avast product may have interacted with Malwarebytes in an unfavorable manner.  Please sequentially follow the procedure steps below:

1. Save all open work and terminate all open user applications. (Browsers, games, etc.)
2. Only download (do not run) the Avast uninstall utility avastclear.exe from https://www.avast.com/en-gb/uninstall-utility to the system's desktop.
3. Restart the Windows system into the SAFE MODE
4. Temporarily remove the Avast product from the system by running avastclear.exe Avast uninstall utility from the desktop.
5. Restart the Windows system into the Normal Mode.  Do not launch any other user applications except as below.
6. Perform a Malwarebytes clean reinstall using the procedures within the Uninstall and reinstall using the Malwarebytes Support Tool document.
7. Insure that the Malwarebytes databases are up-to-date.

The previously uninstalled Avast product may be reinstalled later at your discretion.

Please reply to this topic and let the forum know how it went.

Thank you.

cc: @LiquidTension

Thank you for the solution how does all of this equate to the tray icon just vanishing on its own, I have always used avast and malwarebytes free all my life I have never had a issue until now.  Can you please explain how avast is causing the system tray icon to vanish when this has never happened before and how will the above steps stop the system tray icon from vanishing?

[AliAbbas1988]

Addtionally can you also please explain these  Malwarebytes inconsistencies that you have found as i have never had a issue with both avast and malwarebytes on the same system ever. This issue is pretty common upon searching online it seems many people are plagued with this problem but not reporting here but on microsofts support page, it does seem like a bug that is occuring as this issue has never happened to me before i have built pc's for a really long time and not once has this issue occured.

 

Thank you

[AliAbbas1988]

47 minutes ago, 1PW said:

Hello @AliAbbas1988 and

Thank you for the valuable grab-results archive which showed some Malwarebytes inconsistencies.  The installed Avast product may have interacted with Malwarebytes in an unfavorable manner.  Please sequentially follow the procedure steps below:

1. Save all open work and terminate all open user applications. (Browsers, games, etc.)
2. Only download (do not run) the Avast uninstall utility avastclear.exe from https://www.avast.com/en-gb/uninstall-utility to the system's desktop.
3. Restart the Windows system into the SAFE MODE
4. Temporarily remove the Avast product from the system by running avastclear.exe Avast uninstall utility from the desktop.
5. Restart the Windows system into the Normal Mode.  Do not launch any other user applications except as below.
6. Perform a Malwarebytes clean reinstall using the procedures within the Uninstall and reinstall using the Malwarebytes Support Tool document.
7. Insure that the Malwarebytes databases are up-to-date.

The previously uninstalled Avast product may be reinstalled later at your discretion.

Please reply to this topic and let the forum know how it went.

Thank you.

cc: @LiquidTension

I have done exactly as this says will keep you updated if the tray icon vanishes again. I still dont understand how this fixes a icon vanishes when i have clean install of windows 10 which i re installed twice inorder to fix the issue but lets see. Thank you for the help I will see if it vanishes again.

[AliAbbas1988]

After these few days of use everything seemed fine until today the system tray icon didnt appear

[LiquidTension]

Hi @AliAbbas1988,

Please provide the following event logs so we can confirm mbamtray.exe isn't crashing. I don't suspect it is, but it's still worth confirming.

Export Event Logs

• Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard at the same time. Type eventvwr.msc and click OK.
• Expand Windows Logs.
• Right-click Application and click Save All Events As.... Name the file application and click OK.
• Repeat for System.
• Navigate to the location of the files. Highlight the two files, right-click one and click Send to followed by Compressed (zipped) folder.
• Name the Zip file EventLogs.zip and attach the file in your next reply.

-----

Typically, users experience this issue when the Windows startup time is particularly slow or when fast startup is enabled. Have you noticed any recent changes in the time it takes for Windows to startup?

Please try the following and check if you still experience an issue over multiple reboots.

Set Malwarebytes Startup Type As Delayed-Auto

• Download mbamservice_delayed.reg using the link below:
  → https://malwarebytes.box.com/s/15jbt7tifcetlhcgmszzb6appbak56w4
• Right-click the Malwarebytes icon in your notification area (next to the system clock).
• Note: You may need to click the arrow to reveal the icon.
• Click Quit Malwarebytes followed by Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
• Open your Downloads folder or location of the downloaded mbamservice_delayed.reg file.
• Double-click mbamservice_delayed.reg and click Run followed by Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
• Click Yes when prompted to continue.
• Click OK.
• Restart the computer.

[AliAbbas1988]

34 minutes ago, LiquidTension said:

Hi @AliAbbas1988,

Please provide the following event logs so we can confirm mbamtray.exe isn't crashing. I don't suspect it is, but it's still worth confirming.

Export Event Logs

• Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard at the same time. Type eventvwr.msc and click OK.
• Expand Windows Logs.
• Right-click Application and click Save All Events As.... Name the file application and click OK.
• Repeat for System.
• Navigate to the location of the files. Highlight the two files, right-click one and click Send to followed by Compressed (zipped) folder.
• Name the Zip file EventLogs.zip and attach the file in your next reply.

-----

Typically, users experience this issue when the Windows startup time is particularly slow or when fast startup is enabled. Have you noticed any recent changes in the time it takes for Windows to startup?

Please try the following and check if you still experience an issue over multiple reboots.

Set Malwarebytes Startup Type As Delayed-Auto

• Download mbamservice_delayed.reg using the link below:
  → https://malwarebytes.box.com/s/15jbt7tifcetlhcgmszzb6appbak56w4
• Right-click the Malwarebytes icon in your notification area (next to the system clock).
• Note: You may need to click the arrow to reveal the icon.
• Click Quit Malwarebytes followed by Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
• Open your Downloads folder or location of the downloaded mbamservice_delayed.reg file.
• Double-click mbamservice_delayed.reg and click Run followed by Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
• Click Yes when prompted to continue.
• Click OK.
• Restart the computer.

I have done mutiple reboots and no slow start up everything starts up fine, as for fast start up I have had malwarebytes in the past infact I have been running malware bytes for years and never had this issue with fast start up. I have attached the files that you have requested thank you for your help.

EventLogs.zip

[LiquidTension]

Thanks.

Please try the steps above to set MBAMService to delayed-start and confirm if the issue persists or not.

[AliAbbas1988]

15 hours ago, LiquidTension said:

Hi @AliAbbas1988,

Please provide the following event logs so we can confirm mbamtray.exe isn't crashing. I don't suspect it is, but it's still worth confirming.

Export Event Logs

• Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard at the same time. Type eventvwr.msc and click OK.
• Expand Windows Logs.
• Right-click Application and click Save All Events As.... Name the file application and click OK.
• Repeat for System.
• Navigate to the location of the files. Highlight the two files, right-click one and click Send to followed by Compressed (zipped) folder.
• Name the Zip file EventLogs.zip and attach the file in your next reply.

-----

Typically, users experience this issue when the Windows startup time is particularly slow or when fast startup is enabled. Have you noticed any recent changes in the time it takes for Windows to startup?

Please try the following and check if you still experience an issue over multiple reboots.

Set Malwarebytes Startup Type As Delayed-Auto

• Download mbamservice_delayed.reg using the link below:
  → https://malwarebytes.box.com/s/15jbt7tifcetlhcgmszzb6appbak56w4
• Right-click the Malwarebytes icon in your notification area (next to the system clock).
• Note: You may need to click the arrow to reveal the icon.
• Click Quit Malwarebytes followed by Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
• Open your Downloads folder or location of the downloaded mbamservice_delayed.reg file.
• Double-click mbamservice_delayed.reg and click Run followed by Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
• Click Yes when prompted to continue.
• Click OK.
• Restart the computer.

I have done this and will let you know if the issue re occurs thank you for the help I dont understand why this issue is present when i never had this issue as i have been using malwarebytes for years.

[AliAbbas1988]

Hi just a update it is still doing the exact same thing. After a couple of shutdowns and turning it back on the Malwarebytes icon in the system tray does not appear+

[exile360]

Greetings,

I already posted this in another thread, but if you haven't tried yet, I'd suggest disabling fast startup to see if that resolves the issue.  You'll find additional information and instructions on how to do so here as well as here.