Updates not automatic downloaded and installed

[RichardAbq]

Some months ago, I noticed that even though I've chosen to have updates automatically downloaded and installed, they aren't.  When I start my computer now, I always click on "current", and updates start downloading and installing.  Unfortunately, my wife has not done this on her computer, and it's now taking well over 2 hours (*so far*) to download and install after clicking on "current".

What's happened to automatic updates????

[Malwarebytes]

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[exile360]

Greetings,

The setting you mentioned is actually for new program versions, not database updates.  To force the product to check for and download the latest build/release of Malwarebytes you need to open Malwarebytes and go to Settings>Application and click on the Install Application Updates button.

For databases/threat detection signatures, which is what gets updated when you click on 'Current', the Premium version should be configured by default to check for updates every hour unless the option to do so was changed.  It will also check for database updates whenever a scan is run as long as the program can connect to the internet when the scan starts (this includes scheduled scans as well as scans that are run manually).

As for why it is taking over two hours, I am not certain, but it definitely sounds like there is an issue unless her internet connection is extremely slow and the program is downloading a new update/program version (the latest release is version 3.8.3 and it can be downloaded manually from here if she doesn't have the latest version yet and it still won't finish downloading/installing).

If the problem still persists and she isn't on an extremely slow internet connection, I would suggest trying a clean installation to see if that helps as there may be a problem with the program itself preventing it from updating properly for some reason if it somehow got corrupted or damaged.  To do so, please follow the instructions below:

1. Download and run the Malwarebytes Support Tool
2. Accept the EULA and click Advanced tab on the left (not Start Repair)
3. Click the Clean button, and allow it to restart your system and then reinstall Malwarebytes, either by allowing the tool to do so when it offers to on restart, or by downloading and installing the latest version from here
   

If after doing that, you are still seeing this issue then please do the following on her system and provide the resulting ZIP file so that we may take a look at what is going on with her installation to try and correct the issue:

1. Run the Malwarebytes Support Tool
2. Accept the EULA and click Advanced tab on the left (not Start Repair)
3. Click the Gather Logs button, and once it completes, attach the zip file it creates on your desktop to your next reply
   

Please let us know how it goes and if necessary, please provide the requested ZIP file.

Thanks

[RichardAbq]

Thanks for the help.  "Clean" did the trick.

However, on the Dashboard, "Updates: Current" is completely misleading.  It's stating that the [database] updates are current.  (It's like your gas gauge always showing full: it's almost always wrong, and therefore useless.)  There's even a green checkmark to complete the delusion.  It should read something like "Check for database updates," then change to "Database updates: Current" after updating.  If there are updates later, it should again read "Check for database updates."

Under Settings ==> Protection, "Updates" is ambiguous.  Please change it to "Program Updates" or "Database Updates".

BTW, the Updates setting is unchanged at 1 hour, but the database is NOT being updated.  When I start a scan, the database is NOT being updated then either.  That's why my wife's computer spent about 4 hours applying updates, until I stopped it to do "Clean."

Thanks again for your help.  Please pass along my suggestions to eliminate the ambiguities.

[exile360]

The setting uses the terminology 'application component updates' and 'full version updates' and these settings are stored under the Application tab while the setting for database/signature updates is stored under the Protection tab and uses different terminology and this is the setting that applies to database updates.

The Dashboard works the way it does because there are only 2 types of status: 'Current' and 'Out of date', and by default the program is written to only alert you to the databases being out of date if the current signatures are more than 24 hours old, which is actually quite similar to other antivirus and anti-malware applications throughout the industry (something that was thoroughly investigated when working out the functionality for this component; something I was personally involved in to an extent as I was an employee of Malwarebytes while version 3 was initially under development prior to its release).  That said, I too lean on the side of preferring it show something like the current database version and offer a 'Check for updates' button or similar, however I believe they wanted to go for a cleaner/more streamlined look and feel for the Dashboard, and since the program automatically checks for database updates every time a scan is performed (whether it be a manual scan by the user or a scheduled scan launched by the program's built in scan scheduler), they didn't see much need to highlight this particular functionality, especially since the program alerts you if the signatures for protection are too old (as mentioned, after around 24 hours or so), particularly since, if the user is launching the main application window and checking for updates manually, it is most likely with the intention to perform a scan, but since launching the scan itself forces a check for database updates there isn't much need for showing anything different, at least that's the logic.

The issue on your wife's computer sounds like it was being caused by some kind of corruption of the installation, most likely some issue with one or more of the configuration files used by the application.  Such corruption is rare but as with any application, it can happen.  Hopefully the problem won't return again, but either way, regardless of how things are worded in the UI, even if it provided more detail about the database status in the Dashboard, all that information is informed by the data in those same configuration files so if they are corrupted, it couldn't display an accurate status anyway if that is the reason for the issue with it failing to update, which it sounds like it was based on your description (which was why I suggested a clean reinstall of the program to begin with because that was my initial suspicion).

Anyway, I'm glad that the program is back in proper working order now, but please let us know if you continue to see any issues with it, though it sounds like it's OK now.

Thanks