MWB expiration force uninstaller / New web dashboard panel loses account

[drusher]

Malwarebytes does 3 nasty things when the license key expires and when we switch to the new dashboard display.  I am a retired IT web system professional from a top-3 ISP provider.   I am stunned by the insanity of your code.

1. When the license key expires, A scan bot runs that does a force uninstall of MWB.  There is NO OPTION TO PUT IN A NEW LICENSE KEY.  The only way out of the force uninstaller is do do a hard reset of the PC and not allow the force uninstaller to run when the PC comes back up.  That is a really nasty thing to do.  Why should I have to uninstall/reinstall simply to put a new license key in?  What paranoid planner designed that boolean disaster?  Dump the force uninstaller and keep displaying the expired popup for 30 days, or otherwise add a button to enter a new license key.

2. In my web account, I let it switch to the new dashboard display.  The web account LOST MY SUBSCRIPTION and I had to pull it up and re-enter it.  Who wrote that nasty code? 

3. Serious PII violation: requiring 2-step email code validation to update license key.  There is NO reason to require 2-step email validation to enter a license key.  The account is not being modified.  First of all, that was an unnecessary pain in the PC.  Secondly, if I am in the hospital, and tell my wife of kid how to do the regcode, I have to give full access to my private email account to update the password.   Third, if I am a neophyte and have a geek down the street, or worse have to haul my PC down to the Best Buy Geek Squad, they have access to my private email and can (and will) scan it and/or turn my private email account information to the federal government.  Your counsel dictates this issue.  By violating my privacy and forcing me to turn over my email account to others, you are begging for big lawsuits.  You need to ask your counsel about this and IMMEDIATELY dump the 2-step email authentication requirement.  You are doing what hackers do.  If MWB is intended to be secure, you dont want your code to end up being quarantined by MWB.

I have plenty of things to do other than hacking my way into my subscription.  You need to teach your security people not to pretend that customers are hackers.   It took me two hours this morning to do my regcodes and make this ticket, when it should have taken 5 minutes.

If I see these violations next year, I might well file a lawsuit against you myself.  I have been doing my own legal work for the past 30 years and won every case I filed. 

[Malwarebytes]

***This is an automated reply***

Hi,

Thanks for posting in the Malwarebytes for Windows Help forum.

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

Malwarebytes Support Tool - Advanced Options

This feature is designed for the following reasons:

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[AdvancedSetup]

Hello @drusher

Sorry to hear of your issues with the program. Our program runs no uninstaller or scans to do an uninstall. There are some ISP that offer a licensed account that may run an uninstaller but we ourselves do not run one. Once the account expires we simply revert back to the free version. We'd rather you do have the program on the computer and it does not benefit us to remove it. It sounds though like this may not be your case if you're using the My Account page. We did recently change from a version one to a version two account system with the My Account and it's possible you may have run into an issue. I apologize if that's the case and will report this to the team.

I do know that we do offer 2FA but I'm not certain if it is forced or not. I'd have to check on that for you on Monday. Due to ever increased attacks on accounts the 2FA helps to increase a certain level of security. It is not required to simply activate the program if you have a key. It offers the option to activate by logging in and 2FA may be enabled on your account.

Again, I will check on this for you on Monday.

Thank you

 

[drusher]

Mine is a self-install on a Dell PC I purchased running win 10

Once expired, (and about a minute after the PC boot)s, a popup blocking access to the PC comes up wanting to run a program.  When I allowed it to run, it kept the desktop inaccessible and wanted to uninstall MWB.  I did a hard reset.  When the PC came up, I did not allow the program to run, which made it possible to run MWB and update the reg code.  

On my laptop, the force uninstaller did not run.  It reverted to the free version and I updated the reg code with no problem.  That is a fancy Dell laptop I bought running win 10.

I see no need for that program.  I don't know why it triggered on one dell and not the other.  I did not have problems with my main PC that I built myself because I updated the reg code right away.

I got extremely busy and forgot to do the other 2 PCs.

[AdvancedSetup]

It sounds like the computer may possibly be infected? We can assist you in looking at the computer where it ran and tried to remove Malwarebytes. There are plenty of infections that do try to do that.

As for the 2FA - I spoke with Support and they said that yes, we do force the use of 2FA on the My Account page. So, if you tried to log on as a method of activating it would ask for the 2FA token.

You might want to consider looking at Authy for OTP tokens. I use that one and share it with my wife so that she too can log on to sites we share. Much easier than the Google authenticaor

 

If you'd like me to assist you with checking on the other computer or have other questions please let me know.

Thank you again @drusher

 

 

[drusher]

It seems weird that it would do the uninstall only when putting in a new regcode.  But if you want to check my PC you are welcome to.  Mine gets a full scan every night.   I don't go to funky websites or the darkweb and don't install weird password generators. I buy all my software.

if you want to set it up let me know how to do that.

[AdvancedSetup]

Let me get the following logs please and we'll see if we can find anything out of place. @drusher

 

 

To begin, please do the following so that we may take a closer look at your installation for troubleshooting:

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

• Download the Malwarebytes Support Tool
• In your Downloads folder, open the mb-support-x.x.x.xxx.exe file
• In the User Account Control pop-up window, click Yes to continue the installation
• Run the MBST Support Tool
• In the left navigation pane of the Malwarebytes Support Tool, click Advanced
• In the Advanced Options, click Gather Logs. A status diagram displays the tool is Getting logs from your machine
• A zip file named mbst-grab-results.zip will be saved to your desktop, please upload that file on your next reply

Thank you

 

[drusher]

Done, see attached file.  I might have goofed.  I ran the repair tool first but I'm not sure if it did anything, it quit without saying anything.

Thank You

mbst-grab-results.zip

[AdvancedSetup]

Thank you for the logs. A couple of unexpected items.

The Addition.txt log did not complete, something seems to have possibly stepped on it and aborted it before it could complete.

 

In the FRST log it shows the following which is odd.

 

FCheck: C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64\mswinup.exe [2020-07-06] <==== ATTENTION (zero byte File/Folder)
FCheck: C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64\winsvcup.exe [2020-07-06] <==== ATTENTION (zero byte File/Folder)
FCheck: C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64\winupsvc.exe [2020-07-06] <==== ATTENTION (zero byte File/Folder)

 

Can you check and see if those files can be deleted or not and let me know.

Then run the Farbar scanner and get me some updated logs after that.

 

 

Please do the following so that we can get started and see what's going on.

The Farbar Recovery Scan Tool is a free Windows utility designed to create troubleshooting logs for your computer. These logs help our Support team to identify and resolve issues with your computer.

There are two versions of the Farbar Recovery Scan Tool available for download: 32-bit and 64-bit.
To find which operating system is installed on your computer, refer to Microsoft's article: 32-bit and 64-bit Windows: Frequently asked questions

Download and launch Farbar Recovery Scan Tool

1. Download the Farbar Recovery Scan Tool
   Do not click on any Ads.
    
2. Locate the file you downloaded on your computer.
   Downloaded files are often saved to the Downloads folder.
    
3. Double-click the downloaded file to run the Farbar Recovery Scan Tool.
   
   
    
4. A Windows protected your PC notification may appear. This notification is from the Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter which prevents unfamiliar apps from running on your PC.
   Disable smart screen ONLY if it interferes with software we may have to use:  What is SmartScreen and how can it help protect me?
   
        a.  Click More info.
   
   
        b.  Click Run anyway.
   
   
5. When the User Account Control window appears, click Yes.
   
   
   
    
6. To accept the Disclaimer of warranty, click Yes.
   
   
   
    
7. Ensure only the boxes listed below are checked
   
   

   Registry  Services  Drivers
   Processes  Internet  One month
   Addition.txt
   
   
   
    

8. Disable any Antivirus software you have installed ONLY if it stops software we may use from working.
   Please remember to re-enable any Antivirus software when we are finished running scans
   
   Click Scan. The scan may take a few minutes to complete.
   
   
    

9. When the scan completes, Farbar Recovery Scan Tool shows two messages:

• Scan completed. FRST.txt is saved in the same directory FRST is located.
  
  

• Addition.txt is saved in the same directory FRST is located.
  
  
   

• Click OK to close each message window

 

Please attach both of those logs on your next reply, DO NOT copy/paste the contents of the logs directly

 

 

Thanks

 

 

[drusher]

I moved the 3 files from SysWOW64 to a usb stick and removed it.

I did not see them running in taskman

Ran FRST no problem. attached

 

FRST.txt Addition.txt

[AdvancedSetup]

Please uninstall the following. If you do need Java then make sure to keep it up to date at all times  https://java.com

Java 8 Update 301

 

Is this a valid startup file name? The link is an odd name

Startup: C:\Users\Dave\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\EaRjJOa6JY.lnk [2015-09-11]

 

The Windows Defender logging shows there were some issues last week or so but seems it's probably okay now, but we should test to make sure.

 

 

Please download the attached fixlist.txt file and save it to the Desktop or location where you ran FRST from.
NOTE. It's important that both files, FRST or FRST64, and fixlist.txt are in the same location or the fix will not work.

Please make sure you disable any real-time antivirus or security software before running this script. Once completed, make sure you re-enable it.

NOTICE: This script was written specifically for this user, for use on this particular machine. Running this on another machine may cause damage to your operating system that cannot be undone.

Run FRST or FRST64 and press the Fix button just once and wait.
If the tool needs a restart please make sure you let the system restart normally and let the tool complete its run after restart.
The tool will make a log on the Desktop (Fixlog.txt) or wherever you ran FRST from. Please attach or post it to your next reply.

Note: If the tool warned you about an outdated version please download and run the updated version.

NOTE-1:  This fix will run a scan to check that all Microsoft operating system files are valid and not corrupt and attempt to correct any invalid files. It will also run a disk check on the restart to ensure disk integrity. Depending on the speed of your computer this fix may take 30 minutes or more.

NOTE-2: As part of this fix all temporary files will be removed. If you have any open web pages that have not been bookmarked please make sure you bookmark them now as all open applications will be automatically closed. Also, make sure you know the passwords for all websites as cookies will also be removed. The use of an external password manager is highly recommended instead of using your browser to store passwords.

NOTE-3: As part of this fix it will also reset the network to default settings including the firewall. If you have custom firewall rules you need to save please export or save them first before running this fix.

The following directories are emptied:

• Windows Temp
• Users Temp folders
• Edge, IE, FF, Chrome, and Opera caches, HTML5 storages, Cookies and History
• Recently opened files cache
• Flash Player cache
• Java cache
• Steam HTML cache
• Explorer thumbnail and icon cache
• BITS transfer queue (qmgr*.dat files)
• Recycle Bin

Important: items are permanently deleted. They are not moved to quarantine. If you have any questions or concerns please ask before running this fix.

The system will be rebooted after the fix has run.

fixlist.txt

Thanks

 

[drusher]

It will probably be a couple of days before I can do this. I uninstalled the java update.  I went thru windows update hell last night.  They staged an update that wiped out explorer.  My cpu went to 100%.  It took taskman 10 minutes to come up.  It took about 4 hours to close key apps so I didn't lose anything and run the update.  My KVM died during the update and it came up with a blank screen. My monitor got upset and came up with the screen 50% to the left, so I had to fix that.   Since then my Yamaha Steinberg DAW wont play.  Windows does not see it installed as a sound device.  I uninstalled/reinstalled the Steinberg suite and rebooted, no improvement.  I copied the 3 sysWOW files back to the windows dir, rebooted, and it works again.  So, in this case, those files are necessary for the Steinberg UR-44 DAW.

I think it is wise not to tear my system up.  It is running fast and well now.  I think windows messed it up.  I'll run it for a few days and see how it goes.

[AdvancedSetup]

No intent to cause your system any issues. If your DAW and other programs are susceptible to issues with updates I would highly suggest that you use something like Macrium Reflect Free to to make an image of the system as it is so that you'll always have the ability to restore to a working system regardless of what Microsoft updates do.

 

I would assume or guess that maybe they're using these zero byte files as some type of anti-piracy feature?

FCheck: C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64\mswinup.exe [2020-07-06] <==== ATTENTION (zero byte File/Folder)
FCheck: C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64\winsvcup.exe [2020-07-06] <==== ATTENTION (zero byte File/Folder)
FCheck: C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64\winupsvc.exe [2020-07-06] <==== ATTENTION (zero byte File/Folder)

 

Glad you have the system working well again. Let me know if Malwarebytes is also working well now or not and we can address just updating that.

 

Backup Software
https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?/topic/136226-backup-software

 

[drusher]

what would the backup software do?

I do regular system restore points to back out of bad updates.

I also have a bootable recovery USB in case it won't boot.  I need to update that probably now.

If the backup software does more than that i might well do it.

Thank you

As a separate issue, I had reported Samsung Passwords as malware to both the Android and PC teams because it cannot be uninstalled. It is not a registered installation on PC or Android.  Nobody out there knows what to do about it short of closing your dropbox account.  I figured out how to kill it gracefully.  Just go into your browser extensions/add-ons and remove the dropbox password extension.  That "feature" only works in browsers supporting extensions.  Please pass this on to all the other MWB geeks handling malware / android / PC issues.  There are lots of folks going bananas. That extension is destructive malware because it does not see password resets/changes done in Amazon, Ebay, banks, Google, other web systems, and even your Samsung account!   it keeps using the old password saved from the original login prompt, which often gets your account locked down.  users have to track passwords manually.    Please pass on to your peers in the PC/Android malware forums.    I had suggested that MWB quarantine code in the PC (I was unable to figure out the code causing the problem) because there is no code in Windows causing the problem.  MWB should quarantine the browser add-on extension and/or remove it, or tell users how to remove the extension manually.  Google play should ban installation of the Dropbox Passwords function until they issue new installation package doing a registered installation removable from applications and features, and also visible to google play for both android/PC so it can be uninstalled that way. 

Thank you

[AdvancedSetup]

My own $0.02 cents. Don't use extensions from a browser. I know it's not as elegant or graceful for some but copy/past manually from a Password Manager program (in my opinion) is a much safer operation as long as you have the Password Manager also clearing your clipboard too.

I will pass along your information though, thanks.

As for what does Macrium Refleect do?  It can create a master image (very much like a sophisticated zip file) of the entire system including drive geometry, etc. The Windows System Restore Points are a great feature and I use them too along with Macrium. The issue though is that there are often cases where the System Restore point either gets corrupted or simply does not work. Then you have no other options at that point without some other type of backup. I use SR for a quick rollback if needed because it's very quick in most cases. Using Macrium Reflect though as an image it has 100% of everything in it, compressed. System Restore only has the registry and some key Operating System files in it. If you do some web searches you'll find a lot of failed restores. SR is not mean to be a backup.

The software is Free for personal use so no cost involved, just some time to install and check it out. There are YouTube videos on how to use it as well as forums on the Web with dedicated topics on how to use it. Just something else to add to your arsenal of protecting your system and data.

 

[AdvancedSetup]

Here is an example of doing a backup of my main C: drive which has Windows installed on it.

 

Which you can see here creates about a 50GB backup size file. But this image contains everything like a zip file would.

 

 

 

[drusher]

OK I will run it probably tonight, sounds like it will take a long time! I have plenty of drivespace.  thank you.

[drusher]

On Extensions, some of the Firefox extensions are very effective.  there is one that kills youtube autoplay.  Another makes it possible to download videos, necessary because a lot of videos get removed for various surreptitious reasons.  Another kills popover ads blocking the video.  I dont use many extensions but the ones I use are fantastic.

[AdvancedSetup]

1. Recommend using a Password Manager for all websites, etc. that require a password. Never use the same password on more than one site.
   https://www.howtogeek.com/240255/password-managers-compared-lastpass-vs-keepass-vs-dashlane-vs-1password/
2. Make sure you're backing up your files https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/136226-backup-software/
3. Keep all software up to date - PatchMyPC - https://patchmypc.com/home-updater#download
4. Keep your Operating System up to date and current at all times - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-update-faq-8a903416-6f45-0718-f5c7-375e92dddeb2
5. Further tips to help protect your computer data and improve your privacy: https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/258363-tips-to-help-protect-from-infection/ 
6. Please consider installing the following Content Blockers for your Web browsers if you haven't done so already. This will help improve overall security

Malwarebytes Browser Guard

•   Google Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/malwarebytes-browser-guar/ihcjicgdanjaechkgeegckofjjedodee
•   Microsoft Edge: https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413298736787-Install-Malwarebytes-Browser-Guard-on-Microsoft-Edge-browser
•   Mozilla Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/malwarebytes/

uBlock Origin

• Google Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm 
• Microsoft Edge: https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/ublock-origin/odfafepnkmbhccpbejgmiehpchacaeak 
• Mozilla Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin

 

Further reading if you like to keep up on the malware threat scene: Malwarebytes Blog  https://blog.malwarebytes.com/

Hopefully, we've been able to assist you with correcting your system issues.

Thank you for using Malwarebytes

 

[AdvancedSetup]

Glad we could help.

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