Bitdefender and Malwarebytes

[Frazzle]

I uninstalled Malwarebytes before installing Bitdefender because I was prompted to do so during the Bitdefender installation. Now I would like to reinstall Malwarebytes if possible because I still have a 1 year subscription. First can this be done safely without damaging my Bitdefender installation and if so how should I modify the settings in both programs so they have minimal impact or preferable no impact on each other. I would like to use Malwarebytes to only run one time random scans and plan to turn off it's active protection features. Is this doable or is my Malwarebytes history now?
 

[Malwarebytes]

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[Porthos]

12 minutes ago, Frazzle said:

I would like to use Malwarebytes to only run one time random scans and plan to turn off it's active protection features.

You might as well not activate Malwarebytes if you turn off active protection. I would take Malwarebytes alongside Windows Defender any day.

I also recommend creating exclusions between Malwarebytes and Your AV to help prevent any possible conflicts or performance issues.  Please add the items listed in this support article to Your AV 's allow list(s)/trust list(s)/exclusion list(s) particularly for any of its real-time protection components and likewise add Your AV 's program folder(s) (likely located under C:\Program Files and/or C:\Program Files (x86)) to Malwarebytes' Allow List using the method described under the Allow a file or folder section of this support article and do the same for its primary data folder which is likely located under C:\ProgramData (you may need to show hidden files and folders to see it).

Also keep in mind the following as well.

Please refer to this support article which lists several known applications which may conflict with the Web Protection in Malwarebytes currently, which includes Bit Defender.

Edited April 1, 2022 by Porthos

[dagar74]

Frazzle

I have installed Bitdefender and Malwarebytes running together on 4 computers and only had a problem on one which was old, very slow starting, and used old 5400 RPM spinner HDD. The four PCs have only been running  both programs together about two weeks (changing over a bunch of PCs from Kaspersky to Bitdefender recently), but I am very happy so far. After installing a SATA SSD drive on the one problem PC, it worked well also. I put together a Word document of my procedure and exceptions/exclusions and will attach it here. It is two pages long, so probably too long to post directly. Hope I didn't leave anything out. Good Luck.

Installation and Exceptions added for Bitdefender and Malwarebytes.docx

[Porthos]

29 minutes ago, dagar74 said:

I put together a Word document of my procedure and exceptions/exclusions and will attach it here.

Users can not download in this section of the forum. Only the one who posted it and authorized members and staff.

This has the MB files to exclude. https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038522974-Malwarebytes-for-Windows-antivirus-exclusions-list

Edited April 1, 2022 by Porthos

[dagar74]

Thanks, I didn't know that only authorized members and staff can download the file. I'll post the whole thing and see what happens. Hope this helps someone.

Installation and Exceptions added for Bitdefender Total Security and Malwarebytes

NOTE: Uninstall Malwarebytes and then install Bitdefender. Then open Bitdefender > click on “Protection” in left menu list > select “Open” in the Antivirus window > select “Advanced” from the top menu > move the slider to the left to turn off Bitdefender Shield, select “until computer restart”. Then install Malwarebytes and add Exclusions for Bitdefender into Malwarebytes. See information below of what I did on four computers a couple of weeks ago, and so far no problems at all.

I then Quit Malwarebytes (turned off at Taskbar Icon), and proceeded to add the Malwarebytes exceptions into Bitdefender (see note below about 3 missing exceptions). Malwarebytes recommendations are as follows:

Malwarebytes for Windows antivirus exclusions list August 2021

• Updated: August 18. 2021

https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038522974-Malwarebytes-for-Windows-antivirus-exclusions-list

If you are running another antivirus software alongside Malwarebytes for Windows, the software may misinterpret Malwarebytes and its features as a threat, creating a conflict. Antivirus conflicts can impact Real-Time Protection and may even cause your computer to slow down or freeze. To ensure the other antivirus software doesn't conflict with Malwarebytes for Windows, add Malwarebytes' files and drivers to the other antivirus' exclusions.

Add folders

Add the folder paths listed in this section to the other antivirus software as exclusions. The other antivirus software may refer to exclusions as exceptions or ignore list entries. For instructions on adding exclusions to another antivirus, contact the antivirus vendor.

• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes
• C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes

Add files if needed                         I also added MbamElam.sys

• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mwac.sys             not initially present in Windows\System32\drivers folder
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys       done
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbamchameleon.sys      not initially present
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\farflt.sys               not initially present
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbae64.sys (Only present on 64-bit machines.) 

NOTE: the 3 above items listed as not initially present can be added later when Malwarebytes is running alongside Bitdefender.

To add the exceptions to Bitdefender, right click the taskbar Icon and select “Show” to open Bitdefender > click on “Protection” in left menu list > select “Open” in the Antivirus window > select “Settings” from the top menu. Then click on “Manage exceptions as seen below.

 

The following “Manage exceptions” window will open. Click “All exceptions” so the selection line is under it.

 

Click “Add an Exception” button to open the following window. Move the two sliders to the right as shown below.

Easiest way to add exceptions is to drag and drop them in the above box, using File Explorer.

When the five available exceptions were added to Bitdefender, I turned on the Bitdefender Shield to restore operation. As a precaution, I did turn off the function “Scan potentially unwanted application” hoping it would prevent scanning Malwarebytes (try enabling that function later to see if it is necessary to have it off).

Always go back after a restart with both programs running, to add the other three Malwarebytes drivers to Bitdefender exceptions.

Start Malwarebytes from the Desktop Icon and open Settings. Click on the Security Tab, go down to “Windows startup”. Leave it turned on, but click on “Advanced”, then turn on “Delay Real-Time Protection when Malwarebytes starts” and set it for a 30 second delay (I only had to do this on a friend’s PC that had very slow startup due to an old spinner hard drive).

Reboot the computer and test.

[Porthos]

2 minutes ago, dagar74 said:

I'll post the whole thing and see what happens. Hope this helps someone.

Thanks for your additional info there.

[gregwatson]

Thanks to dagar74 (and everyone else in this thread) for posting this here. I am a diehard Malwarebytes fan and Bitdefender Total Security fan - I can't remember how far back I have been using their products.  I was devastated a year ago when Bitdefender started to "not play nice" and I couldn't find anyone who could help with a work-around (including Malwarebytes support).

Off to do this dagar74 sequence - then a Malwarebytes Renewal ...

DrG

[mole13]

@ dagar74: Thanks a lot for your very detailed and excellent instruction how to run MalwareBytes parallely with Bitdefender – highly appreciated! Recently I decided to renounce Kaspersky (not least because of conflicts of the KIS 2019 version with MBAM) and to switch to Bitdefender. But during install process of BD I was surprised to learn that the full version of BD could only be installed if MB was uninstalled. And like @gregwatson I´m a diehard fan of MBAM for years. So happy to note that it´s possible to use both engines nevertheless.

Using Windows 11 (v 21H2) on a brand-new HP device and in compliance with your instruction it seems to work properly. But I installed that combination only a few days ago so it´s maybe to early to give an educated feedback.

But anyway – regarding the mentioned instruction some questions remain (at least for me):

1. Under “Add folders” you mentioned both folders of MalwareBytes, under “Program Files” as well as “ProgramData” to be excluded in any antivirus software. But below “Manage exceptions” (for Bitdefender) it seems that you exclude the folder “C:Program Files\Malwarebytes” only within Bitdefender. Is there any reason for that?
2. When selecting the several files to be excluded in Bitdefender according to your instruction I found one additional file which you didn´t mention: mbam.sys (path: C:\Windows\System32\drivers). So as a precaution I added this file too to the exceptions within Bitdefender. What is your recommendation to that?

Due to that my list in Bitdefender / … / “Manage exceptions” now reads as follows:

• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes                              (folder)
• C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes                               (folder)
• C:\Windows\system32\mbam.sys                          (additional file; see above)
• C:\Windows\system32\MbamElam.sys                (file; your additional recommendation)
• C:\Windows system32\mbamchameleon.sys     (file; initially present*)
• C:\Windows\system32\mbamswissarmy.sys      (file; funny to read this exception)
• C:\Windows\system32\mwac.sys                           (file; initially present*)
• C:\Windows\system32\farflt.sys                             (file; initially present*)
• C:\Windows\system32\mbae64.sys                       (file on 64-bit machines)

                * means initially present after installing MBAM regularly without any speciality.

    So my list of exceptions in Bitdefender consists of 9 entries in total (2 x folders, 7 x files). Do you agree?

3.  At the end of your instruction you recommended – as a precaution – to turn off the function “Scan potentially unwanted apps” and you wrote that you wanted to try to enable that function later on. What are your experiences since then?

Happy to get a short feedback from you or other bloggers.

[dagar74]

Mole13

I have no problem with adding mbam.sys, it can't hurt. My list came from Malwarebytes document except for MbamElam.sys that I decided to add.

As to "Scan potentially unwanted apps", I change that recommendation to leave it enabled. I have been running with it enabled for over a month on all 3 computers.