Scan after restart takes considerably longer

[WZZZ]

After restart at least ~3 minutes or more, vs. no restart less than a minute, sometimes 30-40 seconds.

-Wondering why this is

-Is the scan after restart more comprehensive, thus more accurate? Or is scan time irrelevant?

[alvarnell]

As I recall, scans are cached so if there has been no change to the area being scanned since a previous check, then that scan can be skipped without the possibility of missing something. So it's not more comprehensive or accurate, simply saves time.

[WZZZ]

Thanks Al, makes sense.

[Kehrer]

What happens to me is that after an update of the main software, when I hit scan, the progress bar is moving but not files are being scanned. I have to restart the MBA for it work normally.  I see this on 3 machines running latest Catalina with all updates applied. I know, I need to update to either Big Sur or Monterey. Hopefully soon.

 

[treed]

On 4/19/2022 at 4:37 PM, Kehrer said:

What happens to me is that after an update of the main software, when I hit scan, the progress bar is moving but not files are being scanned. I have to restart the MBA for it work normally.  I see this on 3 machines running latest Catalina with all updates applied. I know, I need to update to either Big Sur or Monterey. Hopefully soon.

It's a long weekend here at Malwarebytes (we have Friday off), and our European dev team is already gone for the day. I've set myself a reminder to check in with them on this on Monday. This isn't something I've heard of before. Is it safe to assume that the machines are all updated at this point, so you don't have an easy way to reproduce the issue? Would you be willing to try reproducing by uninstalling, then installing an older client (I can send you one) and doing the update?

[Kehrer]

Hi. Sorry for the delay. Been dealing with Covid (and right in the middle of it). A couple of things. I see a new version of app is available today.

Going to install that and see what happens. Also, I'm about to upgrade to Big Sur from Catalina, so hoping that might be of help too.

Let me see if I can reproduce again.

 

[Kehrer]

I just updated with the new update today, no issues as far as the first scan just spinning but no progress is made in the counter. All is well with that; however, once again 2 out of 3 machines didn't auto reopen after install.....and it's different from last time.  Used the same procedure for all three. I'm guessing there is something random going on here...probably due to one of the odd security updates that Catalina had. I made screen shots of the ending part of the log, but not sure if that will help you. I know I send the actual log file last time.

According to the log, install is successful. As long as no errors, then I'm not sure there is much I can do.

I know Catalina is old, so getting ready to update to Big Sur.

 

Thoughts?

[treed]

Yeah, there's probably not much we can do without being able to reproduce, and none of us have been able to do so on Catalina. If you can provide the full install.log file, there's a chance that might reveal something, but it also might not.

I'd definitely encourage upgrading, though. It has repeatedly been found in the last year that older versions of macOS cannot be considered secure. There are known vulnerabilities that Apple has only patched in the latest system (Monterey), and older systems remain vulnerable.

If you're not able to upgrade to Monterey for some reason, that doesn't mean you should stop using your Mac. For most people, it's very unlikely they'll run into any problems as long as they're cautious online. However, if you engage in any kind of risky activities, you're at much greater risk. (This doesn't just mean stuff like pirating software. Other "risky activities" can include things like journalist, working for a government agency, being involved with a human rights advocacy group, being part of a persecuted group in certain countries, etc. These things can increase your chances of being targeted by an attacker.)