QuiGonJohn Posted March 16 ID:1623547 Share Posted March 16 I use Free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware v. 1.75.0.1300 because I never liked V 2.0 when it came out. You went away from Quick Scan/Full Scan to other naming and I think different types of scans. Staying with 1.75 has worked fine for me all these many years. It still does what the core functions of MBAM was designed to. Well now I see the most recent update is from 3 days ago. Is that just a quirk or have you stopped allowing us to update that version? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Malwarebytes Posted March 16 Staff ID:1623548 Share Posted March 16 ***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: For use when you are on the forums and need to provide logs for assistance For use when you don't need or want to create a ticket with Malwarebytes For use when you want to perform local troubleshooting on your own How to use the Advanced Options: Spoiler Download Malwarebytes Support Tool Double-click mb-support-X.X.X.XXXX.exe to run the program You may be prompted by User Account Control (UAC) to allow changes to be made to your computer. Click Yes to consent. Place a checkmark next to Accept License Agreement and click Next Navigate to the Advanced tab The Advanced menu page contains four categories: Gather Logs: Collects troubleshooting information from the computer. As part of this process, Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (FRST) is run to perform a complete diagnosis. The information is saved to a file on the Desktop named mbst-grab-results.zip and can be added as an email attachment or uploaded to a forum post to assist with troubleshooting the issue at hand. Clean: Performs an automated uninstallation of all Malwarebytes products installed to the computer and prompts to install the latest version of Malwarebytes for Windows afterwards. The Premium license key is backed up and reinstated. All user configurations and other data are removed. This process requires a reboot. Repair System: Includes various system-related repairs in case a Windows service is not functioning correctly that Malwarebytes for Windows is dependent on. It is not recommended to use any Repair System options unless instructed by a Malwarebytes Support agent. Anonymously help the community by providing usage and threat statistics: Unchecking this option will prevent Malwarebytes Support Tool from sending anonymous telemetry data on usage of the program. To provide logs for review click the Gather Logs button Upon completion, click OK A file named mbst-grab-results.zip will be saved to your Desktop Please attach the file in your next reply. To uninstall all Malwarebytes Products, click the Clean button. Click the Yes button to proceed. Save all your work and click OK when you are ready to reboot. After the reboot, you will have the option to re-install the latest version of Malwarebytes for Windows. Select Yes to install Malwarebytes. Malwarebytes for Windows will open once the installation completes successfully. Screenshots: Spoiler Spoiler If you are having licensing issues, please do the following: Spoiler For any of these issues: Renewals Refunds (including double billing) Cancellations Update Billing Info Multiple Transactions Consumer Purchases Transaction Receipt Please contact our support team at https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/requests/new to get help If you need help looking up your license details, please head here: Find my premium license key Thanks in advance for your patience. -The Malwarebytes Forum Team Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H. Lipman Posted March 16 ID:1623552 Share Posted March 16 (edited) 1 hour ago, QuiGonJohn said: ... It still does what the core functions of MBAM was designed to... Actually, no. MBAM is now at v5.x and there are core constructs in the later Engines that implement Signatures and Heuristics that are unavailable to older versions. Thus catching what v1.75 doesn't know existed. Edited March 16 by David H. Lipman Edited for content, clarity, spelling and/or grammar Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted March 16 ID:1623553 Share Posted March 16 Manual offline standalone updates are not available for any version of Malwarebytes any longer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillH99999 Posted March 16 ID:1623595 Share Posted March 16 1 hour ago, Porthos said: Manual offline standalone updates are not available for any version of Malwarebytes any longer. What? No offline installers? What do we do if we update to the latest version using "check for update" and discover a problem and want to revert to a previous version which we know doesn't have the problem? I have always downloaded the offline installer just in case. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted March 16 ID:1623596 Share Posted March 16 2 minutes ago, BillH99999 said: What? No offline installers? You misunderstand what the user wants, a stand-alone definition offline UPDATE not the full program. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillH99999 Posted March 16 ID:1623600 Share Posted March 16 (edited) 2 hours ago, Porthos said: You misunderstand what the user wants, a stand-alone definition offline UPDATE not the full program. I misunderstood. Sorry. Edited March 16 by BillH99999 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted March 16 ID:1623602 Share Posted March 16 1 minute ago, BillH99999 said: I don't see a link to the offline installer. Is there a new location. Version 4 https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb4_offline Version 5 https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb5-windows Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuiGonJohn Posted March 16 Author ID:1623668 Share Posted March 16 Hey all, thanks for the replies. I'd still like my original question answered though. Did MB stop making definition updates to v. 1.75? Or is this just a fluke that it's been 3 days since the last update? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H. Lipman Posted March 16 ID:1623669 Share Posted March 16 I really do not know. Maybe or probably not. But we would have to have Staff respond. PING @tetonbob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted March 17 ID:1623675 Share Posted March 17 @QuiGonJohn Why are you using 1.75? What version of Windows are you running? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuiGonJohn Posted March 17 Author ID:1623776 Share Posted March 17 I said in the OP why I stopped upgrading when 2.0 and later versions came out. They went away from Quick Scan/Full Scan to other naming and I think different types of scans. It also seemed buggy, my first experiences with it. And 1.75 has done me quite well. Why is there always this incessant need to "upgrade" that often times is not as good as the original? My desktop PC I have Win 7 and my wife's laptop (which we bought in July 2019) has Win 10 (and I have Windows Update Blocker running on that), if I didn't, we'd have probably been saddled with that horrible Microsoft CoPilot my now. Oh one more day, and when I update MBAM, it says Up To Date, but defs are still 3/13/24/ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted March 17 ID:1623778 Share Posted March 17 6 minutes ago, QuiGonJohn said: They went away from Quick Scan/Full Scan to other naming and I think different types of scans. Naming is irrelevant, The 2 types of scans do the same thing no matter the name. 8 minutes ago, QuiGonJohn said: Why is there always this incessant need to "upgrade" that often times is not as good as the original? The newest is more protective by miles compared to the unsupported old version you are using. 10 minutes ago, QuiGonJohn said: has Win 10 (and I have Windows Update Blocker running on that), if I didn't, we'd have probably been saddled with that horrible Microsoft CoPilot my now Copilot is easy to ditch. 10 minutes ago, QuiGonJohn said: Oh one more day, and when I update MBAM, it says Up To Date, but defs are still 3/13/24/ That version is on a different update server and the updates are not guaranteed to always be available as the program itself is unsupported. You have 2 supported versions to choose from. Both are supported with Windows 7 and newer. Version 4 Version 4 is only available with the offline installer. https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb4_offline Version 5 Standard install. https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb5-windows Offline installer. https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb5_offline Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H. Lipman Posted March 17 ID:1623781 Share Posted March 17 (edited) 1 hour ago, QuiGonJohn said: ...Why is there always this incessant need to "upgrade" that often times is not as good as the original? ... In this case, to keep up with the evolution of malware. The malware environment is fluid and dynamic. Anti malware must evolve to keep up with the changes of the malware arena. Edited March 17 by David H. Lipman Edited for content, clarity, spelling and/or grammar 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdlyIndifferent Posted March 23 ID:1625373 Share Posted March 23 (edited) OK but the fact is that before the malware definitions version update available on 13.03.24 the definitions updates have been working on any older version. I've used Malwarebytes on three different PCs since 2010 and on two VMs since 2016. My reasons for still using an older version of Malwarebytes are that it is on those VMs in particular when using later versions eg. v2.0 onward, it slowed scans down so much it was intolerable. With that older version, the same as the OP, I could do a quick scan of a download that would take less than 10 seconds. With v2.0 I'd be waiting for 2 minutes or more. I also did not like the GUI. The fact is, as said, the definition updates have been working fine up until 13.03.24. But now, if I've understood the official responses in this thread, apparently, somebody has decided to make the definition updates incompatible with older versions or, more likely, just arbitrarily stopped them being updated if you're using an older version of Malwarebytes. Why? What does it matter if you're using an older version because you prefer its smaller footprint or for whatever reason? I suspect there are many users of older versions out there so I'd ask, nicely, if this is some arbitrary decision rather than a purely technical one of 'sudden' incompatibility, that it is reversed ASAP. Edited March 23 by ColdlyIndifferent typo, info correction 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H. Lipman Posted March 23 ID:1625376 Share Posted March 23 It is all about the malware. It's identification, associated processes and ultimately their removal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdlyIndifferent Posted March 23 ID:1625404 Share Posted March 23 (edited) So why make it incompatible with older versions, if that is what they've done, with no warning and at a weird time too: mid-week in March? I'm not 100% convinced this is not a mistake, perhaps something the bods at MWB are unaware of or something else is to blame. Last time I had the same thing happen it was because my ISP's preferred DNS server was apparently blocking the definitions' update. I posted a thread here about it at the time. But repeating what I did then to resolve the problem: swapping the DNS server, has not worked on either PC. BTW months later I swapped back to check and found the MWB definitions were not being blocked any more but I did not trust them not to do it again so returned to the alternative server. This current problem can't be, actually my first suspicion back then, my anti-virus software as the two machines concerned are using different ones. In fact the VM uses another too. That's what made me think of what else it could be and led to the DNS server change solution I discovered. But in this case all I know is that the refusal to update the Malwarebytes definitions, reporting them as up to date must be due to some external cause. When I came here this thread, detailing what seems to be the same problem and with the same version, it seems too much of a coincidence. Edited March 23 by ColdlyIndifferent Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solution David H. Lipman Posted March 23 Solution ID:1625413 Share Posted March 23 (edited) There are three major components to any anti malware application. Kernel - the software user interface and controller of all other modules and sub-components. It's abilities and functionality are dictated by both the coding and the compiler Engine - is the driver of the programs implementation. Signatures - are the static fingerprints of detection. Different anti malware may implement various modules under the Engine. Malwarebytes implements; RootKit, Ransomware and Exploitation modules built alongside a heuristics modality. No large applications are written in assembler. They are built on languages that have predefined functions, macros and other constructs. The software languages and libraries have OS dependencies. What compilers and software languages that are used dictate the programming and capabilities of any given application. What was available for a given OS and time juncture may be different than which occur years later. Take the Federal Information Processing Standard Publication #140-2, (FIPS PUB 140-2) compliance (aka; FIPS 140-2). It is the standard for Cryptographic OS functionality. Older compilers and software languages are incapable of being FIPS 140-2 complaint. So to be compliant, one has to either switch compilers and software languages or wait for them to become complaint, if they can. I mention this compliance because of the cryptographic malware family (aka; Cryptovirology) such as the many ransomware types of trojans. The anti malware software had to evolve to keep up with the changes of the malware arena which then brings into play new dependencies. I have only mentioned one such major step in this software evolution. Since the Kernel and Engine are compiler and software language dependent, newer and/or different versions bring new functions and libraries that allow programming new capabilities into the anti malware application for a malware researcher to "hit" and recognize a given malicious binary file in a detection signature or heuristic. Older Engines lack that ability to interpret (handle) these newer levels of signatures. References: https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/federal_information_processing_standard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compilers:_Principles,_Techniques,_and_Tools https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptovirology Edited March 23 by David H. Lipman Edited for content, clarity, spelling and/or grammar Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HastalaVista Posted March 24 ID:1625486 Share Posted March 24 Malwarebytes 1.75 is 11 years old (released April 2013). Who still wants to use it? Mostly Windows XP devotees with extremely old hardware, particularly if their processor does not support SSE2. Was 1.75 the last version to support XP (or Vista)? Not even close! That was Malwarebytes 3.5.1 (released May 2018), which still receives definitions AFAIK. Of course that version would require an SSE2-capable processor, and the Premium version might place considerable demands on 20-year-old hardware, particularly while trying to use a browser. I think Kaspersky 18 is the last option that does not demand SSE2, but a better idea is to take such hardware offline permanently! Hasta la Vista! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdlyIndifferent Posted March 24 ID:1625497 Share Posted March 24 Well at least two people here and I thought I'd explained why fairly clearly. Remember we are just talking about the definitions update not the actual program. Indeed I am in one case using Win XP on a VM and that means a maximum of reserved memory for the OS of 1GB. It takes very little to slow it down and, as also explained, I tried v2.0 on both that and an earlier XP laptop that only had 500MB of RAM and the slowdown of Malwarebytes scans made it practically useless. So I kept using v1.75 which was updating the definitions until 13.03.24 and working fine for my purposes. If that version of MWB has been 'let go' from the definition updates for some reason then it is damned odd timing. Windows 11 was released 3 years ago in the UK yet the MWB definitions have still been compatible with all MWB versions from v1.75 onwards until under two weeks ago. What changed that week to require the definitions to be incompatible with v1.75 or any other older version of MWB that might also be affected? We need some clarity from an official MWB spokesperson as to what is going on. As I suggested earlier it could just be that there has been some technical problem with the definitions update and there was no deliberate intention to stop them working on older versions of MWB at all. Here's hoping it is that. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HastalaVista Posted March 24 ID:1625525 Share Posted March 24 Definition updates for Malwarebytes 2.2.1 ended in May 2022, so the odd thing is that an even older version was still getting updates until this month. I saw similar reports at MSFN before that site went down a few days ago. Good luck getting an official explanation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariuxReloaded Posted March 24 ID:1625530 Share Posted March 24 (edited) 6 hours ago, HastalaVista said: Malwarebytes 1.75 is 11 years old (released April 2013). Who still wants to use it? People who use a pirated lifetime license, period. I know it because I often surf pirate forums and websites (I'm very curious about what happens "on the other side", too) and some of them still use v1.75 of MBAM and v1.70 of MBAM Corporate thanks to the notorious keygen, used for years by those ones who cracked them, since it still works on these two versions. By doing so, they prefer to ignore the fact that these MBAM versions are both obsolete, because they refuse to pay for a subscription 🤷♂️ Edited March 24 by MariuxReloaded 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPDIF Posted March 24 ID:1625534 Share Posted March 24 (edited) Nothing is going on, your old version off MWB have had long time ago already the stamp EOL! You should be happy that you still could have for so long updates for it. No other AV on the market still supports Windows XP, so why complain here if all others do the same thing? You ask support for something that is abandoned already, both MWB and Windows. Upgrade and go on with your life. I agree, the main reason is that cracks still work for it to stay Premium. You can't renew your subscription anymore now, so they have to use a crack for it. Edited March 24 by SPDIF 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted March 24 ID:1625543 Share Posted March 24 1 hour ago, SPDIF said: No other AV on the market still supports Windows XP Please do not spread untruths to justify decisions that are not understood by your customers! Many of them do not understand why good software should be discontinued and replaced by cumbersome software which is heavy on resources. Unfortunately, this is an undesirable development. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.75.0.1300 was the best your company had developed. Lightweight, fast, low memory consumption. However, the following applies to subsequent versions: The more recent, the more cumbersome. The more recent, the more memory-hungry. The more recent, the more incompatible. All in all, the newer, the worse. Who wants such rubbish? Nobody, actually. My advice: Change strategy of development! Bloated OS like the crappy Windows 11 should be a cautionary example of how software should not be developed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariuxReloaded Posted March 24 ID:1625546 Share Posted March 24 57 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said: Please do not spread untruths to justify decisions that are not understood by your customers! Many of them do not understand why good software should be discontinued and replaced by cumbersome software which is heavy on resources. Unfortunately, this is an undesirable development. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.75.0.1300 was the best your company had developed. Lightweight, fast, low memory consumption. However, the following applies to subsequent versions: The more recent, the more cumbersome. The more recent, the more memory-hungry. The more recent, the more incompatible. All in all, the newer, the worse. Who wants such rubbish? Nobody, actually. My advice: Change strategy of development! Bloated OS like the crappy Windows 11 should be a cautionary example of how software should not be developed. Malwarebytes v4 was a little bit heavy, that's right, but the new Malwarebytes v5 is very, very, very lightweight (that's why hardware acceleration has been removed). So, please, YOU do not spread lies without knowing the real developement path behind this software, only because you need a justification to continue using a discontinued version of MBAM, in order to keep cracking it with the keygen and not paying for a legal subscription Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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