McAfee being switched off, MBAM finds ...

[enuf]

Something keeps turning McAfee Real Time Scanning off. I have version 11, auto-updates are on. I have MalwareBytes paid version, running constantly and updated daily.

I had reinstalled McAfee and updated it to get it working. Then ran complete scans with it and MalwareBytes. MB found and quarantined these:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\AntiVirusDisableNotify|1|0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\FirewallDisableNotify|1|0

McAfee found nothing but was working when I powered the machine down this morning.

Powered it up this evening and it locked up when MalwareBytes tried to start automatically. Finally after several cycles of not being able to start in SAFE MODE I started it normally but exited MalwareBytes the instant the icon appeared.

Then McAfee announced Real Time Scanning was off. Turned it on, it tutned right off again.

Ran MalwareBytes manually. Did a Flash Scan, nothing found. Went through numerous cycles of turning McAfee back on, now it turns off much less frequently. Some times it turns off and turns back on by itself.

When I try to do something like open FireFox or mess with McAfee, the CPU goes to 100% and I can't do anything for many minutes.

Sitting here I just observed the Performance meter zip up to 99% CPU USAGE, McAfee flashed that it was disabled, then it re-enabled itself and the CPU dropped to 2%.

Something is messing with this PC (XP OS, all updates auto-downloaded and installed).

Just not figuring out what.

Any ideas out there?

[Firefox]

Please exclude the following files from your Antivirus Software (not sure what version of you are using or where to make these changes in McAfee):

Note: If using a software firewall besides the built in Windows Firewall you'll need to exclude them from it as well

For Windows XP:

• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
  
• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
  
• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
  
• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.dll
  
• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll
  
• C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref
  
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbam.sys
  
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys
  

For Windows Vista or Windows 7:

• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
  
• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
  
• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
  
• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.dll
  
• C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll
  
• C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref
  
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbam.sys
  
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys
  

For 64 bit versions of Windows Vista or Windows 7:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
  
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
  
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
  
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.dll
  
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll
  
• C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref
  
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbam.sys
  
• C:\Windows\SysWoW64\drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys
  

Note: If using a software firewall besides the built in Windows Firewall you'll need to exclude MBAM.EXE and MBAMSERVICE.EXE from it as well

Note: Once that's done, please make sure that if either of those programs has any sort of web filter, that you add the following as a trusted site:

data-cdn.mbamupdates.com

The FAQ contains examples of setting file exclusions for some known AV products

Please post back and let us know how it went.