MalwareBytes dramatically less effective

[Nelson37]

First noticed a problem about six months ago, right about when the interface was updated and scanning speed increased significantly.

A virus was flagged by AVG and MBAM did not catch it. Then, a month or two later, it happened again. Both progs were active, could have been just timing, I wasn't too concerned.

Then, in the last few months, have had about half a dozen different bugs that were undetected by a full, updated MBAM scan, with a different prog catching them all. This was with only one prog active, no possible conflicts. MBAM just flat-out missed them.

MBAM has gone from being my most valuable anti-virus tool to damn near falling out of my kit altogether. A clean bill of health from Malwarebytes no longer has any significant value. It's just a fast scanner now.

This was the free version, I do not use or recommend the paid version. Like Avast and Norton, it has too often been the cause of a problem. Not as bad as those two, but no better than the free MBAM plus free AVG.

AVG is somewhat less than ideal, and still slow, but - it's free, safe for the average user, and very rarely causes problems. Same with CCleaner, not specifically an anti-virus tool but it does help remove infections, has other benefits, and is safe for average users and never causes problems. Both these programs are well-tested, long-term, and are IMO both effective and nearly idiot-proof.

[hech54]

Avast Free Home(antique version - I wonder how it still updates Engine and Virus Defs), MalWareBytes, SpyWareBlaster, SuperAntiSpyware, CCleaner - Never a problem.

[jman98]

As an IT professional, my opinion is that you cannot trust any one program to be the only thing you need. Even the very best commercial programs to do this kind of thing have false positives and miss things. I rarely use MalwareBytes so I can't personally offer an opinion on whether it's worse now or not than in the past, but I would say that I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of some of your "misses" being AVG having a false positive. I used to use AVG and I liked it a lot, but some years ago they got greedy and made it so difficult to find the free version that I just switched to Avast.

[ricardouk]

First noticed a problem about six months ago... Then, a month or two later, it happened again....Then, in the last few months, have had about half a dozen different bugs that were undetected

with this timeline i would probably format it and start from scratch, dont get my get my comment in bad way but if it was me i would be more worried about how often and how the pc was getting infected instead of the antivirus/spyware/walmare, just my 5 cents...im not an expert.

at the moment im using webroot secureanywhere and on my asuus eeepc 1000HE i dont notice any slowness, im using the 6 monts trial and for about 2 monts and 0 problems but that happened with avast, avira and MSE aswell.

here's the link
http://www.webroot.com/customerSupport/broncosTrial.php

[Nelson37]

Maybe you guys forgot, I AM a pro, I know a friggin false positive from an infection, and these are on half a dozen or more various customer's computers. I fail to comprehend an "IT Pro" who has rarely used what until very recently was the very best virus removal tool on the planet, bar none.

I wouldn't touch a webroot product with a ten-foot pole, free AVG is amazingly simple to find, and Avast has caused more unusable systems than most viruses I encounter.

Of course, all you need to fix it is a simple procedure.

Each at their own speed, I guess.

[hech54]

Maybe you guys forgot, I AM a pro

Modest too.

[Nelson37]

No, I'm not. Never seen the point in it, I'm not just good, I'm DAMN good.

Modest would be saying I'm fairly smart, truth would be I'm a verifiable genius. 99th percentile.

In 25 years field experience, I've only resorted to a drive format twice to remove a virus, once was a very old box with questionable hardware, the other was for security purposes. I've cleaned not just a few, or a few dozen, but HUNDREDS of viruses from many, many systems.

When I say MBAM is nowhere near as effective as it has been for many years, you can take that to the bank. I do.

[ricardouk]

Maybe you guys forgot, I AM a pro, I know a friggin false positive from an infection, and these are on half a dozen or more various customer's computers.

you should make that info availabe in the first post, most of the topics i see you participate are "video" ones not IT, IM NOT a pro mind reader

[jman98]

Well, maybe the reason I don't use Malware Bytes is because I don't need it since I don't visit the type of websites you do, goatse, cough cough, I mean Nelson37.

"I'm a genius" blah blah blah. Whatever man. Anybody can claim anything here.

Sorry bitch, but I've got better things to do than personally remember that you supposedly know what the hell you are talking about. People do fail to note that false positives are possible, but my bad. You're right and we're wrong so thanks for saving us, oh great one.

[VideoChunkster]

I've never had any trouble with malwarebytes, but its not too uncommon for one program to miss something, thats why you use more than one program.

[jollyjohn]

I agree with Nelson. I noticed MBAM's inefficiency for a while now. It missed infections and got disabled by viruses as well as damaged my OS a couple of times and had to reformat the HDD. and install my back up image. I'm using SUPERAntiSpyware Professional now with no dramas so far.

[fritzi93]

Just to see what I could find, I searched "malwarebytes less effective?". Got a couple hits; I didn't check more than a few pages of the results:

http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1207291-new-malwarebytes-looks-like-malware/page-2

http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/430761-is-malwarebytes-becoming-less-effective

So it seems Nelson is not alone. Although most of the search results left out "less" and had "very" instead. But you know how it is, lots of unqualified people out there have opinions.

Me, I dunno. I fix computers for relatives/friends from time to time, that's it. I haven't seen enough nasties to form an opinion. I have used MBAM for quite a long while.

[Nelson37]

Ricard - i've explained my profession and experience numerous times. I'm not going to explain it every single post.

Jman - You are correct, in that you ARE wrong and I AM right. Learn to live with it, I have. Also, blow me, ****. You're on the list.

i could have said nothing and let you all figure it out on your own, in a year or two, with a trashed system for your proof. For that, I get a couple who bother to check out facts for themselves, and a buncha dumbass wannabees that think they have a clue, trying to tell me my business. If you never needed Malwarebytes, then you either saw very few machines or worked in a closed shop behind a tight firewall. Or your response to a tough virus was just to format the hard drive.

You all should just follow heck's "simple procedure" to solve your problem. It got him on the list.

For those who just don't know, for MBAM to miss something other than a rootkit, was not just "unusual", or "rare", it flat-out DID NOT HAPPEN, EVER, for several years. An MBAM clean test meant a clean system. Dependable as tomorrow's sunrise. Best in the business, THE goto AV tool. No more.

You can believe it, or not. If and when I find another tool that is close, I may come back and let you know.

Unless you're on the list, along with Alegator, blinky88, and a few others.

[hech54]

Well look at that. A good nights sleep, wake up my XP Pro computer from Stand By, Avast Free Home, MalWareBytes, SpyWareBlaster, SuperAntiSpyware, CCleaner all still here.....and I'm still here.
I guess I'll need to attribute it to decades of dumb luck....again.

[ricardouk]

Nelson37, altough english is not my native language you're being rude towards someone that gave an opinion, wether they're right or wrong thats something else, i read your post and gave my opinion saying i wasnt an expert... even if i was wrong and you werent looking for an answer...all you had to say (in my opinion) would be "i wasnt looking for an answer but thanks anyway".

my system was "designed" so that if i ever start to get infected regularly (i thought it was your situation) i dont spend too much time finding the cause, cleaning traces of it, testing the solution etc etc, i just format it... wheter im right or not its another thing,,just my opinion...no need to call me/us "dumbass wannabees that think they have a clue"

Ricard - i've explained my profession and experience numerous times. I'm not going to explain it every single post.

i understand that but like i said most of your answers (that i read) are related to video not computers, thousands of users here, cant remember all their jobs.

[Hoser Rob]

No, I'm not. Never seen the point in it, I'm not just good, I'm DAMN good.

Modest would be saying I'm fairly smart, truth would be I'm a verifiable genius. 99th percentile...

No, you're not. You're just another 2 bit frakking forum poser. Or you wouldn't have written that first post.

As jman points out, any real IT pro knows you can't rely on one program. They always have at least a half dozen scanners.

[Nelson37]

Ricardo - you did state your minimal technical expertise, and I'll give you a pass on that. However, you should know that formatting the drive to remove a virus is equivalent to buying a new car because you need an oil change. This may suffice for some, but in my business, that is simply not an acceptable answer.

Rude? I'll accept that, I know I often am. However, to fail to point out the extremely rude responses I received, with no mention? OK, but then stay out of my way while I respond in kind.

I could give you a brief rundown of the level of technical knowledge and areas of expertise for almost every member here, including many who have been gone for many years. I sometimes forget that that is something most people simply can't do. However, i have demonstrated numerous times just exactly what I CAN do, and I am not going to apologize for that, or for not suffering fools gladly.

I came here to put up what I consider to be valuable and important information, and got mostly crap from people without the knowledge or experience level to justify questioning my findings. I am very seriously considering whether or not I should just stop wasting my time.

I could detail how I beat the encryptor virus, twice, and a possible very dangerous new infection vector it may be using, but I don't feel like a pointless debate, don't see any value or usefullness to me in doing so, and frankly don't feel like dealing with any more worthless crud today.

[Nelson37]

Half a dozen? Try something like 50.

Running 6 different scanners on a PC is something an in-house geek with limited breadth of experience who is on salary might do. For an independent tech with highly variable clientele getting nearly $100 per hour to fix the problem, that is incompetence. Using many tools is something a chimpanzee can do, using the BEST tool is what a pro does. Believing you can rely on a particular tool is very different from knowing that you can.

Some on this site now know that you can't, anymore.

Better reading comprehension would reveal that my virus repair involves a minimum of two different scanning progs, sometimes more, usually not. I've detailed the other common steps here in the recent past, look it up and question any you care to, just be prepared to be laughed at by many who know better.

An "IT pro" who rarely uses what is widely acknowledged to be the best scanner available, and can't find the free AVG, well, that tells most people all they need to know.

Oh, and "O great one" is for Egyptian pharoahs, my correct title is "Exalted lord high grand poobah". Try and get it right.

[mike20021969]

I don't need it since I don't visit the type of websites you do...Nelson37.

I thought he was referring to customers computers...?

these are on half a dozen or more various customer's computers

[nic2k4]

Believing you can rely on a particular tool is very different from knowing that you can.

Some on this site now know that you can't, anymore.

I'll start off with thanks for the info, I was wondering about that. A couple times I used it the problem didn't get resolved, I figured they must be late updating their database. When you think about it that's what usually happens when focus moves from making an effective product to making more money. Lately, I've been going straight to Combofix, worked every time. Before that, in the most extreme cases, I'd fire up a Linux live disc and run Bitdefender or ClamAV.

Better reading comprehension would reveal that my virus repair involves a minimum of two different scanning progs, sometimes more, usually not. I've detailed the other common steps here in the recent past, look it up and question any you care to, just be prepared to be laughed at by many who know better.

Reading comprehension seems to be the reason for many a flame war around here, you never know who will be next. It's just sad that it's driving valuable members away. Some may disagree with a post or have a different view, that's fine and is good for a healthy debate. I don't post here hoping everyone comes and tells me I'm right. I post hoping I can help and maybe someone will show me something new. Those that don't get this and think their answer is the only one, often are just blinded by their lack of knowledge. I find the words of John Cleese helpful, you need a minimum level of intelligence to even realize that you are stupid. Sadly, a huge percentage of the population is too stupid to realize that they're morons.

Oh, and "O great one" is for Egyptian pharoahs, my correct title is "Exalted lord high grand poobah". Try and get it right.

ROTGLMFAO

[TreeTops]

Nelson, MalwareBytes has a forum. Have you reported your findings there? I haven't had the time to look there, but possibly it has come up.

[hech54]

I am very seriously considering whether or not I should just stop wasting my time.

Need any help with that?

[Nelson37]

Nic - Combofix is indeed useful, as the Linux disk, but neither is something I can put in the hands of most of my users with much hope of correct operation. ClamAV has been effective, and is now near the top of my list. That list is in flux until enough real-world usage gives me some solid, recent data. I have heard the John Cleese line expressed more simply as "He don't know, that he don't know".

The title is a bit long, isn't it? I've tried to shorten it to "el-heg-pa" but nobody ever pronounces it right.

Treetops, no, Company forums are pretty much a waste of time for this kind of thing, particularly for the free products. Plus, I don't care what they say, or promise to do, it either works, or it doesn't. It used to, now it don't. The only situation I expend effort to prove to a company that their product is broken is when I can get either a warranty replacement or money returned, there's no RMA available here.

hech - Not from you, I already decided not to waste any further time on a boob that needs help but can't be bothered to explain just what he repeatedly does to his router to solve a basic problem. Like I said at the time, fix it yourself.

[hech54]

hech - Not from you, I already decided not to waste any further time on a boob that needs help but can't be bothered to explain just what he repeatedly does to his router to solve a basic problem. Like I said at the time, fix it yourself.

Wow....3 years and two routers ago. Have we been suffering your arrogance THAT long?
It's a good thing I've been using Avast Free Home, MalWareBytes, SpyWareBlaster, SuperAntiSpyware and CCleaner faithfully all this time.

[Nelson37]

During that time, my count of systems rendered un-usable by AVAST is up to 5, which is two more since then. Keep recommending it, I get paid to fix these. I've only been paid once or twice to fix a problem caused by AVG, ZERO in the same time span, and that is with an installed base I service running into several hundreds of pc's over a much longer time. NONE of my regular customers use Avast.

Continue believing that single-user experience gives reliable data. I make a lot of money from people like that.

i can quote your post accurately from memory, that's one of the reasons I am so good at what I do. Blinky88's smoke and flame erupting from his motherboard was 8 to 10 years ago, and I still remember his avatar. AleGator was just a generic, repeated dumbass.

You, on the other hand, went far, far out of your way to refuse to provide information that was CLEARLY related to your problem, and got all bent out of shape when I told you it was necessary. There is no one alive that can plug in a power cord that would not agree you were being an ass. You may have really needed a new router, there may have been what a real tech calls a "simple procedure" to effect a free fix. How freaking hard is it to admit you're pulling the power cord? Or maybe you just shook it back and forth, or called it a rude name.

You are a fool, a dumbass, and an obnoxious jerk for whom I have no use whatsoever. The likelihood that you could possibly provide me anything i need to know is infinitessimal.

[hech54]

NONE of my regular customers use Avast.

I can't believe you actually typed that.
Think about it.
Now try thinking logically.

[Nelson37]

Perhaps you need to look up the word REGULAR? Then just try thinking. Don't hurt yourself.

[usually_quiet]

I agree that Avast caused problems on many systems. My HTPC was one of them. Avast worked very well for a while, and then I started to see BSODs which WhoCrashed tied to Avast. On further investigation, I found this particular problem was a known issue when Avast is installed on systems with an ATI video adapter, so the video adapter stayed and Avast left. That was 3 years ago, but I haven't used Avast since. Who, knows maybe Avast fixed that problem, but I'm, still reluctant to try them again. I have used 3 other antivirus products since then, and I have come to the conclusion that any antivirus has the potential to cause problems of on kind or another, or to become less effective as time goes on. If it is true that MalwareBytes has become ineffective, then that is sad news, because it is one of the programs I use if I suspect a machine I own might have a malware problem.

[Nelson37]

The latest Avast cute trick is that the module which hooks onto your network card driver completely de-activates your network card. Saw two separate systems with this problem in the same week. Don't know if this was in response to a virus attack or just a new feature. Neither user reported a virus notification, but that's not real solid.

You are correct that most any AV prog has the potential to cause a problem, but it's a numbers game. Probability assessments require significant numbers to give a reasonably predictive value. It's a matter of comparing installed base to verified problem reports. AVG wins, Avast loses. It's not even close.

The one good news is that while MBAM has gotten worse, AVG has gotten better. Both faster and more effective. Still not fast enough for a dedicated, stand-alone scanner, but, as the new MBAM shows, speed ain't everything.

[fritzi93]

I agree that Avast caused problems on many systems. My HTPC was one of them. Avast worked very well for a while, and then I started to see BSODs which WhoCrashed tied to Avast. On further investigation, I found this particular problem was a known issue when Avast is installed on systems with an ATI video adapter, so the video adapter stayed and Avast left.

I gave up on Avast for that very reason (conflict with ATI drivers), and haven't had an AV since.

I'd rather image my OS drive from time to time than try to root out malware. Also, if you only web surf in a VM, it's even easier; you just save a copy of the VM folder. If the OS in the VM stuffs up, just delete the folder and copy over the backup.

My batting average on removing viruse and trojans (not run of the mill spyware) from friends' computers is middling at best. How do people catch this stuff so easily when my computers (almost) never do? Anyway, MBAM did the trick sometimes. Dunno what I'll use if MBAM is ineffective now. SAS is good for spyware/PUPs, but it never found anything really nasty when I used it.