Malwarebytes Free Version

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I have a puzzling dilemma. I have and have run Norton Internet Security, Trend Micro House Call, McAfee free scan, etc and they all show the computer to be clean. However when I run Malwarebytes Free version, it comes up with some bad stuff on the computer in files and registery, etc. Who should I believe, all the big company scans or the Malwarebytes???? I do not want to mess up my computer and have to reinstall a bunch of stuff because of False (if that is what they are) readings from Malwarebytes. Is there anyone who has much experience that could give me sage advice on which scans to be the most reliable to believe????…..I have a problem believing only one scanner software Malwarebytes would find all this stuff and the others say everything is OK….thank you, JohnL

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MBAM is pretty reliable, imo, less likely to give false positives than most other security software.

If you can post the log or a screenshot showing the results, you’d get more personalised answers.

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If you could kindly tell me how to post the screen shots, I’ll be happy to run Malwarebytes again and post the screen shots of the results, I’m not familiar on how to do the post of the screen shots….thank you, Johnl

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To post a screen shot click the “Go Advanced” button when you are ready to compose a reply. Scroll down and click on “Manage Attachments”. Click the browse button to navigate to the file you wish to attach.

Joe

--Joe

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Remember that different anti-malware solutions will give different results. All these programs have a different set of signatures, interpret behavior differently, and have different criteria for identifying registry “problems”.

Joe

--Joe

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Joe and everyone else here are two screen shots. The second one shows part of the first screen shot as well at the bottom the additional listings….any help is greatly appreciated….johnl

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Here are 2 photos that give additional information……picture 1 and 3 are the same and picture 2 and 4 are the same screen shots, just expaned on 3 and 4 to give a better idea as to what is being reported…….thanks for any help that is provided….JohnL

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There’s certainly malware detected there, MyWebSearch is adware that likes to hijack your search results, I don’t know the specifics of the others but I’d set them all to quarantine while you investigate further.

Was this from the quick or full scan setting?

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This was from a Full Scan setting….it showed a total of 8 objects that were of suspect….John

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Hi John : Questions about a Malwarebytes Scan Result are BEST asked on their Support Forums to be answered by their Experts who are the best knowledgeable about their program . I recommend you use their "General Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware Forum” available at http://forums.malwarebytes.org

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Thank You, I was unaware of that forum….thanks again, John

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Additionally, virus issues are not the same as malware, scareware, adware etc. Virus scanners only scan for virus’s and malware scanners, (ie Malwarebytes, Spybot, Ad-Aware, Superantispyware), do a different function. What your seeing is normal in the sense that it shows you have a lot of maleware on your system.

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Virus scanners only scan for virus’s and malware scanners, (ie Malwarebytes, Spybot, Ad-Aware, Superantispyware), do a different function.

There is a lot of overlap between viruses, trojans, worms, and other forms of malware. Most modern “antivirus” and “anti-malware” products do not make a sharp distinction between them. However, the various products work differently and tend to be better at finding some threats than others.

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Malwarebytes has a great reputation as a removal tool after all others have failed. However it does not have a great reputation for stopping the infection in the first place which is why many websites recommend using one of the major AV products for your everyday protection. I trust MalwareBytes without hesitation as long as you download it from their site only.

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Malwarebytes has a great reputation as a removal tool after all others have failed. However it does not have a great reputation for stopping the infection in the first place which is why many websites recommend using one of the major AV products for your everyday protection. I trust MalwareBytes without hesitation as long as you download it from their site only.

The Malwarebytes folks themselves repeatedly say that their software should not be used as a substitute for an anti-virus program but rather as a supplement to it. Malwarebytes is designed specifically to identify and remove malware that many anti-virus programs are likely to miss.

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Well CD, I use WS’s Security Essentials, and after a three hour scan today, Malwarebytes found some 68 problem files. Aren’t second opinions are a good thing, dontcha think?

Chuck

Chuck Billow

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One thing you have to remember the free version of MalwareBytes does NOT include real time protection. It would not be running in order to stop the infection in the first place. To gain this real time protection you need the paid version. The free version is designed to use for manual scans periodically and to assist with removal if your real time protection is not sufficient to stop an infection.

The other thing to remember is that NO AV / AM scheme will protect against one of the biggest offenders, the user themselves. We have to be proactive with our security and have to stop automatically clicking the red X in the upper right hand corner of strange pop up windows. Many of these nefarious pop up windows have had the red X recoded to start the infection. A user must get in the habit of using the Task Manager to close these windows. Ctrl+Alt+Del, then choose Task Manager, application tab to start.

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Ted, the “red ‘x'” is one I’m guilty of as well. Probably where I got the issue I’m now experiencing!

Chuck

Chuck Billow

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A good security scheme includes both real time protection (MSE includeds both AV and AM) and periodic scans with other scanners (including MalwareBytes, etc.) I also believe a good software and hardware firewall are a part of this scheme.

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A good security scheme includes both real time protection (MSE includeds both AV and AM) and periodic scans with other scanners (including MalwareBytes, etc.) I also believe a good software and hardware firewall are a part of this scheme.

I agree. I too use MSE as my AV, and I use MalwareBytes, but I use the Pro version, which offers real-time protection. I do a quick scan with MalwareBytes every day, and fairly frequent scans with MSE as well. And I agree too about the usefulness of software and hardware firewalls, though my notion of what constitutes a “good” software firewall has changed over the years. I now use the firewall available in Windows 7 rather than the much more intrusive one for which I have a lifetime license.

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I have recently switched from the Windows Firewall, which is a good basic firewall, to Online Armor++. It seems to have an easier UI for me.

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One of the things I like about the Windows 7 firewall is that after enabling it and perhaps doing a bit with the settings (I don’t recall), I haven’t had to look at it again. A UI I don’t need to look at is the best kind of UI for me . Given the fact that I almost never have any real security issues (knock on wood, salt over my shoulder), plus having a hardware firewall, MSE, and MalwareBytes Pro, I feel content to stay with the Windows 7 firewall, at least for now.

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