Malwarebytes & Windows defender?

Vince Massi said:

My understanding is that the free MBAM, which does not run in the background, works well with Defender. I have used them together for years with no problem.

It would appear from this and other posts that the paid version of MBAM is expanding its power.

I used to run the free AVG, but I had three or four free AVs for occasional scans. One by one, they began fighting to become my primary AV, refusing to turn off and refusing to let the others work.

Yes, it was very strange. I had the free version of Malwarebytes for a long time. Then I upgraded to the paid version and the two programs worked fine for several months (6-7), then suddenly Windows Defender started having problems. Neither support team really gave me an answer as to what had happened. Malwarebytes support was perplexed at the problem, stating that the two programs are compatible. They gave me a list of things to try, even went through it over the phone with me. Nothing worked. I sent them logs, they replied with new ideas... nothing. Microsoft support didn't go into details about what exactly happened, but they specifically said that they traced the problem to Malwarebytes. They said that they would contact the company regarding the issue.

For now I think I'll just stick with Defender.

Hi:

featherlite said:

Yes, it was very strange. I had the free version of Malwarebytes for a long time. Then I upgraded to the paid version and the two programs worked fine for several months (6-7), then suddenly Windows Defender started having problems. Neither support team really gave me an answer as to what had happened. Malwarebytes support was perplexed at the problem, stating that the two programs are compatible. They gave me a list of things to try, even went through it over the phone with me. Nothing worked. I sent them logs, they replied with new ideas... nothing. Microsoft support didn't go into details about what exactly happened, but they specifically said that they traced the problem to Malwarebytes. They said that they would contact the company regarding the issue.

For now I think I'll just stick with Defender.

At the risk of further hijacking the OP's thread, without having any data from your interactions with Malwarebytes support, and as JUST a MBAM home user and longtime forum volunteer there, I will say this:

• Many thousands of users have been running MBAM Premium alongside WD under Win10 for a very long time (since the days of W10 beta) without issue. The current MBAM Consumer version 2.2.1043 is fully compatible with Win10.
• MBAM Premium is designed to specifically run alongside ALL major, popular AVs to provide complementary, real-time protection against certain zero-hour and zero-day threats missed by AVs; but it's certainly up to you whether or not to use it.
• There are not (m)any reports of issues for that configuration at the MBAM forum.
• I am surprised that you did not resolve your issue via MBAM support (but again, without knowing what was suggested/tried and without knowing specifics about your computer, it's impossible to speculate).
• I am NOT surprised that M$ would point the finger at Malwarebytes - that is pretty typical for MS (and for AV vendors in general, whose underlying goal/agenda is to steer customers to their own products and away from others).

I don't know when all of this transpired for you, or if your Malwarebytes support ticket has been closed.
But we would be happy to further assist you over at the MBAM forum, if you'd like.
It will only cost you a bit of your time.

Cheers,
MM

Hi:

TairikuOkami said:

I always advice people to stay away from MBAM, it is a bad egg and that is that.

While that is certainly your opinion, and I am not here to defend or denigrate MBAM, I would be most interested to know a bit more about the specific reasons for your negative opinion.
For that matter, the MBAM developers and QA team probably would like to know, too.

AFAIK, there is no software application that works 100% flawlessly on 100% of computers for 100% of users 100% of the time. But the Malwarebytes developers work hard to improve their products.
So perhaps you will share with us some specific problems you've encountered, so that they could be fixed?

Cheers,
MM

Jimbo, out of curiosity, I ran MBAM immediately after doing a deep scan with Defender. MBAM founds some PUPs. Over the years, I´ve tried running different clean-up software immediately after each other, and I have found that MBAM picks up PUPs missed by both AVG and CCleaner.

MoxieMomma said:

Hi:



At the risk of further hijacking the OP's thread, without having any data from your interactions with Malwarebytes support, and as JUST a MBAM home user and longtime forum volunteer there, I will say this:

• Many thousands of users have been running MBAM Premium alongside WD under Win10 for a very long time (since the days of W10 beta) without issue. The current MBAM Consumer version 2.2.1043 is fully compatible with Win10.
• MBAM Premium is designed to specifically run alongside ALL major, popular AVs to provide complementary, real-time protection against certain zero-hour and zero-day threats missed by AVs; but it's certainly up to you whether or not to use it.
• There are not (m)any reports of issues for that configuration at the MBAM forum.
• I am surprised that you did not resolve your issue via MBAM support (but again, without knowing what was suggested/tried and without knowing specifics about your computer, it's impossible to speculate).
• I am NOT surprised that M$ would point the finger at Malwarebytes - that is pretty typical for MS (and for AV vendors in general, whose underlying goal/agenda is to steer customers to their own products and away from others).

I don't know when all of this transpired for you, or if your Malwarebytes support ticket has been closed.
But we would be happy to further assist you over at the MBAM forum, if you'd like.
It will only cost you a bit of your time.

Cheers,
MM

Hi MoxieMomma,

Thanks for your reply.

My ticket with Malwarebytes has long been closed, since I ended up doing a complete clean install of Windows 10. I stumbled across this thread because I was researching the compatibility of Malwarebytes with Windows 10 and Defender upon discovering that I still had my lifetime activation code for Malwarebytes. I was tempted to reactivate it, but after seeing that the OP had the same problem I had with my Windows 8.1 in Windows 10 and Defender, I'm extremely apprehensive. This is why I was curious if the OP was able to find a solution.

It feels like a waste to have paid for Malwarebytes Premium, and not use it; but in all honesty I'm scared of the problem ever happening again without a relatively quick and simple fix available. It took days last time to get my system fully operational again, and that doesn't include the 7-8 days I spent going back and forth with the two support teams. Actually since that experience, I purchased a separate SSD for Windows and Office, another SSD for other programs, and a hybrid drive for storage.

Like I mentioned before, I have the free Malwarebytes installed right now, and it doesn't seem to be causing any problems. I'm just scared to activate it and having an issue with Defender ever again.

Regards,
featherlite

TairikuOkami said:

I always advice people to stay away from MBAM, it is a bad egg and that is that.

I also will jump in on this.
I do not work for Malwarebytes but I am a long time reseller. I have been using the combo of Defender and the Paid MBAM +MBAE on all Win 10 systems (more than 100 now) since the release of Win 10. NEVER an issue.

featherlite said:

Hi MoxieMomma,

Thanks for your reply.

My ticket with Malwarebytes has long been closed, since I ended up doing a complete clean install of Windows 10. I stumbled across this thread because I was researching the compatibility of Malwarebytes with Windows 10 and Defender upon discovering that I still had my lifetime activation code for Malwarebytes. I was tempted to reactivate it, but after seeing that the OP had the same problem I had with my Windows 8.1 in Windows 10 and Defender, I'm extremely apprehensive. This is why I was curious if the OP was able to find a solution.

It feels like a waste to have paid for Malwarebytes Premium, and not use it; but in all honesty I'm scared of the problem ever happening again without a relatively quick and simple fix available. It took days last time to get my system fully operational again, and that doesn't include the 7-8 days I spent going back and forth with the two support teams. Actually since that experience, I purchased a separate SSD for Windows and Office, another SSD for other programs, and a hybrid drive for storage.

Like I mentioned before, I have the free Malwarebytes installed right now, and it doesn't seem to be causing any problems. I'm just scared to activate it and having an issue with Defender ever again.

Regards,
featherlite

Hi, again:

I don't want to drag this out much longer, especially since we are hijacking the OP's thread.
I do not work for Malwarebytes, am not a software engineer, and am not a trained computer technician.
I fully understand your trepidation -- "Once burned, twice shy".

All I can say is that -- lacking any hard data about the exact nature of your past issue and what was attempted to resolve it -- the Malwarebytes support forum would be ablaze with trouble reports if there were an inherent issue between MBAM and WD under W10. And @Porthos confirms over 100 trouble-free setups with that same configuration.

Every computer is unique.
So, there may have been something unusual happening with your system at that time (especially since your system ended up needing a Windows reinstall (something MBAM would not have precipitated)). {{As an aside, if (as your post suggests) you were working with 2 different support venues simultaneously back then, that might well have created more problems than it solved. When seeking computer help, "too many cooks spoil the soup". It is advisable to work in only one venue at a time.}}

Both Win10 and MBAM have likely been updated since then.
And you have reinstalled the OS.
And hopefully, you have a robust data backup plan in place.
You have a paid license -- MBAM Premium provides real-time protection to help PREVENT infection; MBAM Free can only detect/remove malware that has already made it past WD onto the system.

So, If you would like free assistance with reinstalling MBAM Premium on your system, we would be more than happy to assist you, either here or (preferably) over at the Malwarebytes forum.
If you would like assistance here in this forum, please start a new, separate post.

But, of course, the choice is entirely yours.:)

Cheers,
MM

Tairiku, I enjoy your posts and appreciate your courtesy in all of them. But could you explain why you do not recommend the free MBAM?