Malwarebytes
 

I recently installed a new paid for version of Malwarebytes. The newer version has the standard Malwarebytes and the Browser Anti-Exploit combined into a single package. Initially thought this was kind of cool. (Previous versions of Malwarebytes I had been running had these as two separate packages.)

Almost immediately after the install my machine began running noticeably slower.

A quick look at the performance tab in Task Manager showed (literally) almost no free ram (and at all times.) The lone exception being right after a machine restart.

However, subsequent checks a few minutes after each restart showed the machine to have run out of free ram again.

A look at the processes tab in Task Manager after checking the show processes all users box didn't reveal any unusual processes.

Yet based on the performance of the machine and the fact that the machine had no free ram (literally) at all times suggested something must be running in the background (eating up available ram.)

I say that because prior to installing Malwarebytes - unless I had a zillion program windows open - whenever I'd look at the performance tab in Task Manager the machine almost always had at least 2 gigabytes of free ram.

After operating my now sluggish machine for a day and a half (a machine that had previously been lightning fast btw) I decided to make a good faith effort to eliminate possible causes through process of elimination.

I began testing everything on the machine that had recently changed. This included Windows Updates, browser updates - and finally Malwarebytes.

After eliminating Windows Updates and updates to Chrome and Firefox as possible causes:

I tried bringing up Task Manager, going to the processes tab, right clicking Malwarebytes, and ending the process.

As soon as I did that - Malwarebytes auto-loaded itself as a new process (causing my machine to lock up/freeze for several seconds.) A quick look at the performance tab in Task Manager afterwards revealed the machine had run out of free ram again.

I repeated this step several times (in hopes I could test the amount of free ram on my machine without Malwarebytes running) to no avail.

So I went into Control Panel and uninstalled Malwarebytes -- followed by a restart.

After restarting the machine and allowing it to go through its boot up cycle:

I went into Task Manager, clicked the processes tab, checked the display processes all users box, scrolled through the processes - and confirmed Malwarebytes was no longer running.

A look at the performance tab in Task Manager showed the machine had (its normal) more than 2 gigabytes of free ram once again.

And of course the machine was now running lightning fast again. (As has been the case since I uninstalled Malwarebytes.)

Malwarebytes had always been one of those programs I considered indispensable.

But if running it means slowing every machine I install it on to a crawl:

How indispensable can it really be?

Most concerning to me is that after installing Malwarebytes -- something was obviously running in the background and (literally) eating all of the machine's free ram.

But whatever that something was - it certainly wasn't showing up on the processes tab in Task Manager.

Has anybody else recently installed Malwarebytes and experienced something similar?



-jp

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No, I haven't installed MWB recently but I have UNinstalled it on all of the machines I am responsible for. At one time, it was indispensable to me since it caught and prevented nearly all malware intrusions. And I don't think they have a free version anymore, just a trial one.

I might get some blowback from this but I use the free Windows Defender for my virus and malware checker. It's gotten better over the years. Be sure to use the Windows Defender Browser Protection for additional security.

I googled "Malwarebytes free memory problem" and it brought up a lot of links to problems. Seems the high memory usage started back in January. I found this link on bleepingcomputer that might be of some help.

Memory Problem

I downloaded the free version about a month ago, so it still exists...I don't keep it running in the background (it has an option)...I don't experience any memory issues or slowdowns, but then again, I don't utilize any of the real time options...and I make sure it doesn't load with windows (another option).

Jeff,

This is a great point.

I have a whole lot of XP-era machines running Win7-32 bit. Since the max memory that Win-32 will see is 3GB, "available memory" is an important issue.

Yes, I, too, had the same experience with Malwarebytes - both the free and the pay-for version.

This caused me to do some research into what "free RAM" really means.

Free Memory and Available Memory in your Windows PC

This article explains it really well. The short version:


From an application standpoint, I found that loading a new app (i.e. one that was not currently cached) took FAR longer to start. However, once it got going, the speed picked up.

All that being said, your assessment of Malwarebytes is exactly right because it HOGS that memory.


BTW, if you install the free version, it sits there doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING because the free version does not contain real-time protection. It still HOGS the memory as well as the CPU!

My plan of attack was to dump the pay-for version and only install the free version when I wanted to do a system sweep. After the sweep is finished and things are cleaned up, I uninstall it immediately.


Hope this helped.

Dave

Years ago Microsoft actually stated publicly that Defender does not do a very good job of protecting. Since then they've said different but I've never heard them say that it was competitive with others in the industry.

Most reviews of that product range from slightly negative to very negative.

The industry trend is definitely towards more and more bloat in these products. The best I have found thus far is Kaspersky.

It causes minimal slowdown and is cost-effective, but you have to know what to buy. Every year we purchase three x 3-machine package for $35. So, for 9 machines we pay $105 per year.

I tried another one this year - Sophos - which was amazingly cheap for a 10-machine license. It was an absolute pig! In addition, they told me it would not work with network drives.

Over the years I've checked out and discarded McAffee, Norton, AVG, Avast and dumped them all.


Dave

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh Micro Trend

Thanks for the link. I wonder if this version was ever tested before it went out the door? The same can be asked for Windows updates too, one of which bricked one of my older machines back in January.

It's still free. My bad.

I use Malwarebytes Premium 3.5.1 along with Bitdefender Total Security 2018. They work well together and I don't see any resource hogging. I do have 16 GB of RAM but Process Explorer indicates that MWB is only taking up about 180 MB of that. The only problem that I had was when update to Malwarebytes that caused the web protection to turn itself off, but that got resolved fairly quickly.

Hi Jeff,


Malwarebytes should not be using all that much in regards to resources.



We have an online help support system as well as a forum to provide assistance if you need it.


I won't post the link as some forums frown upon 3rd party links and I'm not sure of the rules regarding that here.


A quick Google search should bring up our main website for Malwarebytes and a search for Forums and Malwarebytes should get you there. You can post and ask for help or send me a Private Message and I'll be glad to assist you and get things working properly.


Same username:

AdvancedSetup
Malwarebytes, Forum Community Manager


Cheers

Sure, you can post the link. It's relative to this thread.

Thanks!

You can post a new topic here and someone will assist you.


https://forums.malwarebytes.com/foru...support-forum/


Thanks

I've had it installed for about a year now (the pay version) and never have had a problem. Computer is very fast and it works as advertised. Keeps me out of trouble when I'm looking for streaming sports. Lots of shady places out there.