Latest Version of Malwarebytes

[Brink]

Announcing Beta of Malwarebytes 3.0.2, see first post for more details.

 

[DavidE]

Malwarebytes says for anyone willing to Beta test V3 they will convert a yearly license to lifetime.
See posts 101 and 102 in this Wilders Security Forums thread:
Malwarebytes 3.0 Beta | Page 5 | Wilders Security Forums

 

[Firefox]

Malwarebytes says for anyone willing to Beta test V3 they will convert a yearly license to lifetime.
See posts 101 and 102 in this Wilders Security Forums thread:
Malwarebytes 3.0 Beta | Page 5 | Wilders Security Forums

That's not a bad deal for folks on a yearly subscription that is... all mine are lifetime...

 

[MoxieMomma]

Hi:

Malwarebytes says for anyone willing to Beta test V3 they will convert a yearly license to lifetime.
See posts 101 and 102 in this Wilders Security Forums thread:
Malwarebytes 3.0 Beta | Page 5 | Wilders Security Forums

That's not a bad deal for folks on a yearly subscription that is... all mine are lifetime...

Yes, that *is* a very good deal for current subscription license holders.

There is already a long list of "known issues", especially system slow-downs, as one would expect with such a new product.
Interested users might, therefore, want to defer beta testing on a production system, using a test box or VM instead.

I look forward to the eventual release version of "Malwarebytes Malwarebytes" (a.k.a. "MB3") to continue their fine legacy of terrific anti-malware/anti-exploit security software.

Cheers,
MM

 

[Brink]

New Malwarebytes 3.0 Pubic Beta Number 2 released. See first post for more details.

 

[DavidE]

Malwarebytes 3.0 Public Beta Number 3 is available.

Malwarebytes 3.0 Public Beta Number 3 - Malwarebytes 3.0 Beta - Malwarebytes Forums

 

[Brink]

New Malwarebytes 3.0 WHQL released. See first post for more details.

 

[Barman58]

Will this be a pushed update to those with premium or does it have to be downloaded manually ?

 

[z3r010]

I had to do it manually, be careful if you have multiple paid malwarebytes products on your system, mine used the licence that had 6 months left from my anti-exploit rather than the lifetime licence of my old mbam (swapped easy enough).

 

[Barman58]

Thanks John

Only have the full MBAM annual licence, not a lifetime , on this machine now so should be OK

 

[kado897]

Mine installed just fine over all three products and picked up my lifetime licence.

 

[MoxieMomma]

Will this be a pushed update to those with premium or does it have to be downloaded manually ?

They typically throttle auto-updates.
I expect it will eventually be pushed via auto-updater, if you have PROGRAM updates enabled in the settings.

Since this is essentially a brand-new product, replacing MBAM, MBAE and MBARW-beta, you might want to either wait a while or consider a clean upgrade (uninstalling all 3 products, using their removal tool, rebooting and the clean install). They are already suggesting that for folks with upgrade issues, even though there is no specialized removal tool yet for MB3.

The beta-testing period was VERY short, and they never released a "release candidate", even though there were quite a few unresolved issues with this latest build (they appear to have shipped beta 3 as a release build).

You might want to watch the MB3 forum and wait a while, as there are already reports of upgrade troubles, licensing problems, compatibility issues and performance issues.

I am waiting a good long while.

MM

P.S. Unless they change something or restore the feature to a later build, they have removed again(!) most granular user control over UPDATES. There is some sort of "auto-update" that runs soon after a system start, over which the user has no control. I wonder how that will work with Win10 Updates (especially for HP users who have no control there) and with other security apps?? And update check scheduling capability has been reduced: no granular control over the schedule and no means to defer PROGRAM updates. The latter was a deal-breaker back in version 2.0 that was eventually restored in a later version of 2.x. With any luck, they will eventually restore that important feature.

 

[MoxieMomma]

Mine installed just fine over all three products and picked up my lifetime licence.

That is good to hear and a bit reassuring.
Others have not been so lucky.
Of course, each system is different.

When/if I upgrade my 3 boxes, it will be a clean install, because this new product is so new and so complex, and because I have 2 different licenses in effect (MBAM and MBAE).

We will need to watch to see what the other AV vendors do, now that MB#3 is being touted BOTH as an "AV Replacement" (but -- curiously -- not as an AV or IS or ISS) AND as a souped-up anti-everything program that can still run alongside an AV.
The company also claims HERE (without data to support the assertion) that their protection "surpasses" that of the traditional AVs.
We will need to wait for AV comparatives for data on whether this really can be a sole security solution.
In the past, the company justifiably explained that MBAM was not an AV.
Now that they claim MB3 is an "AV Replacement" (whatever that means), we shall see how it plays out.
(Several outside, objective reviews have been lukewarm. So it seems there's room for improvement.)

I am a longstanding customer from the days when they asserted they would NEVER release an "all-in-one" security program and when they insisted that a complementary/layered approach was "best practice". So I hope the new, "one-product-does-it-all" program will be as good as they say it is.

Oh, well. At least they did finally get rid of the puerile smileys in the GUI. Progress.

Let us know how it goes.

Fingers crossed for good things,

MM

P.S. And I hope they invested more time/effort into coding it than into naming it: "Malwarebytes 3.0" sounds weak, wimpy and nondescript.

 

[Barman58]

Got mine installed - eventually

If it helps others ... ...

I downloaded and started to install and immediately got an exception "External Exception E06D7363"

checked on Malwarebytes site and followed their instruction to Download and install athe installer from a link
This turned out to be the latest Version 2 "mbam-setup-2.2.1.1043" installer - which was already installed but did what instructed and it did nothing
Then followed @MoxieMomma 's suggestion and uninstalled completely

Install ran without issue

EDIT

Am now back with version 2 due to loads of problems with the anti-exploit - including a BSOD which is likely related as it occurred shortly after install, and I've not had any previously - there appears to be no information as to what program or files is causing an alleged exploit, and therefore no method of investigating and solving issues. Turning off the anti-exploit was just met with repeated spam like pop-ups - It looks like I'll use version 2 for as long as possible and then find some other product, unless this one is actually fully tested to my satisfaction I cannot see me ever using it which is a shame

Only other issue was that the program refused my Key I then realised that the key I entered was from 2014 so had expired

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Thanks for the warning

 

[MoxieMomma]

Also:

See here:

Malwarebytes 3.0 - Known Issues - Malwarebytes 3.0 - Malwarebytes Forums

(I can think of at least 5 others, and I'm not even running it yet)

There are many UI/UX regressions, with several useful features having been removed.
Most notably:
Lack of full user control over the scheduler (both update check tasks and PROGRAM updates) stinks.

It's not clear why they shipped the very same build for beta 3 and for the current release build, with no interim "beta 4" or "release candidate" build AND without a new removal tool that is fully functional with the new program architecture.

Worst of all, they plan to EOS/EOL their stable, highly-regarded flagship product after only 6 months.
Malwarebytes | Malwarebytes Support - Home Products Lifecyle Policy
AFAIK that is unprecedented for any major security program (or any major software application).
If M$ had followed a similar timeline, they would have dropped support for 7 and 8.1 in January 2016.
Heck, Malwarebytes supported v1.x for nearly 2 years after they released v2.x.

Only the team knows why all this rush.
It's highly irregular and worrisome, given their long and illustrious history of attention to detail and proper QA.

But right now, it seems like "haste makes waste".
Too much rush to ship a highly unstable new product and too much rush to mothball a stable one.

I'm in no hurry.
Until inevitable compatibility, performance and stability issues are resolved and until there is some objective testing to substantiate the claim of protection that "surpasses" other security products and "makes antivirus obsolete", I am sitting tight with my AV + MBAM Premium and MBAE Premium.
Being data-driven, I will wait for some of that very data, rather than relying on marketing taglines.

I sure hope it works out well for everyone, especially for us end users.

Fingers crossed,
MM

 

[MoxieMomma]

Most notably:
Lack of full user control over the scheduler (both update check tasks and PROGRAM updates) stinks.

CORRECTION:
Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but apparently, one CAN still disable automatic PROGRAM updates.
That is a big relief.

However, it is true that one cannot schedule the time of scheduled update checks, only the INTERVAL for those checks. See HERE.
Sadly, I suspect this is at least a partial result of the Daylight Saving Time scheduler bug that appeared at some point after version 2.x was released. It used to work OK in version 1.75. It broke early in version 2.x and was never fixed. Instead of fixing it for 3.0, as promised, they just dropped user scheduling for that task. Oh, well.

It also appears there is a hard-baked "automatic" update check "shortly after the service starts, for example, after rebooting your system". It appears that there is no user control over that, either.
I sure hope it won't create issues for systems that are installing Windows Updates or other major software patches, especially in Win10, where most home users have no control over WU. It could create conflicts -- especially for slower systems -- if WU + an AV + MB3 were all loading and "updating" at the same time?

In other good news, it looks as if the annoying and childish smileys have been replaced by baby talk -- it's now "Awesome!" (note the exclamation) when your system is protected.

Cheers,
MM

 

[Seffrid]

Most notably:
Lack of full user control over the scheduler (both update check tasks and PROGRAM updates) stinks.

CORRECTION:
Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but apparently, one CAN still disable automatic PROGRAM updates.
That is a big relief.

However, it is true that one cannot schedule the time of scheduled update checks, only the INTERVAL for those checks. See HERE.
Sadly, I suspect this is at least a partial result of the Daylight Saving Time scheduler bug that appeared at some point after version 2.x was released. It used to work OK in version 1.75. It broke early in version 2.x and was never fixed. Instead of fixing it for 3.0, as promised, they just dropped user scheduling for that task. Oh, well.

It also appears there is a hard-baked "automatic" update check "shortly after the service starts, for example, after rebooting your system". It appears that there is no user control over that, either.
I sure hope it won't create issues for systems that are installing Windows Updates or other major software patches, especially in Win10, where most home users have no control over WU. It could create conflicts -- especially for slower systems -- if WU + an AV + MB3 were all loading and "updating" at the same time?

In other good news, it looks as if the annoying and childish smileys have been replaced by baby talk -- it's now "Awesome!" (note the exclamation) when your system is protected.

Cheers,
MM

Thanks for all the information. It sounds like I'll stick to version 1.75 for a while longer !

 

[MoxieMomma]

Hi:

Ummm, version 1.75 has not been supported for a long time.
It may still be getting database updates, but I'm not sure.

Version 2.x has been out since March 2014.
It runs on everything from XP to 10.

I highly encourage you to upgrade to 2.2.1.1043, rather than staying with 1.75.
2.2.1.1043 is stable and much more capable than 1.75.
You are far less protected with 1.75 than you would be with 2.2.1.1043.
And, if 1.75 is not receiving updates any longer, the risk of both F/Ps and F/Ns increases substantially.
It would be unhelpful to run 1.75 without current databases.

Alas, in part of the strong-arm tactics to force users to upgrade to MB3, it seems they are no longer offering the installer for 2.2.1.1043 at the MBAM product page or anywhere on the main site.
Perhaps there is a hidden link tucked away somewhere.
As of this moment, it's still available at bleepingcomputer and probably at other 3rd-party sites, such as filehippo or majorgeeks.
I would be VERY careful getting it anywhere else (including cnet), as the file may come with unwanted PUPs or worse....

Cheers,
MM

 

[MoxieMomma]

Further update on MB3:

I have no dog in the fight.
Feel free to research all of this and make your own decision about upgrading from MBAM2 to MB3.

FYI, Several new, side-by-side compatibility issues have been reported: Webroot and TM are just the latest, on top of MS, Kaspersky, BD and others. Sigh.

At this rate, given MB3's long list of known issues, feature regressions, resource consumption issues and compatibility problems, I wonder if they will be able to adhere to their own hasty life-cycle promise: MB3 may only just be barely stable enough for general consumption in time for them to mothball MBAM2 in only 6 months.

Additional discussion at the similar thread over at tenforums...

I'm a longtime customer and booster. I'm trying hard to like the "what", the "when" and the "how" of current events. But it's a real struggle.
I hope it does work out for the best for all of us.

Cheers,
MM