3.0.0.1247 wont open. Version of the latest version of Malware-bytes will not open. I finally got Malwarebytes to open and ran a scan. May 01, 2014 Malwarebytes for Windows Malwarebytes for Mac More. Business Endpoint Security Endpoint Protection Incident Response Endpoint Protection & Incident Response More. Mobile Malwarebytes for Android Malwarebytes for iOS More. Partners Malwarebytes Techbench MSP More.
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I am trying to fix a computer that has malware [malicious software]
Malware is short for malicious software. Malware is a kind of catchall phrase that encompasses pretty much any kind of software that could cause harm to your data or your machine.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>malware preventing me from getting into regedit and task manager. It will not let me boot into safe mode. It will not let me install any anti-spyware(Click on the term for full definition.)
Spyware is a class of malware that, as its name implies, is typically designed to spy on you or your computer, silently collecting information that is subsequently sent on to others for typically nefarious purposes.
Various forms of advertising, including additional toolbars, homepage hacks, and data insertion (while technically not a form of spying) are often also included in the term spyware.
While very similar to viruses, spyware detection differs from virus detection in that it’s more behavioral; it watches what your computer is doing to determine the presence of spyware. Virus detection is more typically>virus software. I’m not sure where to go from here. It has stopped me from doing much of anything to get the malware off the computer. Any suggestions?
Various forms of advertising, including additional toolbars, homepage hacks, and data insertion (while technically not a form of spying) are often also included in the term spyware.
While very similar to viruses, spyware detection differs from virus detection in that it’s more behavioral; it watches what your computer is doing to determine the presence of spyware. Virus detection is more typically>virus software. I’m not sure where to go from here. It has stopped me from doing much of anything to get the malware off the computer. Any suggestions?
Sadly, this is all too common. malware [malicious software]
Malware is short for malicious software. Malware is a kind of catchall phrase that encompasses pretty much any kind of software that could cause harm to your data or your machine.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>Malware can be pretty sophisticated, and it can work hard to prevent you from removing it. That means you may be blocked from downloading or running anti-malware(Click on the term for full definition.)
Anti-malware tools are tools that attempt to prevent, detect, and remove, all types of malware.
In the past tools have differentiated between classes of malware such as viruses and spyware. You would need a separate utility for each: one anti-virus program, and another anti-spyware.
Viruses and spyware and other forms of malicious software are all taking on each others characteristics to the point where the distinction between them is not only difficult to characterize, but ultimately not useful. They're all bad.
Hence the term malware, to refer to all forms of malicious software, and the migration of security software targeted at a particular class of threat in to more all-encompassing anti-malware tools.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>anti-malware software, or be prevented from running tools already on your machine that might help.In the past tools have differentiated between classes of malware such as viruses and spyware. You would need a separate utility for each: one anti-virus program, and another anti-spyware.
Viruses and spyware and other forms of malicious software are all taking on each others characteristics to the point where the distinction between them is not only difficult to characterize, but ultimately not useful. They're all bad.
Hence the term malware, to refer to all forms of malicious software, and the migration of security software targeted at a particular class of threat in to more all-encompassing anti-malware tools.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
I’ll save the “prevention is so much easier than the cure” missive for a moment. We just want this fixed.
There are things that we can try, but unfortunately, there are no guarantees.
The problem: when malware interferes
What you’re seeing is the malware on your machine actively watching for you to try to remove it, and thwarting your attempts.
It’s watching for downloads that “look like” anti-malware tools, and web (or other) access that might be going to anti-malware sites. It’s even monitoring what programs you run. When it sees you doing anything that could lead to its removal, it steps in to either redirect you to sites of its choosing, or simply cause the operation to fail.
We’d love to download and run anti-malware tools, but we can’t.
So, we have to get creative.
Run Windows Defender Offline
I recommend that you begin by downloading Windows Defender Offline.1
Windows Defender Offline is an anti-malware tool – essentially a stand-alone version of Windows Defender (also known as Microsoft Security Essentials in older Windows versions) – that you download and burn to CD or install on a USB flash drive. You then boot from this to avoid running the malware on your machine. As a result, you’re able to run the anti-malware tool directly.
It’s important that you download Windows Defender Offline when you need it – which probably means using a different computer, as the existing malware on your machine may prevent you from downloading it. You should always run the latest version of Windows Defender Offline, so you’re protected from the latest threats.
Let the tool perform a thorough scan of your machine. Hopefully, it will detect and remove the malware that’s causing your problem.
If it doesn’t detect and remove it, if you can’t run Windows Defender Offline, or if you just want to keep scouring your machine with additional tools, there are other tactics.
Temporarily kill the malware
One possible solution to the blocking problem is to temporarily kill the malware. This won’t remove it, but it may allow you to download tools that will.
The folks at BleepingComputer.com have created a tool called RKill that does exactly that.2 You may need to download Rkill on another machine (because it may be blocked on the infected machine), but you can quickly copy it over to your machine using a USB drive or something else.
You may also need to rename Rkill.exe to something else (like “notRkill.exe” or “leo.exe”). Once again, the malware may be paying attention to the name of every program being run, and may prevent the software from running if it recognizes the name.
Run the program, and do not reboot
A reboot is the process of shutting down all running software on a machine, including the operating system itself, and then immediately reloading as if the machine had just been powered on.
A reboot differs from actually powering down the machine and turning it back on only in that the power is never turned off. The software simply acts as if the computer was shutting down completely, and then immediately acts as if it had just been powered on.
Reboots are common debugging and system-stabilization techniques, as they force the entire system back to a known initial state. (A power-off shutdown also includes resetting the hardware to a known initial state as well.) More information: Why do so many tech support solutions start with “reboot” or “turn it off”?
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>reboot. Rebooting will “undo” the effect of having run Rkill. Any malware Rkill killed will return if you reboot.A reboot differs from actually powering down the machine and turning it back on only in that the power is never turned off. The software simply acts as if the computer was shutting down completely, and then immediately acts as if it had just been powered on.
Reboots are common debugging and system-stabilization techniques, as they force the entire system back to a known initial state. (A power-off shutdown also includes resetting the hardware to a known initial state as well.) More information: Why do so many tech support solutions start with “reboot” or “turn it off”?
(Click on the term for full definition.)
Download and run Malwarebytes anti-malwareAnti-malware tools are tools that attempt to prevent, detect, and remove, all types of malware.
In the past tools have differentiated between classes of malware such as viruses and spyware. You would need a separate utility for each: one anti-virus program, and another anti-spyware.
Viruses and spyware and other forms of malicious software are all taking on each others characteristics to the point where the distinction between them is not only difficult to characterize, but ultimately not useful. They're all bad.
Hence the term malware, to refer to all forms of malicious software, and the migration of security software targeted at a particular class of threat in to more all-encompassing anti-malware tools.
(Click on the term for full definition.)'>Anti-Malware
In the past tools have differentiated between classes of malware such as viruses and spyware. You would need a separate utility for each: one anti-virus program, and another anti-spyware.
Viruses and spyware and other forms of malicious software are all taking on each others characteristics to the point where the distinction between them is not only difficult to characterize, but ultimately not useful. They're all bad.
Hence the term malware, to refer to all forms of malicious software, and the migration of security software targeted at a particular class of threat in to more all-encompassing anti-malware tools.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
With the malware temporarily killed, you may be able to download and run anti-malware tools.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is currently one of the most successful tools at identifying and removing the types of malware that we’re talking about here.
Download the free version, install and run it, and see what it turns up. Once again, you may need to download the tool on another machine and copy the download over, as you did with Rkill.
Try other tools
After running Rkill, you may (or may not) be able to run some of the other tools the malware was blocking. You can try registry
The registry is nothing more than a highly structured database of information managed by Windows. Almost all user and system settings, configuration information, passwords, and more are kept in the registry. Windows applications are also encouraged to keep their settings and configuration in the registry.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>registry editing tools, Task Manager, Process Explorer, and others.(Click on the term for full definition.)
You can also try your other anti-malware tools. Either they will be able to download an update that catches this problem, or you can download another tool that will.
But in general, my money’s on Malwarebytes.
What if it doesn’t work?
If none of what I’ve discussed so far works, then things get complicated.
You may consider these options:
- Boot from another bootable antivirus rescue CD. There are several, including anti-virus vendors like Avira, AVG, and many others. If you have a favorite anti-malware vendor, check with them to see if they provide a bootable scanning solution. These are interesting because they boot from the CD, not your hard drive, like Windows Defender Offline. That means the malware doesn’t have a chance to operate and block you. You can then run a scan of your Hard Disk Drive [HDD]An HDD, or Hard Disk Drive, is typically a small box inside your computer that holds several metal disks coated with a magnetic material. They are not unlike a video or audio tape or the strip on the back of a credit card. The disk spins at a fairly high rate of speed, and special “heads” can read, or record, a pattern of bits (1s and 0s) on the magnetic surface. Those bits are assembled into bytes, which in turn are the files that you save, receive, or create.'>hard disk and hopefully clean it off.
Disks do not lose what’s on them when you turn off the power.
See also: Solid State Disks (SSD)
(Click on the term for full definition.) - Remove the hard disk and place it in or connect it to another machine. Hardware issues aside, this needs to be done with care to prevent the malware from spreading. Just like booting from that CD, however, this boots from the other machine’s installation, not yours. You can then run anti-malware tools against your drive and hopefully clean it off.
Restore from backupA backup is nothing more than an additional copy of data, ideally kept in a different location than the original.
If there’s only one copy of something – say a photograph on a mobile phone – then it’s not backed up. If that device were to fail or be lost, then the photograph would be lost forever as well.
Computers are excellent at making copies of digital data, and backups are one important use of that functionality.
It’s generally recommended that important data be backed up in at least one, ideally more, separate devices or media, such as an external hard disk. In addition, it’s recommended that critical data also be backed up in another physical location, such as a different building, or online.
More than anything, the important concept is that there never be only a single copy of important data. That’s not backed up.
See also: back up
(Click on the term for full definition.)'>backup
If there’s only one copy of something – say a photograph on a mobile phone – then it’s not backed up. If that device were to fail or be lost, then the photograph would be lost forever as well.
Computers are excellent at making copies of digital data, and backups are one important use of that functionality.
It’s generally recommended that important data be backed up in at least one, ideally more, separate devices or media, such as an external hard disk. In addition, it’s recommended that critical data also be backed up in another physical location, such as a different building, or online.
More than anything, the important concept is that there never be only a single copy of important data. That’s not backed up.
See also: back up
(Click on the term for full definition.)
One of the best – and often quickest – solutions is to restore your machine using a recent image back up
Back up, two words, is the act of making a backup.
See also: backup
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>back up.See also: backup
(Click on the term for full definition.)
Assuming you have one, of course.
Regular backups are wonderful for this. They return your machine to the state it was in prior to the malware infection. It’s as if the infection never happened.
This is another reason why I harp on backing up so often.
It does have to be the correct type of backup: either a full-system or image backup
An image backup is a complete copy of a hard disk or other media being backed up. The copy is complete in that it can be restored to a completely empty hard drive – as in a replacement hard drive after a failure – and the result is a hard drive that contains everything that the original did.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>image backup. Simply backing up your data will not be helpful in a scenario like this, unless you are forced to take the final solution (see below).(Click on the term for full definition.)
For the record, my opinion is that Window’s System Restore is pretty useless when it comes to bad malware infections like this (if it hasn’t already been completely disabled by the malware). Give it a try if you like, but I don’t have much hope for its success.
The final solution
That subtitle sounds dire because it is.
As I’ve mentioned before, once it’s infected with malware, your machine is no longer yours. You have no idea what’s been done to it. You also have no idea whether the cleaning steps that you took removed any or all of the malware that was on the machine.
Even if it looks clean and acts clean, there’s no way to prove it is clean.
You know it was infected, but there’s no way to know that it’s not now.
Scary, eh?
The only way for you to know with absolute certainty that the malware is gone is to reformat your machine and reinstall everything from scratch.
Sadly, it’s quite often the most pragmatic approach to removing particularly stubborn malware. Sometimes, all of the machinations that we go through trying to clean up from a malware infection end up taking much more time than simply reformatting and reinstalling.
And reformatting and reinstalling is the only approach known to have a 100% success rate at malware removal.
If you don’t have a backup of your data, then at least copy the data off somehow before you reformat. Boot from a Linux
Linux is an operating system, just as Microsoft Windows or Apple’s MacOS are operating systems. Operating systems are the software that control the operation of a computer and provide a consistent interface, or API, that programs use to access the features and functionality of the operating system and computer.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>Linux Live CD or DVD if you must (Ubuntu’s a good choice). That’ll give you access to all of the files on your machine and allow you to copy them to a USB device, or perhaps even upload them somewhere on the internet.(Click on the term for full definition.)
Aftermath
After things are cleared up and working again, take a few moments to consider how to prevent this from happening again, as well as what you can do to make the next time easier:
- See if you can identify how the infection occurred and then, to whatever extent you can, never do that again.
- Make sure you have the most up-to-date security measures to stay safe on the internet.
- Invest in a backup solution of some sort. Nothing can save you from more different kinds of problems than a good, regular backup.
As I said at the beginning, prevention is much, much easier than the cure.
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Malwarebytes stopped opening, and won't uninstall, after the Windows 10 update download on 7/14/17. I had used Disk Cleanup about that time, and noticed GB's to be cleared (Old files from Windows, I think?) I usually only see MB's to be cleared, and since my PC only has 232 GB's of space, I run the cleaner almost every day. I never see that much to clear. It didn't surprise me because my used space on C had also jumped considerably only recently. I have very few pictures, no music, and only one installed game 'Bejeweled.' I had no idea why used space had increased so much, so I cleaned suggested items. Did I delete something important? What is 'MBAM 3.0.6' which apparently is no longer there and seems to be necessary.
Malwarebytes won't uninstall, either, & the latest version won't install over it. My PC is in continual 'Uninstall' mode which only stops/clears when I completely turn the PC off, not just Restart.
I do not have WiFi - my PC is hardwired directly to the internet through a modem from my cable company. I do not have a tablet, smartphone or anything of that nature, if that makes a difference.
I'm hoping this is an easily fixed Microsoft problem due to the update...?
Please be very specific about what programs, areas to access for a possible solution, because I'm not very tech savvy.
And I did run the troubleshooter from the Control Panel, which couldn't fix the problem - it said something about 'MBAM' again, and started to try to uninstall, then tried to restart the PC when I clicked 'Restart Anyway' but the Uninstall Malwarebytes evidently stopped. although the PC did restart.
Thank you!
***Post moved by the moderator to the appropriate forum category.***