help malwarebytes keeps deleting .exe
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 25 Nov 2017
is it me or filesync, pup optional bundleinstaller generic this Malwarebytes does not like and continually deletes .exe file so cannot install any suggestions
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- Site Admin
- Posts: 7212
- Joined: 9 Dec 2007
Malwarebytes is obviously using a heuristic as you can see in the threat signature "PUP.Optional.BundleInstaller.Generic". And it's not a very clever one:
https://www.virustotal.com/#/file/c0bab12a355b89ce532f3ac0191eba0416166ad3069e7188b6e814e303b18a1b/detection
https://www.virustotal.com/#/file/c0bab12a355b89ce532f3ac0191eba0416166ad3069e7188b6e814e303b18a1b/detection
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 25 Nov 2017
Seems to be a problem with the installer for the freebie (non-donation), not security programs. This is happening with Malwarebytes, AVG, Avira, Norton, ESET, and at least 3-4 other anti-virus programs that I know of. I suggest removing the offending packaged malware toolbar or "webadvisor" virus that is being bundled with the installer and re-release it.
With my 20+ years in IT, I have found that virustotal cannot be trusted as it only looks for viruses, not the malware that typically gets packaged with a lot of installers these days for companies that release "free" software.
With my 20+ years in IT, I have found that virustotal cannot be trusted as it only looks for viruses, not the malware that typically gets packaged with a lot of installers these days for companies that release "free" software.
- Posts: 58
- Joined: 13 May 2017
The people who provide free programs have to eat, just like the rest of us, so they deserve to make some money from their software. Often, the way they do that is to get paid to bundle a program in their software installers that "offers" to download and install other programs, such as Google Chrome or the Google Toolbar.
While I dislike the practice, as long as one is given the opportunity to opt out of the "offer" (I know better words for "offer" but Mama "told" me not to use those words), I'm willing to accept the practice to ensure I will continue to be able to obtain the free programs (yeah, I'm that cheap).
Antivirus (AV) and other antimalware programs are often overzealous (more like paranoid) about blocking installers of PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) because it's far easier to consider ALL PUPs to be malicious instead of differentiating between otherwise harmless (albeit annoying) PUPs and the malicious PUPs. Many of the AVs and other antimalware programs can have exceptions set to ignore certain installers or set to alert the user of a PUP so the user can decide whether to keep it or not to keep the installer with the PUP but some do not or make the process of setting up the exception extremely difficult.
When one has an AV or antimalware program that insists on blocking and/or deleting an installer with a PUP embedded and you know the embedded PUP is merely annoying, not malicious (as is the case with FFS' installers), the quick and dirty way to deal with it is to turn off the program that keeps hitting on the PUP, quickly download and install the program, then just as quickly turn the AV or antimalware program back on and immediately run a scan to ensure something didn't sneak onto your computer while the program was off.
If you want to keep the installer after installing FFS, just "sandbox" it into a zipped folder before turning the AV or antimalware program back on (I keep all my downloaded installation files in case I need to revert to an earlier version of a program because the later version is buggy or I just don't like it). I have yet to get infected from turning off an AV or antimalware program briefly and, even if I had, the scan I did afterwards would have caught and zapped it.
While I dislike the practice, as long as one is given the opportunity to opt out of the "offer" (I know better words for "offer" but Mama "told" me not to use those words), I'm willing to accept the practice to ensure I will continue to be able to obtain the free programs (yeah, I'm that cheap).
Antivirus (AV) and other antimalware programs are often overzealous (more like paranoid) about blocking installers of PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) because it's far easier to consider ALL PUPs to be malicious instead of differentiating between otherwise harmless (albeit annoying) PUPs and the malicious PUPs. Many of the AVs and other antimalware programs can have exceptions set to ignore certain installers or set to alert the user of a PUP so the user can decide whether to keep it or not to keep the installer with the PUP but some do not or make the process of setting up the exception extremely difficult.
When one has an AV or antimalware program that insists on blocking and/or deleting an installer with a PUP embedded and you know the embedded PUP is merely annoying, not malicious (as is the case with FFS' installers), the quick and dirty way to deal with it is to turn off the program that keeps hitting on the PUP, quickly download and install the program, then just as quickly turn the AV or antimalware program back on and immediately run a scan to ensure something didn't sneak onto your computer while the program was off.
If you want to keep the installer after installing FFS, just "sandbox" it into a zipped folder before turning the AV or antimalware program back on (I keep all my downloaded installation files in case I need to revert to an earlier version of a program because the later version is buggy or I just don't like it). I have yet to get infected from turning off an AV or antimalware program briefly and, even if I had, the scan I did afterwards would have caught and zapped it.
