Re; Malwarebytes RTProtectionDaemon

[Rod]

Apparently I am one of the few users on these forums that have invested in the full paid for version of Malwarebytes. I note that the issue mentioned as far back as 2017 persists in the form of the RTProtection daemon: RTProtectionDaemon - Apple Community
The only thing that has changed as far as a solution is the terminology.
See drmikenyc's simple solution in which he suggests click on "Stop Real-Time Protection" in the Malwarebytes toolbar icon menu. Today it is simply called, "Malware Protection". Click on "Stop Malware Protection" and you will no longer see the RTProtection daemon sucking up your CPU resources.

Of course this kind of defeats the point of having the paid for version. If you have the CPU resources to run this "helper" app by all means use it, I do, but if not then you may as well have the free version and simply run it once a week on whenever you suspect a problem.

In addition to the above, Malwarebytes in their wisdom have added a new feature called App Block. You will see this feature in the drop down menu with the same ability to turn it off as with the above. Its purpose is to block the unintentional installation of applications from web sites where clicking on a link may cause the download and installation of an unwanted or even harmful application. This is a good thing in a way but it is a bit over zealous and may have unexpected results when attempting to download and instal a legitimate app from a third party developer.
So if you see a notification that the installation of this application has been blocked by Malwarebytes and you trust the developer simply switch the option off as above from the dropdown menu and proceed with the installation.

If you think this is all a bit intrusive then by all means stick with the free version. As with many apps these days as they evolve they try to do more and more for us automatically and behind the scenes wether we want it or not. I'm not very keen on this trend personally but knowledge is power and so long as we remain aware of what's going on we retain control and have choices.

 

[chscag]

I no longer trust anything from Malwarebytes. Even their free version scatters all sorts of nefarious looking information throughout your hard drive. I recently removed more than 2 GB of Malwarebytes junk from my hard drive. Most of it was difficult to detect and could not be removed by uninstalling the app.

I had to use Path Finder and its ability to unhide files and folders to find where everything was dug in.

 

[harryb2448]

DirectX Swift for me, but I understand your frustration Rod having gone with nthe premium paid version.

 

[rachalmers]

Strange. I have the paid, premium version and have no problems with it at all. Runs quietly and protects both my macs and my Toshiba laptop.
No rubbish files, no cpu problems.


Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

 

[Rod]

Strange. I have the paid, premium version and have no problems with it at all. Runs quietly and protects both my macs and my Toshiba laptop.
No rubbish files, no cpu problems.


Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

If you have the CPU resources and don’t install 3rd party apps you will probably not notice anything but I’m interested in chscag’s post about > 2Gb of rubbish files scattered around the system and how hard they were to root out.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums

 

[rachalmers]

If you have the CPU resources and don’t install 3rd party apps you will probably not notice anything but I’m interested in chscag’s post about > 2Gb of rubbish files scattered around the system and how hard they were to root out.

Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums

I have many many third party programs running here. From a mail server, a web server, istat, WoW, video and audio stuff. Uncountable. 16gB of ram. 2TB storage. Php, BOINC, MacMini.

I wonder if the OP can detail or list what he found ‘scattered around’ ?
Malawarebytes is showing 0% CPU usage at present.

 

[chscag]

If you have the CPU resources and don’t install 3rd party apps you will probably not notice anything but I’m interested in chscag’s post about > 2Gb of rubbish files scattered around the system and how hard they were to root out.

Randy pointed that out in another post some time back. I checked and he was right. At first I couldn't believe that a simple app like Malwarebytes would take up that much drive space. But when I started to dig out the remains of the app, I quickly changed my mind. The problem with removing it is that most of the app's files are hidden in places that you normally would not look.

 

[IWT]

most of the app's files are hidden in places that you normally would not look.

Time for Patrick to mention Find Any File (FAF), an excellent app for finding hidden and other such files

Ian

 

[MacInWin]

Charlie, would you share with us how you uncovered all the files? What did you search with and for?

 

[Rod]

Time for Patrick to mention Find Any File (FAF), an excellent app for finding hidden and other such files

Ian

I'll beat him to it and say that FAF shows 23 matches on "malwarebytes" unfortunately some of the folders do not show sizes so using Get Info on those items reveals that there is a total of 3,531 K of data currently stored on my device under that name.

I have to add that the Uninstaller/Installer is a little confusing. Using it appears to be installing the package you have to press Install and after Uninstalling it further confuses the issue by saying "Installation Complete".

Checking the finder shows it is gone from Applications but FAF shows 10 results in places like,User and System Libraries > Application Support, User preferences, Private > Receipts and so on. So no, the Uninstaller certainly does not remove even half of the associated files.

There is one file I cannot trash: /Library/StagedExtensions/Library/Application Support/Malwarebytes/MBAM/Kext/MB_MBAM_Protection.kext
Any advice on this? Its only 160Kb but just the same, I'd like it gone.

I have been of two minds for a while about choosing DetectX Swift or Malwarebytes. I've had the Malwarebytes subscription for a while and it's due to expire in November so I figured it was time to make the break.

 

[chscag]

Charlie, would you share with us how you uncovered all the files? What did you search with and for?

I didn't use FAF, instead I used EasyFind. It listed numerous files which were in various places. I removed those files that it indicated, and then ran it again. It then listed more files which I was unable to find. I finally used PathFinder and had it show hidden files and folders. It took the better part of an hour or so searching thru folders that are normally hidden from our view. Each time that I removed something I had to enter my admin password.

The total of everything removed was a bit over 2 GB.

 

[Rod]

Hmm, well after Uninstalling then removal of the remaining 10 files from FAF I emptied the trash restarted and checked my storage. I did have 197.87Gb, I now have 182.88Gb.

Any clues about the .kext file?

PS. the above file has gone since restart. Pathfinder 30 Trial only found one instance of Malwarebytes and that was the FAF saved search

 

[rachalmers]

Hmm, well after Uninstalling then removal of the remaining 10 files from FAF I emptied the trash restarted and checked my storage. I did have 197.87Gb, I now have 182.88Gb.

Any clues about the .kext file?

PS. the above file has gone since restart. Pathfinder 30 Trial only found one instance of Malwarebytes and that was the FAF saved search

This sounds a lot like something else got installed with Malawarebytes.
It could also relate to something MBAM found and quarenteened.
I’ve been using MBAM for years both on Windows and Mac. Never had a problem. This month I discovered attempts to injury trojans into my Windows box so finally went paid version. Stopped those suckers in their tracks. No issues. No junk files.

 

[Rod]

My Bad, sorry, that is the result of hurrying before going out that should have read had 192.88Gb now have 197.87Gb. My apologies for confusing the issue.

 

[IWT]

Rod, do you really mean that you gained 5GB? Or the other way round, and you lost 5GB?

If gained - how? why?

Ian

 

[Rod]

Gained.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums

 

[Rod]

I don’t understand it myself. Unless the storage tab on About This Mac was wrong to start with. I have since checked a couple of times and now reads 197.86Gb. I should have used Get Info but I never expected such a large difference.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums

 

[Rod]

I did notice some duplication of files ie same name. I wonder if I had files from a previous version or install? There may have been some quarantined files on a previous version? Either way it’s all gone now and I seem to have gained some meaningful storage.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums