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Resolved RAM usage has gone crazy

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by JSS3rd, 2018/01/27.

  1. 2018/01/27
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member Thread Starter

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    I have 16GB of RAM, and the memory usage has always been in the neighborhood of 25% or less. All of a sudden the memory usage has gone to 95 to 100%, and I can't figure out why.

    Thinking that the computer might have been invaded by malware, even though it seems to be clean, I replaced the C: partition with a recent backup created before the reported problem. Unfortunately, it didn't help; the high memory usage remains.

    Any thoughts?
     
  2. 2018/01/27
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    If you have Malwarebytes installed, it is probably that. They pushed out another inadequately tested update this morning and forums are lighting up with complaints about excessive RAM usage, black screens, browsers locking up and Web Protection being turned off (it hit 3 of my systems :(). I would just exit Malwarebytes for now.

    IMPORTANT: Web Blocking / RAM Usage Issue
     
    Bill,
    #2

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  4. 2018/01/27
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    It seems they have now released a fix as the opening post in that link above has been updated showing the fix.
     
    Bill,
    #3
  5. 2018/01/27
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Yup, everything is back to where it should be. Thanks for the quick replies, guys.
     
  6. 2018/01/27
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    So you were using Malwarebytes?
     
    Bill,
    #5
  7. 2018/01/28
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Yes, Premium version.
     
  8. 2018/01/28
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Okay. Good. Thanks.
     
    Bill,
    #7
  9. 2018/01/28
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    I also got hit by this *bug*. Spent 2 hours on Saturday night reloading Windows (and other softwares) on one of my machines, before I saw this thread. :(
     
  10. 2018/01/29
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    For more information, see this Malwarebytes blog. Follow the link to the "root cause" .pdf report.

    If you look at the Chronology of Events, it shows just a mere 15 minutes after the offending patch was posted to their update server, the problem was reported to their Research Team. As indicated earlier in that report the Research Team was notified by their Customer Success team (which I am assuming is their customer's first point of contact). So users started noticing the problem in considerably less than 15 minutes.

    I can't help but wonder how the offending update was released for distribution with a flaw that was so readily apparent? [​IMG]

    I am glad to see, however,
    But with the past fiasco of 3.0x clearly being released with inadequate in-house testing, I fear for many unhappy users, these steps may be too little too late to restore their confidence. [​IMG]

    Time will tell.
     
    Bill,
    #9
  11. 2018/01/29
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Maybe.

    I was grasping at straws until I saw your post in response to my OP. Despite their blunder, Malwarebytes Premium will remain an important link in my line of defense against the baddies.
     
  12. 2018/01/29
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    I agree. I sure am not getting rid of it. It is still a fine program and IMO, has no comparable competition.
     
  13. 2018/01/29
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    These fiasco would keep on occurring on & off. The companies can only minimise them and not eliminate them altogether.
     
  14. 2018/01/30
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    While perfection is certainly the desired goal, Man cannot create perfection 100% of the time. So I do not expect it. But makers of security programs should be held, and should hold themselves to higher standards.

    The Root Cause report noted this update had a syntax error that blocked "a large range of IPs". This update was distributed (or would have been distributed if systems were powered on) to every Malwarebytes Premium and Endpoint user (all their paying customers!) on all versions of Windows.

    Syntax errors don't just happen. Somebody changed something!

    It was not a few people affected. There were many reports on multiple forums from many users complaining of massive RAM consumption, common sites being blocked, Web Protection turned off and black screens. You were not the only one who spent hours troubleshooting and reloading Windows.

    "Every" computer running Malwarebytes Premium that got the offending update was affected. I run the Premium version on 3 systems here, and all 3 had Web Protection turned off and this PC also had the commonly reported black screen issue too.

    3 out of 3 is not good. My point being, this was not some obscure bug only affecting a few odd-ball systems running unique scenarios on rarely seen hardware configurations.

    Having worked in a software development company for 10 years where one of my "other hats" was as a beta tester, I feel certain the problems noted are precisely the type problems adequate in-house testing should have been looking for, and caught before releasing to the field. And in particular, specifically tested should be those areas where code changes are made.

    I have no doubt had that offending update been pushed out on a weekday instead of Saturday morning, 10s of 1000s, perhaps millions more systems would have received it and the uproar would have been deafening, perhaps devastating for the company. They were lucky it was early Saturday and most systems were turned off or asleep and not powered on or woken up until after the corrected update was posted.

    For sure, I still think Malwarebytes is an excellent program with a fine development team behind it. But that team and management must not assume they cannot make mistakes. There should be "peer reviews" with every code change and better testing before any update goes out. This is again, where that higher standard comes in. With over 250 employees, they could have pushed this update out to all their in-house and own personal computers first and probably caught this before it went public. It could have saved face, customer's frustrations and ire, hassles, and maybe overtime pay too - with none of us customers being the wiser, or disappointed.

    And for sure, I applaud Malwarebytes for how quickly they responded, and in particular, how they owned up to their mistake this time. But this is not the first time when it is apparent in-house beta testing was clearly inadequate. When the same mistake is repeated, "I'm sorry" no longer makes everything okay. We'll see what happens if they implement the changes they said they would to prevent (or at least marginalize) these events in the future.
     
  15. 2018/01/30
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Well said, Bill
     

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