[SOLVED] MAE Service Stopping Randomly on Dell Studio XPS 1645

[garioch7]

In recent weeks, on my laptop computer (I have a tower as well with no such issues), I will randomly (not always) get a message shortly after the computer completes booting up stating that the MAE service is stopped so MAE will terminate.  I use services.msc to restart the service, which is set to Automatic, and it starts without any problems and continues to run, until the computer is rebooted.  After a reboot, that message can reappear and sometimes not.  I am running Bitdefender 2015 Total Security, MBAM Premium (latest build) and the latest build of MAE, with exceptions configured in BDTS and MBAM so that they are aware of each other.

 

There is no indication of malware on the computer or any other issues.  Scans by BDTS and MBAM come back clean.  On both of my computers, there are no entries in the MAE logs.

 

Ron Lewis checked the laptop for me a few months ago on the "Malware Removal Help" Forum because of problems with MBAM Premium dying during file scan with anti-rootkit scanning enabled (previous MBAM version).  Ron did not find any malware and interestingly, running TFC has resolved that issue on two occasions.  I am running Windows 7 x64 Pro.  Computer has an i7 CPU and 8 GB RAM.

 

This is not a major issue.  I am more curious than anything else as to what might be causing the MAE service either not to start, or to stop after starting during the boot process.

 

Thanks for any insights you might be able to provide.  Have a great day.

 

Regards,

-Phil

[daledoc1]

Hi:

 

To save a bit of time and get a head start until Pedro arrives, I suggest that you might want to review the steps in this pinned topic and then post back with the requested diagnostic logs: [README FIRST] >>> Posts here need to include MBAE logs <<<

 

Cheers,

[garioch7]

Daledoc:  Thank you.  I read that pinned topic.  It is out of date (reports 1.0.5 as the latest stable version - I am running 1.0.6.1.1018) and it mentions a "Logs" folder that does not exist on my computer.  I can see some log files in the folder you mentioned.

 

When next I have the laptop fired up, I will attach the zip file of the contents of that ProgramData MAE folder.  Thanks for the help.  Have a great day.

 

Regards,

-Phil

[pbust]

Hi Phil, I've updated the version number in the README post. But the rest of the information is still valid.

[garioch7]

Thanks, Pedro.  Will collect and submit the logs later in the week.  Have a great day.

 

Regards,

-Phil

[pbust]

Btw you might also want to check your Windows Event Viewer and BitDefender logs to see if there is any mention of MBAE events there. Do you have any other software that might monitor Startup/Bootup applications? Please provide a log of FRST as well as MBAE logs so that we may try to replicate the problem.

[garioch7]

Pedro:

 

Here are my logs.  Thanks for your help.  Bitdefender is configured to ignore the MBAM and MAE processes, as recommended in the MBAM Forums.  I don't have any other start-up monitoring programs that I know of.

 

Have a great weekend.  No rush on this.  Just curious.

 

Regards,

-Phil

 

 

[pbust]

Thanks for the logs Phil. They only show the last boot which seemed to have worked correctly.

 

Let's try the following. First get a clean install of MBAE (I see you have been running it since 1.04) to discard any corrupted configuration files:

1- Close all apps and uninstall MBAE from Control Panel

2- Delete the logs directory C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit

3- Download and install the latest MBAE from our website

 

If the problem still persists, can you disable BitDefender and perform a few reboots (with BitDefender disabled) to see if the issue persists?

[garioch7]

Pedro:  Yes, the laptop worked fine yesterday without any issues.  Perhaps whatever gremlin was afflicting it, decided to go away.  You can close this thread.  If the problem recurs, then I will reopen the thread after I have followed your advice to do a clean MAE install, if the clean install does not resolve the issue.

 

The laptop has always been a bit "unique" (aren't all computers?).

 

Thank you for your help.  Have a great day.

 

Regards,

-Phil

[pbust]

Thank for confirming Phil. I'll close the thread as solved but if you need me to re-open it simply send me a PM.