Possibly for one or more of the following three reasons: 1) To get automatic updates without having to manually update the program every time they are about to do a scan. 2) Schedule scans without having to worry about manually scanning MBAM all the time. 3) Priority customer support, so that they don't have to wait in line like all of us free users. Either one of these reasons (or all three) are most likely the case.
Hi WinDefend Those are all good reasons for why users have purchased a license, but Gerard wonders why Pro users do not run it in real time.
Maybe one reason might be MBAM's impact on limited system resources? It uses a lot of RAM compared to some apps. I bought a license to support a good company, but only use on-demand, like a lot of others apparantly.
I know what you mean... resource use is probably a leading reason (for Pro users not running it realtime). Also too is the redundancy of too many overlapping applications. There seems to me to be a movement on Wilders away from excessive numbers of security programs, with an emphasis on lean and mean. Finally, for me, the addition of Sandboxie to my setups has given me greater peace of mind, and is slowing turning me away from the more-is-better philosophy or mindset. But I own a couple MBAM licenses, and as WinDefend pointed out, there are productive ways to use the Pro version without running it resident.
Agreed With 4,000+ posts and joined since 2004 I'm sure you know what you're doing and have seen and been through many posts on similar subjects. Pretty much the same as Kerodo - if you're comfortable with how you're using the program. Not sure where or who you are on the MBAM site. I'm unable to locate your screen name southcat on our site. I can promise you that no one is or has ignored you on purpose. You can send me a PM on our site and I'll have someone from support contact you or help you myself. We have run into 3 systems so far that I'm personally aware of that we just could not make the program run and we offered a refund to the customers. One of them chose not to get the refund and actually came back a few months later and said that the new version 1.5 now worked on his system. In most cases it almost always boils down to either a conflict with the users Anti-Virus (which almost all of them can be set to work with MBAM), or the user has an infection preventing installation of the program. Of course there are often other issues but setting up file and folder exclusions in your Anti-Virus or removing the infection will correct the issue in most cases. We are always available either via the forum or the Help Desk to help anyone get it working. I'll explain more further below why I think it is a good choice to run the protection modules. All good and well unless you get hit with a file infector virus. Don't disagree that it uses resources and that an older or limited resource system won't notice it as often it will. The good news though is that we have found a way to reduce a lot of the file I/O resources it currently consumes. That may help some of those systems that are resource starved but it won't reduce the RAM used as that requires the database to be read into RAM to be effective currently but we're always looking for ways to improve the program as well. On most modern systems with a fast CPU and lots of RAM you typically won't even notice but yes some older systems do. My own i7 965 w/6GB RAM on Win 7 Pro x64 I don't even notice with Anti-Virus and MBAM running. We do hope to improve on the resource usage though as said in the next version due out pretty soon. As partially quoted by David Lipman - MBAM isn't a replacement for an anti virus solution, it is a supplement for non-viral malware such as; adware, spyware, keyloggers, browser helper objects, etc. One would still need a fully installed anti virus application performing "On Access" and "On Demand" scanning to deal with true viruses such as; Virut, Ramnet, Parite, etc. MBAM is a non-viral anti malware solution. Generally speaking many of the "on demand" scanners are not really "on demand" many always have either services or processes that ALWAYS run so that's not very "on demand". Let me say the following as well As long as the following are strictly adhered to then I've not seen a legitimate infection attack the system. All Microsoft Critical Updates are installed and kept up to date at all times Firewall is installed and running that monitors both incoming and outgoing traffic Anit-Virus is fully functional, updated daily, and has continuous protection running at all times Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Pro version installed, updated daily, File and Web protection modules always running All web browsing is done under a limited user account As you can see here from the Malware Research Group testing that MBAM using the Protection Module was able to block or prevent all of these infections. Is it possible to get past the above, yes it is but it is very difficult and I've not personally seen it happen - typically the user has not kept something running or up to date. I've seen some javascripts do annoying things but normally closing the browser and reopening will correct that. Along with the above I use the Javacool SpywareBlaster as well as NoScript and Adblock Plus on Firefox. Once you take the time to train NoScript it too is a powerful tool in protecting your system. Everyone has to make their own choice though on what they want to run or not run. If it were not for some of the file infectors out there then it wouldn't be as critical to keep infections off of the box because you could use anyone of a few programs to clean up after. But I'd also like to point out that it's often time consuming to clean up an infection that personally I'd rather spend my time doing something more fun with my computer than scanning and removing infections. Bottom line: If you do need help either installing, setting up, detecting, removing Malware with MBAM then please let us know and we'll assist you as best we can. Even if you're not using our program we still offer free support on the forum to detect and remove infections. We'd love it if you did buy the program but we realize that not everyone can either. For consumer/home users it comes with lifetime updates for $24.95 - 1 license per computer. Business systems require a yearly renewal fee. We also have an FAQ for Common Issues, Questions, and their Solutions
I bought a license but only use on demand. The reason I went Pro is I got caught with the Facebook virus just over a year ago, MBAM saved my skin.
Say what you will, I feel better with MBAM on my computer than without. And although I currently don't run it in real-time, there's nothing to say I may not change that around one day and run it on access.
Using the free version at present as I was concerned about system drag and was unsure about how well the real time protection worked.
System drag is low, because it scans on-execution and IPs only. Real-time protection works quite well according to MRG.
Pro (paid) version running on real-time. Have always recommended Pro version to friends to have peace of mind. No system drag whatsoever.
MBAM Pro uses a lot memory when you consider that there are full anti-virus software/suites that use less memory. I think they should try to reduce the memory use a little. Doesn't slow systems down but why does it require as much memory as it does?
Those guys at Malwarebytes doing a fantastic job, so I have purchased a license, but only run it on-demand, they deserve at least that IMHO.
I've been running my MBAM PRO on demand with Superantispyware real time for ever. Some how I don't think SuperAntispyware is as aggressive as MBAM would be if it were being run real time, and definitely doesn't update definitions as often but it doesn't use a lot of RAM. I haven't run MBAM real time in my XP computer because the memory drain made it a little slow. I just got a new computer with WIN7 64x and 8 GB of RAM, so as I am reading this thread I have made WBAM real time and Superantispyware on Demand. Lets see how this goes.
Congratulation with your new computer , hope that you are going to be satisfied with your new wonder. Best Regards
I still run free on all my machines but now that CounterSpy was discontinued I think MBAM Pro may be its replacement if I see another 15$ sale.
I have the free version but have considered buying a license for this great product. I would still only use it on-demand though. BenMar
