Malwarebyte and OS 13.1

That may be true, but by installing multiple (as many as three? why?) anti-malware tools, plus some sort of anti-virus software, and stealth tools to boot, the possibility of some of these tools interfering with one another is substantial. Each requires you to grant special access or privileges and some of these detect and even try to block the installation of other similar types of tools.

The use of Tor adds another wrinkle to this. Tor is used by some people to access dark web locations (or non-dark web locations) in a way that no one can detect their activity. Why do you need Tor? I am very suspicious of Tor myself, maybe it is my ignorance, but why install and use stuff like that?

By the way, the fact that an org is a 503C entity and that some code is open source does not mean that there are not bugs or problems in utilizing multiple such "protection" tools all at once. They can conflict and interfere with one another. I am only speculating but I sense a possibility that installation or use of Malwarebytes was "blocked" by one of these other tools. Malwarebytes does communicate with the central company for things like expiration date on license and updates, could one of your other multiple tools be blocking Malwarebytes? Well obviously something is blocking Malwarebytes, but I am wondering what other conflicts like that are lurking in your setup ...?

steve626 wrote:

Erasing your drive and doing a clean install sounds fairly extreme but it might be the only way to get a really clean machine ...

As far as I know, Malwarebytes would not necessitate that. However, the first Objective-See product mentioned, Lulu, seems to include a Network extension. I didn’t check the other one. If the OP had used one of those vile “app zappers”, then Lulu’s System extension will have been baked into the operating system and impossible to remove by normal means. But ironically enough, instructions are available on some of the more unsavoury Mac hacking websites, just not this one.

By the way, the fact that an org is a 503C entity and that some code is open source does not mean that there are not bugs or problems in utilizing multiple such "protection" tools all at once. They can conflict and interfere with one another.

Technically speaking, all of Tor is officially a non-profit. It was created and funded by US government intelligence agencies. You don’t get much more “non-profit” than the US government. 😄

First of all, never, ever run any kind of "app cleaner" or "app zapper". There are certain new kinds of app extensions that cannot be removed with any kind of cleaner/zapper. If you even try, you'll have to wipe your hard drive and reinstall the operating system. I know you said you reinstalled the operating system, but that won't change anything. You have to erase the hard drive.

I don't know if the current version of Malwarebytes includes that kind of app extension. I don't know which of the 6 or 7 "Objective-See" apps you installed.

As content-free as the error message may have been for your, it has even less content for us.

All I can tell you is that it is impossible to have an antivirus on the Mac App Store. The technical limitations that Apple imposes on all Mac App Store apps prevents an antivirus app from functioning. Whether they can sell such an app on the Mac App Store is an entirely different question. 😄

Otherwise, if you are having a problem with Malwarebytes, you will have to contact them for assistance. The people in this forum generally don’t use any 3rd party antivirus apps. People here do generally recommend Malwarebytes if forced to recommend something, but only because Malwarebytes has historically been less problematic than other products.

But in addition, people in this forum don’t run panopticlick either, or even know what it is. If you have downloaded and run any software via Tor, then you would be well-advised to erase your hard drive and reinstall the operating system. I’m well aware of the kinds of harmful and obviously illegal and malicious software that is openly made available on the normal internet. If you ran something that is too dangerous for that, you’re in deep trouble.

MrKidde wrote:

Thanks, Steve! I appreciate your insights.

I thought of all that and uninstalled them all. It didn't help. As for the potential for bugs, I'm sure you're right. The bizarre aspect of all this is that absolutely nothing changed on my setup between the last time I used the already installed version of Malwarebytes (which suddenly would not run) and my futile attempts to re-install it. So, practicality prevails: I'll simply give up on this.

Thanks again!

I appreciate and sense your frustration. I could speculate that one of those other "protection" tools (or the anti-virus, or Tor or ...) may have interfered or disabled some component in Malwarebytes. Hence it stopped working. But I am speculating.

There is no market for MalwareBytes. It originated from the Adware Removal Tool. It was produced by a community author to remove Adware. That is the only reason it has any positive approval from the community. It has absolutely nothing to do with it doing hygienic scans that will find nothing.

MrKidde wrote:

Greetings!

I have attempted to install Malwarebytes on my MacBook Pro (OS 13.1) after my previous installed version failed to run. I deleted all files (with App Cleaner), turned off my VPN (Proton), rebooted the computer, removed "Objective-See" software, ran disc utility and then re-installed Ventura. I continue to receive the same installation error message (which is "content-free"). I've called Eero (which offers "Malwarebytes Premium" as part of the "Plus" subscription) and they could not offer any suggestions. I attempted to contact Malwarebytes and the ticket continually auto-closes. I called Apple Support and they are unaware of any software conflicts. There are a couple of stray comments on Reddit but nothing indicating know issues. Suggestions will be sincerely welcomed!

Thanks,

Keith

I have Malwarebytes installed on a MacBook Pro with Ventura 13.1 and have no issues. I have nothing like the other stuff you mentioned installed. Why are you downloading those other questionable items?

Erasing your drive and doing a clean install sounds fairly extreme but it might be the only way to get a really clean machine ...

Why are you installing so much Adware you need to install MalwareBytes to remove it?

One time should be enough to teach you how to avoid the scams that allowed you to install Adware the first time.

Can you describe what problem you are actually having?