Malwarebytes - installing free updated version

I had the Malwarebytes Pro free trial for 15 days and now have uninstalled it, i.e. via the control panel.

What I would like to know is how best to get the free updated version of Malwarebytes. I have heard that it can be problematic, i.e. that you click on the free version and get the pro one (free trial).

I would appreciate being given the correct link to free updated version that I can download and if you can point out any difficulties that may ensue. I am not very techno savvy but have basic knowledge. Many thanks.
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  • mred2000mred2000 Posts: 10,050
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    amyawake wrote: »
    i.e. that you click on the free version and get the pro one (free trial).

    Only if you don't read every screen when installing the free version and don't untick the option to trial the paid version. User error is the main reason behind the trial version being installed.

    Free version links are on the MWB site. Just don't click on a link to download anything else other than the free version and you'll be fine.
  • zx50zx50 Posts: 91,227
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    mred2000 wrote: »
    Only if you don't read every screen when installing the free version and don't untick the option to trial the paid version. User error is the main reason behind the trial version being installed.

    Free version links are on the MWB site. Just don't click on a link to download anything else other than the free version and you'll be fine.

    I agree. It's best to carefully check out each screen before hitting the next button, especially if there's tick boxes on the screen.
  • radioanorakradioanorak Posts: 4,247
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    www.malwarebytes.org
    Download the free version from here
  • DaedrothDaedroth Posts: 3,065
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    Download the free version and make sure you untick the box for the '14-day free trail' when you install it.
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    amyawake wrote: »
    I had the Malwarebytes Pro free trial for 15 days and now have uninstalled it, i.e. via the control panel.

    What I would like to know is how best to get the free updated version of Malwarebytes. I have heard that it can be problematic, i.e. that you click on the free version and get the pro one (free trial).

    I would appreciate being given the correct link to free updated version that I can download and if you can point out any difficulties that may ensue. I am not very techno savvy but have basic knowledge. Many thanks.
    The Free version and the Trial of the Pro version are one and the same thing. If you download the Free version you are also getting the Trial of Pro. There is no option in this.

    The option comes on installing the software. The final screen of the installer before it launches into installing the software has a tick box "Enable Free Trial" or words to that effect. You have to untick it to ensure you get the Free version. It is ticked by default so if you don't pay attention it installs the Trial of Pro.

    There is a potential fly in the proverbial where it goes ahead and installs the Pro Trial Version even when you didn't want that. To ensure that doesn't happen, before you install Malwarebytes fire up "Computer" from the Start menu and navigate to the folder Users\All Users\Application Data and delete the Malwarebytes folder that may be in there. It seems to leave a bit of itself behind that can cause the installer to do odd things. Or at least it did when I was mucking about with it.
  • amyawakeamyawake Posts: 7,846
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    www.malwarebytes.org
    Download the free version from here

    Doesn't say free version and when I clicked on terms it talks about returning for a refund....
  • mred2000mred2000 Posts: 10,050
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    amyawake wrote: »
    Doesn't say free version and when I clicked on terms it talks about returning for a refund....

    you clicked on the link and then clicked "Free Version Download" and then what happened...?

    To be fair, I think this has been explained in your other thread by a fair few posters...
  • amyawakeamyawake Posts: 7,846
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    chrisjr wrote: »
    The Free version and the Trial of the Pro version are one and the same thing. If you download the Free version you are also getting the Trial of Pro. There is no option in this.

    The option comes on installing the software. The final screen of the installer before it launches into installing the software has a tick box "Enable Free Trial" or words to that effect. You have to untick it to ensure you get the Free version. It is ticked by default so if you don't pay attention it installs the Trial of Pro.

    There is a potential fly in the proverbial where it goes ahead and installs the Pro Trial Version even when you didn't want that. To ensure that doesn't happen, before you install Malwarebytes fire up "Computer" from the Start menu and navigate to the folder Users\All Users\Application Data and delete the Malwarebytes folder that may be in there. It seems to leave a bit of itself behind that can cause the installer to do odd things. Or at least it did when I was mucking about with it.
    Thanks - noted what you say here. Not got anything under users/etc. (Uninstalled file from control panel). There doesn't seem to be anything to click on that gives a free version...so I have to do as you say here and click on pro but then untick the free trial? Do you have a link for this?

    It seems very problematic...do I need malware? I have McAfee?
  • mred2000mred2000 Posts: 10,050
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    amyawake wrote: »
    so I have to do as you say here and click on pro but then untick the free trial? Do you have a link for this?

    NOOOO... it says quite clearly on the link provided "Free Version Download" - click on that for starters.
    amyawake wrote: »
    It seems very problematic...do I need malware? I have McAfee?

    Fairly certain we've been through all this before, too.
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    amyawake wrote: »
    Thanks - noted what you say here. Not got anything under users/etc. (Uninstalled file from control panel). There doesn't seem to be anything to click on that gives a free version...so I have to do as you say here and click on pro but then untick the free trial? Do you have a link for this?

    It seems very problematic...do I need malware? I have McAfee?
    If you go to the Malwarebytes website www.malwarebytes.org there is a grey button on the page saying Free Version Download. Click that and the download of the free version will start.

    As I said the Free and Pro Trial are one and the same thing. When you download the Free version that is the Pro Trial as well. The only difference between what you actually install on your machine is whether you tick or untick the "Enable Free Trial" box when starting the install process.

    Malwarebytes is a good tool to keep on your hard drive. It detects and cleans out stuff that McAfee doesn't necessarily look for.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 963
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    I have just had exactly the same issue as you. I accidently installed the pro trial. I have now unintsalled it and now reinstalled exactly the same one using the same link as I did originally but this time I have unticked the box on the last page of installation. The page has three boxes and the one you need to untick is the top one. Everything seems to be OK and running.
  • zx50zx50 Posts: 91,227
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    chrisjr wrote: »
    If you go to the Malwarebytes website www.malwarebytes.org there is a grey button on the page saying Free Version Download. Click that and the download of the free version will start.

    As I said the Free and Pro Trial are one and the same thing. When you download the Free version that is the Pro Trial as well. The only difference between what you actually install on your machine is whether you tick or untick the "Enable Free Trial" box when starting the install process.

    Malwarebytes is a good tool to keep on your hard drive. It detects and cleans out stuff that McAfee doesn't necessarily look for.

    I didn't like McAfee. It was telling my browser that eight out of ten torrent sites had malicious downloads on them. I get the feeling that McAfee would be better suited to those that are internet goody two-shoes.
  • radioanorakradioanorak Posts: 4,247
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    Just to repeat.
    During installation ,be sure to untick Free trial box before proceeding.
    Otherwise you will get the free trial of the pro version
  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    Just pay the $25 !!!
    The last thread on this told you what was required.
  • swingalegswingaleg Posts: 102,979
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    I've just installed Malwarebytes for the first time ever after reading this thread

    I'm sure if I'd have installed before today I wouldn't have unticked any box............it looks like that box is deliberately misleading, but then I guess someone has to buy this stuff so the rest of us can get the free version...........
  • OrbitalzoneOrbitalzone Posts: 12,627
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    The first time you install the free version there is a tick box option on the installer that unless you untick, it will install the Pro version 15 day trial even though you downloaded the free version. Once time is up it reverts to the free version.

    Well that's what happened when I've tried.
  • amyawakeamyawake Posts: 7,846
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    tealady wrote: »
    Just pay the $25 !!!
    The last thread on this told you what was required.
    I don't have online banking facilities and anyhow, if it's free then this is the version I want.
  • amyawakeamyawake Posts: 7,846
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    chrisjr wrote: »
    If you go to the Malwarebytes website www.malwarebytes.org there is a grey button on the page saying Free Version Download. Click that and the download of the free version will start.

    As I said the Free and Pro Trial are one and the same thing. When you download the Free version that is the Pro Trial as well. The only difference between what you actually install on your machine is whether you tick or untick the "Enable Free Trial" box when starting the install process.

    Malwarebytes is a good tool to keep on your hard drive. It detects and cleans out stuff that McAfee doesn't necessarily look for.
    So I downloaded this, from your link. I checked it at every stage, i.e. every "next" box and saw absolutely nothing at all to untick i.e. relating to enable free trial.

    It looks exactly the same as the last one I had, i.e another free trial. Has a "buy now" button and an "activate" button. So...is this another 15 day trial? Perhaps there is no free version to be had anymore...is that a possibility? Thanks for your help thusfar.
  • amyawakeamyawake Posts: 7,846
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    The first time you install the free version there is a tick box option on the installer that unless you untick, it will install the Pro version 15 day trial even though you downloaded the free version. Once time is up it reverts to the free version.

    Well that's what happened when I've tried.
    I wonder if I uninstalled it too quickly after the 15 days - it gave no indication that it would revert to the free version.
    Well, since I didn't see the tick box the first time...have I now scuppered my chances of doing so since this is the 2nd time I have downloaded the free version and saw no tick box...(I was carefully looking out for it at every stage)?
    If it is the trial version I have now got (yet again), I will try just not doing anything after the 15 days and see what transpires.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 963
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    amyawake wrote: »
    So I downloaded this, from your link. I checked it at every stage, i.e. every "next" box and saw absolutely nothing at all to untick i.e. relating to enable free trial.

    It looks exactly the same as the last one I had, i.e another free trial. Has a "buy now" button and an "activate" button. So...is this another 15 day trial? Perhaps there is no free version to be had anymore...is that a possibility? Thanks for your help thusfar.

    It's definitely not that. I uninstalled the previous trial today and then reinstalled and it had the three tick boxes on the very last page, with the "finish" button on it. As far as I can tell I now have the free version, not the trial version.

    The only difference I can see between what I did and what you did, is that you uninstalled through the control panel and I uninstalled through malwarebytes own uninstall feature, but I have no idea if this would make a difference.
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    amyawake wrote: »
    So I downloaded this, from your link. I checked it at every stage, i.e. every "next" box and saw absolutely nothing at all to untick i.e. relating to enable free trial.

    It looks exactly the same as the last one I had, i.e another free trial. Has a "buy now" button and an "activate" button. So...is this another 15 day trial? Perhaps there is no free version to be had anymore...is that a possibility? Thanks for your help thusfar.
    It is the free version. However as I found trying it several times during the course of another thread it can be a real bu**er to get it to do what YOU want it to do, not what IT wants to do.

    It can be persuaded to behave but in reality it doesn't make much difference if you end up installing the free version from the start or the trial. They eventually end up in the same place anyway.

    So as long as you resist the temptation to click either of those buttons just leave it a couple of weeks and you'll end up with the free version.
  • amyawakeamyawake Posts: 7,846
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    chrisjr wrote: »
    It is the free version. However as I found trying it several times during the course of another thread it can be a real bu**er to get it to do what YOU want it to do, not what IT wants to do.

    It can be persuaded to behave but in reality it doesn't make much difference if you end up installing the free version from the start or the trial. They eventually end up in the same place anyway.

    So as long as you resist the temptation to click either of those buttons just leave it a couple of weeks and you'll end up with the free version.
    God, sorry to be a pain. When I switched my pc back on (after the 2nd time of downloading the free trial) it said that the free trial had ended....obviously not giving me another free trial! Ha! (Remember I had uninstalled the first free trial + download file name i.e. no trace of it before I reinstalled it again just now). Hence I have now obviously just repeated past transaction of uninstalling + deleting the mwbam file name under downloads. So now back to square one.

    No point in repeating what I did - would be the same result. I am wary of the pro version since I cannot pay...would they make you pay upfront anyway before delivering?

    Do I just keep trying to get the free version until it takes then?
    Is there another software package as good as malware that I can try?
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    soulou wrote: »
    It's definitely not that. I uninstalled the previous trial today and then reinstalled and it had the three tick boxes on the very last page, with the "finish" button on it. As far as I can tell I now have the free version, not the trial version.

    The only difference I can see between what I did and what you did, is that you uninstalled through the control panel and I uninstalled through malwarebytes own uninstall feature, but I have no idea if this would make a difference.
    As I discovered playing with it a while ago. There is a file left behind in Users\All Users\Application Data\Malwarebytes that seems to play a part in whether you see this tick box when you attempt a second install.

    Plus there may be some orphaned Registry entries that also need getting rid of. I found through a number of goes that if you left any trace of it behind it would always install as Free or Trial depending on how it was first installed and seemed to do so regardless of whether you had the tick box or not and regardless of whether you ticked it or not if it was there.

    Anyway doesn't really matter in the long run.
  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    amyawake wrote: »
    .would they make you pay upfront anyway before delivering?
    It's £20.94 one off fee by credit card or paypal. Bearing in mind you get realtime protection etc.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 963
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    chrisjr wrote: »
    As I discovered playing with it a while ago. There is a file left behind in Users\All Users\Application Data\Malwarebytes that seems to play a part in whether you see this tick box when you attempt a second install.

    Plus there may be some orphaned Registry entries that also need getting rid of. I found through a number of goes that if you left any trace of it behind it would always install as Free or Trial depending on how it was first installed and seemed to do so regardless of whether you had the tick box or not and regardless of whether you ticked it or not if it was there.

    Anyway doesn't really matter in the long run.

    OK. That might explain why mine worked and Amyawake's didn't. I removed the original using Malwarebytes' uninstall link from the website. I did a search on my files and could find no folders or anything relating to Malwarebytes, except for 2 things in "downloads" which related to the original download and the subsequent removal. I deleted those just in case.

    Could it be that uninstalling through the control panel doesn't remove everything?
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