[Fixed] Conflict With New Malwarebytes Release Bad_Pool_Caller Bsod With V2.2.1.1043

I recently installed BitDefender Internet Security 2016 after converting my 2015 license to a 2016 one via Central. Since then I have been getting a random BAD_POOL_HEADER error in Windows 10. The only thing that I have changed is that I upgraded to IS 2016. Is it possible for me to go back to the 2015 version after changing my activation license to see if I can reproduce the problem?

System Specs:

Operating System

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

CPU

Intel Core i5 4670K @ 3.40GHz 86 °F

Haswell 22nm Technology

RAM

16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard

Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. Z87X-UD4H-CF (SOCKET 0) 81 °F

Graphics

2252W (1920x1080@60Hz)

Intel HD Graphics 4600 (Gigabyte)

2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti (Gigabyte) 81 °F

Storage

223GB SanDisk SDSSDXP240G (SSD) 83 °F

931GB Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 (SATA) 87 °F

1863GB Western Digital WDC WD20EZRX-00D8PB0 (SATA) 83 °F

465GB Seagate ST3500413AS (SATA) 85 °F

1397GB Seagate ST1500DM 003-9YN16G USB Device (USB (SATA)) 88 °F

Optical Drives

ATAPI iHAS124 W

HL-DT-ST BD-RE WH14NS40

ATAPI iHAS124 D

Audio

Logitech G35 Headset

Operating System

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Computer type: Desktop

Installation Date: 8/16/2015 10:11:03 PM

Windows Security Center

User Account Control (UAC) Enabled

Notify level 2 - Default

Windows Update

AutoUpdate Not configured

Windows Defender

Windows Defender Enabled <-------this is disabled, just checked no clue why it says enabled.

Firewall

Firewall Enabled

Display Name Bitdefender Firewall

Antivirus

Bitdefender Antivirus

Antivirus Enabled

Virus Signature Database Up to date

Windows Defender

Antivirus Disabled

Virus Signature Database Up to date

Emsisoft Anti-Malware

Antivirus Enabled

Virus Signature Database Up to date

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Comments

Jordenasic

Changing your licence key won't downgrade,bitdefender.

Valiantius

Changing your licence key won't downgrade,bitdefender.

Um, I was not meaning that. I was having problems with the 2016 version, and want to reinstall 2015 with my license key that I bought for 2015. But after I reinstalled 2015, I cant even use the key, because it says the product has already been activated with the key, and I cant use the same one twice. I cant even login to BitDefender from IS 2015.

jephcott

Hi Valiantius,

I experienced the same problem. I was running Bitdefender Total Security 2015 on both my Surface Pro 3 and my Surface Pro 4 without problems. I then upgraded to Bitdefender Total Security 2016, and started experiencing BSOD's. Most of the time, while not doing anything at all, the devices would crash and show:

BAD_POOL_HEADER: 90%+ of the time; and

BAD_POOL_CALLER: Around 10% of the time.

I wound up reinstalling Windows 10, running sfc /scannow and Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth but to no avail. I would get errors such as:

"Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them."

Finally, I uninstalled Bitdefender 2016, installed Bitdefender 2015, and things seem to be stable so far, after one full day of use. Normally, I would see a BSOD at least once every two days, and often once or twice per day. Over the past day, I haven't seen anything, so I'm not out of the woods yet, but I'm cautiously optimistic that this has fixed the problem.

BitDefender seems to install or somehow interact with low-level drivers related to networking. I suspect that the problematic code has something to do with the firewall based on other posts I've found by googling, but I'm not certain. If this is true, then possibly by disabling the firewall in BitDefender 2016 and using the Windows firewall instead, the BSOD's might go away.

The networking link is supported by looking at the .dmp files produced by Windows 10 when it BSOD's. To look at the files, I used the free BlueScreenView tool located here: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html. By looking at the fields that it shows, I saw that my BSOD's were triggered by tcpip.sys, the Windows kernel, and my network card driver. While I don't know the exact cause, that two of these relate to networking, and that BitDefender interacts with Windows networking code, suggests to me that BitDefender is the ultimate culprit.

You asked how you can get back to BitDefender 2015 once you've installed BitDefender 2016. Just read through and do this:

http://www.bitdefender.com/support/how-to-...n-kit-1330.html

I strongly recommend that you use "The New Bitdefender Uninstall Tool" in step 1 before doing anything else, to make sure that all of the components of BitDefender 2016 have truly been uninstalled.

Finally, I've come across a post by someone who said that he was experiencing BSOD's with Bitdefender, but by uninstalling and reinstalling multiple times, they went away. I wonder if doing a full uninstall using The New Bitdefender Uninstall Tool and reinstalling Bitdefender 2016 might resolve the BSOD's. For now, though, I'm just monitoring 2015 to confirm that I no longer have the problem. If that proves to be the case, I'll try fully uninstalling 2015 and then installing 2016 to see if the BSOD's return, in which case we'll have stronger evidence that Bitdefender 2016 is problematic, at least on Surface Pro 3's and 4's running Windows 10.

Which device are you running Bitdefender on?

Good luck, and I hope this helps!

jephcott

All,

In case it helps, here are two other links:

64-bit Bitdefender Total Security 2016 offline installer:

http://download.bitdefender.com/windows/de...r_ts_20_64b.exe

Info regarding sfc and DISM from Microsoft:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...2c-695b60477a93

Steve

mormegil27

Hi, I'm having the same problem but on a Windows 7 machine. Unfortunately, I changed products when updating to Total Security 2016 from Antivirus Plus 2015, so it is not clear that I can go back. Any help would be appreciated. I guess I will first try the uninstall method mentioned above, then reinstall and see what happens. Next I will attempt to disable the firewall.

The error I am getting is:

tcpip.sys --- DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

I am pretty certain that Bitdefender is the problem, as I upgraded and then the crashes started the next day. Would be a massive coincidence.

jephcott

Hi mormegil27,

Try the offline installer for Bitdefender Total Security 2015:

http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?act...amp;qpid=248138

Are you by chance running Malwarebytes? If so, there seems to be an interaction between the two, or somehow caused by one or the other, that

causes BSOD's. If you are running Malwarebytes, then configure it so that "Malicious website protection" is disabled. (This just disables real-time

protection; you can still run full scans by invoking Malwarebytes manually.) You can do this by right-clicking on its icon in the system tray, and

unchecking the "Malicious website protection" menu item. Just make sure to disable it in the preferences as well, or when you restart Windows,

Malwarebytes will start again with "Malicious website protection" enabled again.

From what I've been able to piece together:

Bitdefender 2015 + Malewarebytes = Fine

Bitdefender 2015 + Malwarebytes = BSOD's, but I don't know why, and it's not necessarily reproducible on all machines. For instance, I have

Bitdefender 2016 and Malwarebytes Premium (fully updated to the latest version) running without problems on my Surface Pro 3. It used to cause

BSOD's. I don't know why it doesn't now. Perhaps it has something to do with running an insider build of Windows 10 that I don't have on my

Surface Pro 4 yet.

The Surface Pro 4 is another story. I have Bitdefender 2016 and Malwarebytes installed on it. Unless I disable "Malicious website protection," it will

pretty reliably lead to roughly one BSOD per day of heavy use. When I reverted to Bitdefender 2015, the BSOD's stopped. I then reinstalled

Bitdefender 2016, and the BSOD's started again. I disabled "Malicious website protection" in Malwarebytes, and the BSOD's stopped.

I wish that I could narrow it own further. My best guess is that whatever is happening, it's low-level driver-related, specifically related to TCP/IP

networking, which possibly suggests something to do with the Bitdefender firewall. I don't know this for a fact yet, but if it's true, I believe that if

you disable the Bitdefender 2016 firewall and enable the Windows 10 firewall, your BSOD's will stop.

If you find anything else out, please let us know by posting here again. Currently, the best evidence that we have--which is anecdotal and based on

scattered posts in various forums by users experiencing BSOD's with Bitdefender 2016 (and usually Malwarebytes) installed--suggests that Bitdefender

2016 is the ultimate cause of the BSOD's through a mechanism that we don't understand yet.

Good Luck,

Steve

mormegil27

Hi Steve,

Thank you for the update, I am indeed running Malwarebytes on the machine. I will attempt to disable "Malicious website protection" and see what happens.

Update thus far: I used the uninstaller and reinstalled Total Security 2016. The crashes are still happening. The uninstaller actually looped through 5-7 passes before it "finished".

NOTE: Upon finishing the uninstaller, the system is restarted. Upon restart, Bitdefender *automatically* starts to reinstall Total Security 2016. If the Malwarebytes fix doesn't work, how to do I keep it from reinstalling 2016 so that I can manually attempt to install Total Security 2015 (assuming it allows me to do this, given that I never owned Total Security 2015).

Thank you!

mormegil27

Also, assuming the problem is a Malwarebytes conflict, how will I know when this conflict is resolved? Does Bitdefender perform the same service as Malwarebytes "Malicious website protection"? Or am I losing functionality? I would prefer to have all my products that I have paid for work properly (as anyone would).

If anyone knows the solution to the 2015 reinstall issue I mention in the above post (i.e. auto-reinstall of 2016, and whether I can use 2015 having not owned it), please don't forget to post about that.

Thank you!

[Deleted User]

For what it's worth, I have been running Bitdefender 2016 Total Security on a Windows 10 Pro x64 computer tower, and the same on a Dell laptop which now has Windows 10 Home x64 installed on it, for a few weeks now. Both Windows 10 installs were "clean installs." The Forums are full of posts about people having problems after going the Windows Update Upgrade route.

I also run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) Premium and Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit Premium on both computers. I have configured the recommended exceptions into both Bitdefender and MBAM, which can be found in the Malwarebytes Forum.

I am not experiencing any issues whatsoever. Perhaps I am just lucky, though I think the "clean installs" saved me a lot of heartache from what I have read in the Forums!

Have a great day.

Regards,

-Phil

jephcott

Hi Guys,

It's definitely the case that if you're running Bitdefender 2016 and Malwarebytes Anti-alware, disabling "Malicious Website Protection" in the latter will stop your BSOD's.

mormegil27, Bitdefender 2016 will keep BSOD'ing once every day or so until the above is done in Malwarebytes. Yes, you can install the 2015 version of Bitdefender using the offline install link that I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread. It links to an article that, itself, contains a bunch of different links. Just find the right one for Bitdefender 2015, download it, and install it (after uninstalling 2016). Everything will work, and you can re-enable "Malicious Website Protection" in Malwarebytes.

If I can find time within the next few days, I'll try to contact someone at Malwarebytes, explain the details, and see what they'll do about it. The bottom line is that Bitdefender 2016 and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware are incompatible. Something is happening with drivers that it interacts with or modifies that causes BSOD's. At least we have a workaround. I was going crazy when this was happening on both of my Surfi (the plural form of Microsoft Surface ).

Good Luck,

Steve

mormegil27

I can report after a number of days that the crashes have stopped with the Malwarebytes service disabled. I could try the exceptions that the other poster mentioned above - would be helpful if Phil would post a link to the Malwarebytes exceptions thread.

Thank you for your help, I am still interested in finding a solution that allows both products to run.

mormegil27

Ok, here is a post about how to exclude Malwarebytes from Bitdefender, not sure about the reverse.

https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?/...h-malwarebytes/

mormegil27

Ok, the reverse is just to exclude the Bitdefender folder in Malwarebytes. I'll try these and report back.

I'm running Win 7 64bit, btw.

mormegil27

Excluded Bitdefender from Malwarebytes, and Malwarebytes from Bitdefender, but the crashes continue.

Attempted to install Bitdefender 2015 instead. It refuses to recognize my subscription, likely because I never owned Total Security 2015, I only own 2016.

Please help if anyone is still looking at this, particularly admin. What do I do? I should be able to use both products together. Possible solutions:

(1) Fix for Total Security 2016 + Malwarebytes?

(2) Give me access to Total Security 2015?

(3) Downgrade my subscription of Total Security 2016 to one of the lesser versions, such as Anti-virus Plus 2016, which might actually work with Malwarebytes? I don't actually care which version it is, I just want both programs to work together.

Are there Bitdefender admins/engineers/employees who actually read these forums and can directly help me?

Thank you!

Nesivos

I am not alone in experiencing the problem with latest update to Malwarebytes Premium See here

I opened a Bitdefender support ticket on this.

There was no problem with BDTS 20.0.26.1418 and the previous release of Malwarebytes 2.2.0.1024. Note that I had them installed together for only a couple of days before the update to MBAM The proiblem began immediately after the update to MBAM Pro 2.2.1.1043.

Hopefully this gets resolved sooner rather than later.

daman1

What's the problem your having?

unknown

Ditto on the BSODs upon 2.2.1.1043. I've removed MBAM Premium.

daman1

I am not alone in experiencing the problem with latest update to Malwarebytes Premium See here

I opened a Bitdefender support ticket on this.

There was no problem with BDTS 20.0.26.1418 and the previous release of Malwarebytes 2.2.0.1024. Note that I had them installed together for only a couple of days before the update to MBAM The proiblem began immediately after the update to MBAM Pro 2.2.1.1043.

Hopefully this gets resolved sooner rather than later.

Ditto on the BSODs upon 2.2.1.1043. I've removed MBAM Premium.

No problems here with that combination.

Hitbit

I too appear to have this Bad Pool Header problem which causes Windows to gather information and restart. Never had this with previous BitDefender Total Security / Malwarebytes Premium combinations.

The problem only surfaced when I upgraded to BitDefender Total Security 2016.

I do not wish to stop using either programme as both offer excellent protection. I have been using BitDefender for a couple of years now and MalWarebytes since its introduction to the marketplace.

It would be great if both company,s techies could get together over a glass of wine and sort this out as their programmes compliment each other nicely.

hitbit

Hitbit

I too appear to have this Bad Pool Header problem which causes Windows to gather information and restart. Never had this with previous BitDefender Total Security / Malwarebytes Premium combinations.

The problem only surfaced when I upgraded to BitDefender Total Security 2016.

I do not wish to stop using either programme as both offer excellent protection. I have been using BitDefender for a couple of years now and MalWarebytes since its introduction to the marketplace.

It would be great if both company,s techies could get together over a glass of wine and sort this out as their programmes compliment each other nicely.

hitbit

Hello All,

With MalwareBytes installed if I try to add MalwareBytes to the trusted applications in BitDefender the add button is not available, ie it is not blue so I cannot add MalWarebytes as a trusted application. When I uninstall MalWarebytes the add button becomes available, ie is blue. Any idea what is going on.

I like both MalWarebytes, which I have used without difficulty since its introduction to the market and BitDefender, a more recent addittion to my security setup.

I must soon decide which programme to keep and which to discard. I know MalWarebytes will work fine alongside other security suites and appears to conflict only with BitDefender. This would appear to be a massive conflict given that BitDefender will not even allow MalWarebytes to be treated as a trusted appklication.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Hitbit

unknown

I'd been using MBAM Premium since it arrived on the market also. A couple of years ago I began wondering if it was necessary considering the superb levels of protection provided with the latest BD products, especially IS and TS. In fairness, competitive suites rise to that level but it is Active Virus Control that sells it for me. The application whitelist schema for file protection by the Ransomware Protection module is icing on the cake.

Does BDIS really need some one else's signature based scanner and IP blacklist solution? Some third party tests indicated MBAM was no longer as perfect as some (read: yootoob "experts") would like to believe where BD never falters from the top three of the leaderboard.

The revelations of the multiple serious and inexcusable vulnerabilities that existed in MABM Premium for years and Malwarebytes' deafening silence made me think some more on this. The issues are well known and were fully documented earlier this year; those unfamiliar with such, research can begin with a google on malwarebytes issue 714. That's the final report which began as issue 615 in November 2015.

The BSODs with the introduction of MBAM 2.2.1.1043 closed the deal. Especially in that only one, and the easiest, of the many holes was plugged.

That said, I'm still a Malwarebytes customer and will renew my MBAE license next month.

Finally, I have been following WinAntiRansom Plus since its arrival last year and having matured to my satisfaction I purchased it last month. It introduces the first of a new generation of protection in the class of layering known generically as companion protection. I have no reason to ever reconsider MBAM again whether or not their rumored anti-ransom tech ever makes it into the product. IMHO, MBAM is obsolete.

I won't be revisiting this topic.

Cheers.

Georgia

Hi,

If the BSOD still occurs after reinstalling Bitdefender 2016 with the latest kit from Central, please let us know what seems to be the scenario that triggers it? Are you using a specific program at that time? What action are you performing in Windows and what are your MBAM settings? Did you change anything in MBAM or did you leave the default settings? What seems to cause this crash?

It will also help to have a complete memory dump (not minidump):

http://www.bitdefender.com/support/How-to-generate-full-memory-dumps-1169.html

And a Bitdefender support tool log:

right click on the file supporttool.exe from the folder C:\Program Files\Bitdefender\Bitdefender 2016 and choose 'Run as Administrator' from the menu. We need the archive BDSP_ that appears on your Desktop at the end.

Please upload them to a file transfer website such as www.sendspace.com and reply with the download link, together with the response to the above questions.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

webbr1

same problem here, Win 10 X64 Pro on an HP 590T. Had BD TS 2015, MB Premium and MBAE Premium. Soon as I upgraded to BD TS 2016 (alongside MB Premium and MBAE Premium), BSOD's...at least 6 a day. Most of them are "BAD_POOL_HEADER". Tried an experiment on a brand new Win 10 X64 Pro DELL XPS 15, installed BD 2016 along with MB Premium and MBAE Premium - laptop started having BSODs almost immediately (BAD_POOL_HEADER).

Sorin G.

For the time being as a workaround you can disable the Malicious website Protection from Malwarebytes

Georgia

Hello all,

According to our internal tests, the culprit seems to be Block Port Scan in the network from Bitdefender.

Could you please perform the following test to check if this scenario applies to all?

Enable Malicious website Protection from Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and then turn off Block Port Scan in the network from Bitdefender 2016 > Modules > Firewall. Allow at least a couple of days to determine if the blue screen no longer occurs after turning off this button.

We are looking forward to your results so we can forward them to our developers.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Netblazr

SOLVED

Bitdefender bsod bad_pool_caller solution

Step 1. Open *Bitdefender*

Step 2. Click on "Modules" near the bottom of the window so that you see a white screen

Step 3. You should see a Protection tab with white background

Step 4. click on the "Trusted applications" line in black, on the left side

Step 5. You should see a new window BitDefender Trusted Applications

Step 6. Click "Add" button (blue color)

Use the navigation tree to get to the C drive and its sub-folders

Step 7. Click on the + sign on the line Windows C drive

Step 8. Navigate to 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes Anti-Malware' , select desired folder and click "OK"

You will need to select each EXE file - one by one

C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes Anti-Malware\mbam.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes Anti-Malware\mbamdor.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes Anti-Malware\mbampt.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes Anti-Malware\mbamscheduler.exe

Step 9. Make sure that the option "Both" is checked and select "Add"

Do also the same for C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit

Step 10. Click "OK"

How to add your Bitdefender folder to Malwarebytes "Malware Exclusions" list -

Step 1. Open the Malwarebytes application

Step 2. Click on "Settings"

Step 3. Click "Malware Exclusions" in the left column

Step 4. Click on "Add Folder"

Step 5. Navigate to 'C:\Program Files\Bitdefender\Bitdefender 2016'

Step 6. Click once on "C:\Program Files\Bitdefender\Bitdefender 2016" folder to highlight it

Step 7. Click on "Select Folder"

also do the same for the folder C:\Program Files\Bitdefender Agent

Step 8. Close Malwarebytes

Step 9. Reboot your computer <--Very Important!

Sorin G.

@Netblazr thank you for the workaround however that does not answer the question.

Hello all,

According to our internal tests, the culprit seems to be Block Port Scan in the network from Bitdefender.

Could you please perform the following test to check if this scenario applies to all?

Enable Malicious website Protection from Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and then turn off Block Port Scan in the network from Bitdefender 2016 > Modules > Firewall. Allow at least a couple of days to determine if the blue screen no longer occurs after turning off this button.

We are looking forward to your results so we can forward them to our developers.

Thank you for your cooperation.

We are still waiting for your feedback on Georgia's question, let us know if it works for you.

Netblazr

Ok done on my lappy, will do on my desktop later today. I'll report back in a few days with results.

gotogordon

SOLVED

Bitdefender bsod bad_pool_caller solution

Step 1. Open *Bitdefender*

Step 2. Click on "Modules" near the bottom of the window so that you see a white screen

Step 3. You should see a Protection tab with white background

Step 4. click on the "Trusted applications" line in black, on the left side

Step 5. You should see a new window BitDefender Trusted Applications

Are you referring to the ransomeware settings? That is the only place I see "trusted applications". I have already set all exclusions under antivirus > exclusions.

Netblazr

It may differ with other versions of the product. I'm using Total Care 2016 now, and it's in the Firewall module.

gotogordon

That option is not there on Internet Security 2016. You can however go into firewall settings and add the exe's to the "rules".

Netblazr

Awesome, I hope that works for you while the developers come up with a permanent solution.

xN3KZDFW0n

@Netblazr thank you for the workaround however that does not answer the question.

We are still waiting for your feedback on Georgia's question, let us know if it works for you.

I just disabled port scanning in the firewall settings and will check back in a couple days if my computer no longer crashes.

Georgia

Hello all,

The blue screen reported in this topic was corrected in the latest Bitdefender 2016 build version released today.

Please turn back on Block port scans in the network from Bitdefender firewall then click Update on the main interface. Wait until the update process completes, then click the top right menu and select Events in the drop-down menu. Locate in the list of Update events the event asking to reboot the computer. Click on it and then click Restart Now button in the displayed details. If you don't see the notification to reboot the computer in Events simply restart Windows.

After Windows reboots right click on the Bitdefender icon from the system tray (the area near Windows clock), choose About and look at the Product Information number. It should be 20.0.29.1517.

Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in fixing this bug. Those of you who also contacted Bitdefender support via e-mail will be notified about the fix shortly after this post is live.