How to navigate Malwarebytes Anti-Malware with NVDA

What is Malware?

Malware is short for malicious software. It is any software which aims to disrupt your computer, spy on and gather your private information, gain access without your consent, and display unwanted advertising.

Where can I obtain a copy of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from?

You can obtain a copy of this program from the Malwarebytes main webpage at https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/

The free copy should be suffice for your home use.

A trial version of Malwarebytes can be obtained from the following link at https://www.malwarebytes.com/trial/


For 14 days, Malwarebytes will keep malware from infecting your computer for free. After that, it reverts to a limited scanner.

Prevent malware from infecting your computer for 14 days with real-time protection, anti-ransomware technology, and malicious website blocking.

Malwarebytes 3.0 reverts to a manual scanner that detects and cleans up malware infections only when you run a scan. You can upgrade to Premium at any time.                           

After installing the program

To start your copy of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware it can either be started from the Desktop or from the all apps/programs section in Windows. Just press the Enter key on the program to start it.

Navigating Malwarebytes Anti-Malware with NVDA

The keys that will be used are the Tab keys, the Shift/Tab keys, the Arrow keys and the Spacebar  with NVDA.

When you first open Malwarebytes Anti-Malware it may take a little while to come up. If you are using a Windows 8 machine and up, you might get the UAC screen in Windows asking you if you want to run it or not.  Just tab to the yes button and press the Enter key and the program should load for you shortly after.

When it loads it will most probably land you on the following section (for example Dashboard Overview of application status).

You can tab through the following sections such as Fix Now, Enter, Buy premium license now, View details, Scan information, Enter, Update Database Now, Enter, Make sure your database is up to date, View details, Scan information, Enter, Scan Now, Enter, Scan your computer right now, Help .

The above are all buttons and the Enter key can be pushed on them to open those sections up.

You can also get to other parts of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware by using the right and left arrow keys. For example starting from Dashboard Overview of application status, Scan - Scans your computer for threats, Settings - Allows you to configure your anti-malware application, History - Shows how we protected you from threats, Activate - Activate Button, Buy - Buy Button.

You can press the Spacebar on any of the buttons to activate them. If you wanted to go down in the settings section you would locate this section first. You should hear NVDA say settings, radio button, then press the Tab key. It is then a matter of tabbing through the settings section. When you hear General settings radio button checked, you can also use the right and left arrow keys to navigate other sections. For example you will hear the following Malware Exclusions radio button checked, Web Exclusions radio button checked, Detection and Protection radio button checked, Update Settings radio button checked, History Settings radio button checked, Access Policies, Advanced Settings radio button checked, Automated Scheduling radio button checked, About radio button checked.

You can only pick one of these sections at a time. So, when you find a section you want to have a look at, use the Tab key to go down that section (for example, advanced settings radio button checked).

In any of the sections in Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, it will be a matter of either using the Enter key, the Spacebar key or in the case of combo boxes use the Alt key + down arrow key to open the combo box. You can also use the Shift/Tab key to go back a step.

In most cases in Malware bytes, you would usually scan for malware, update your database and check the results of your scan, then take the necessary steps if needed.

Creating exclusion's in Malware Bytes (tutorial by Tony Ballou)

Sometimes you can have a situation where a program, folder, or file that Malware Bytes scans, deems it as malware and trashes it when it is not the case. To prevent this from happening, you can create an exclusion for the program in Malware Bytes. To do this:

First, press Tab until NVDA says Settings and hit space on it. NVDA will say settings tab checked.

Next, press Tab until NVDA says exclusion’s tab and hit space on it. Once you’ve got that checked press Tab until NVDA says add exclusions button and hit the Space bar to activate it. 

From this point, the exclusion wizard opens. There are 2 steps to the process.  NVDA will say step 1 of 2. Here you can select what type of exclusion you want to create.

The exclusions can be a specific website, file or folder, an application that connects to the internet, or a previously detected exploit.

Once you have made the desired choice, press tab until NVDA says next button and hit the Space bar on it.

NVDA will say step 2 of 2.  Here you will specify the item you want to exclude. If it is a folder, tab over to the select folder button and press Enter on it. Then tab to the ok button and press Enter on that.  

Now, you can browse for the folder you want to add and once you have it focused press Tab to the select folder button and hit Space on it. Most times the folder will be located in the c:\Program files x86 folder on your system. Once the folder is selected, it and all of its contents will be excluded. If you are excluding files, choose the add files button instead and once that’s done, tab to the ok button and press enter on it.    

To exclude an internet application, at step 2 of the wizard, you will want to find the executable file that corresponds with the program.  It is located in the c:\program files x86 folder. Simply choose the folder that corresponds with the program, open it up and by using first letter navigation, move the focus to the .exe file. Once there, tab to the select file button and press Enter on it. Then tab to ok and press Enter on that.

If you plan to exclude a website, at step 2 type in the domain or I P address that you want to exclude, tab to the add button and press Enter on it, then tab to ok and press Enter on that.  .  

If you are excluding an item that was previously deemed an exploit, at step 2 of the wizard, tab to the select button and hit Space on that. NVDA will prompt you to select the item from the list. Once you have the items which you want to exclude selected, tab to the select button and hit the Space bar. Then tab to ok and press enter on it and that’s it.

Malwarebytes Audio Tutorial

To listen to an audio tutorial on how to navigate Malwarebytes Anti-Malware with the NVDA screen reader, please visit the following link
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rsr3533am5akhlv/how%20to%20navigate%20%20Malwarebytes%20Anti-Malware%20with%20nvda.MP3?dl=0



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