What is ActiveBridge.exe?

I have used Iolo's System Mechanic Pro for many years and have complete faith in it and Iolo. If this is their file, then I don't fear it. The 'stopped working' report has only come up since their latest update and I'm confident they'll soon deal with it.

# 24 Dec 2018, 3:35

I have only experienced a problem with "ActiveBridge" in windows 7x64. If the problem persists, then I just re-boot and the problem will go away, at least for a period of time. However, even when it stops running, it does't stop the program from working that I can tell. Been using Iolo's System Mechanic Pro for many years, it's NEVER let me down.

# 25 Dec 2018, 12:16

I've used System Mechanic Pro for a few years, it seems to have done the job I was hoping for, but recently it has started using pop-up windows everyday wanting me to upgrade. EVERY G/D DAY! I'm sick and tired of that kind of BS from a company, tells me they are in trouble financially. I just upgraded and I'm getting error messages about the "ActiveBridge.exe" suddenly stopping. I think it's time to move on.............

# 30 Dec 2018, 11:50

Still experiencing the Stopped Working syndrome, I've e-mailed Iolo about it. Like Family Geek, I'm running it on a Windows 7 64-bit computer (my Windows 10 machines aren't similarly afflicted). Like RyanDan though, I do find Iolo's constant salesmanship a bit tiresome; I regard it as an unfortunate trade-off in an otherwise brilliant service.

# 31 Dec 2018, 8:30

Like Peekoh, I have only had the "ActiveBridge has stopped working" message since the last IOLO update to System Mechanic. I too have the problem on a Windows 7 64bit machine. However it appears to have stopped the Disc Defrag module from working. I cannot even get the analyser to respond, all buttons dead. May have to uninstall or revert to last good version if fix not sent out soon. Frustrating and irritating. Message pops up at varying times after pc turned on. Inconsistent, and therefore may be influenced by other programs running I'm thinking.

# 3 Jan 2019, 6:32

I meant Disc Defrag module in System Mechanic not Windows. And, sorry, didn't mean that last sentence to sound like master Yoda!

# 3 Jan 2019, 6:37

As with others, after doing an upgrade to System Mechanic, I had a complete freeze and was unable to get System Mechanic to work until I restored the computer to as earlier time. Now all is working but for the popup "ActiveBridge has stopped working." This occurs at random times regardless of what program is running. It is very frustrating.

# 7 Jan 2019, 13:59

also have iolo running on win 7 64 for many years. always seemed to work great but have noticed for about the last year when there's an update things seem to go wrong, 1st i noticed it updated to system mechanic not system mechanic pro like i paid for and i ended up having to completely delete every system mechanic related file in order to reinstall a trial version off their website and then add in my activation code(not sure why but if i tried to use the link in my account to download it would not do the pro version?), 2nd seemed like the updates would be ok for a while then i realized the icon for the virus protector wasn't showing up in the notification area(bottom right near the time) and if i go to turn the icons on/off the option was still there but it wouldn't make a difference but the activecare pop up would still popup above that area and say it was updating the virus program. So their last update seemed to have fixed that problem but about a week or 2 ago a pop up said there was an update for sys mechanic itself did that but now the icon is gone again and now this activebridge program has stopped working several times?...this is the first time i've come across activebridge!? properties says their digital sig is dec 14th 2018 so they must have just changed the name of the program recently... I know they have the commtouch files associated with the antivirus program and i think it was last year they changed from being under iolo to phoenix 360 in my files. i'm going to keep them for now for this laptop but when i get a different pc def not going to keep them.

for the past 2 years right before i need to pay again for another year of service the antivirus program seems to miraculously find some rogue file that's possibly a virus that no other virus program finds malicious nor can i find ANY info anywhere online about the possible virus and nothing ever seems to be slower or acting wrong....this doesn't happen ALL year not until it's a week or so before i need to renew my service with them? it's like they think i must have forgotten about the program since it kinda seems to never be doing anything even though i'm sure it must be doing it's job because i never get viruses, but it's like if they make up some fake virus that i will think oh that program's doing it's job and then pay for another year?? the whole thing is just getting strange with them, and i realize win 7 is old but i'm paying them for the software so it seems they should be ensuring all is compatible and working correctly but more and more things just aren't and i even tried to get their help the first time when i couldn't get the pro to reinstall/install on my laptop and when they weren't helpful/wanted me to pay extra, that's when i personally located ALL the files ever associated with iolo, deleted them all and reinstalled the profession trial version in order for it all to finally work...just too much hassle anymore. you would think they'd want to keep/help their loyal customers? I had first bought this back in 2013. oh also i can't have the active care/system mechanic professional program do anything with my registry anymore because one time i noticed the windows microsoft word program that came with my laptop wasn't working correctly and finally found some article explaining how to fix it and the reason why it wasn't working, which was due to iolo's program deleting something in the registry. i don't use word programs very often but that was a hassle to fix too and then everytime i updated or reinstalled system mech pro i would have to make sure it wasn't trying to automatically fix the registry.

# 8 Jan 2019, 15:16

Iolo once had the best anti-virus program and set of programs to eliminate problems caused by registry errors and junk files, but in recent years, it has shown little effort towards improving its products and its customer service. For a while, I tried their Phoenix 360 set of programs, and I soon removed these extra programs, (not only didn't work properly, but they caused far more problems than they claimed to fix). Passwords that should have been saved were deleted. To find that "ActiveBridge" has stopped working is an Iolo problem explains it all to me. The present version of System Mechanic is a memory hog and sometimes slows my computer to a near stall; and, if I didn't have a "lifetime" subscription, I'd dumped it, (like I dumped McAfee for being liars, telling me of hacking attempts when my computer was not even connected to the Internet). Iolo will advertise its "new version" long before it's available, persistently spams its customers to upgrade (why "add time" to a "lifetime" subscription?), and does nothing to fix problems such as ActiveBridge with an update, (the updates are the next version). The present version is 18, and I think that last good working version was 12 or 13, (long ago). I'd warn everyone to avoid Iolo's Phoenix 360 entirely.

# 9 Jan 2019, 18:55

Interesting set of experiences here; they seem to contain a lot of commonality. Pity we can't get together more closely; I'm sure we could get to the root of this. For instance, has anyone thought of any possible link with the periodicity of the 'stopped working' pop-up and the number of hours between virus-checking updates. I've just changed that setting down to 'every three hours' to see if the pop-ups appear more (or less) frequently - something must be influencing it. Iolo has offered me a few suggestions but they haven't helped. Incidentally, I have SSDs not HDDs so can't compare those aspects.

# 19 Jan 2019, 3:51

Since last update having same problem like others. Running Windows 7 also. Activebridge pops up more than once during a session. Most likely will uninstall program.

# 15 Feb 2019, 6:07

I am currently working with DEV at IOLO to fix this and other issues.
Also note that IOLO is in the process of launching a brand new customer care website.
I have these and other issues with my windows 10 OS also.
Description
Faulting application name: ActiveBridge.exe, version: 4.0.1.208, time stamp: 0x5c140c59
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 10.0.17763.292, time stamp: 0xb51bba8e
Exception code: 0xe0434352
Fault offset: 0x0000000000055549
Faulting process id: 0x2a10
Faulting application start time: 0x01d4c6f164699981
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Phoenix360\ActiveCore\ActiveBridge.exe
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\KERNELBASE.dll
Report Id: 0af8e560-774c-42a3-8de5-0f004906ae2b
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Description
Faulting application name: PrivacyGuardianApplication.exe, version: 1.0.8.0, time stamp: 0x5b084ddf
Faulting module name: unknown, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0690f494
Faulting process id: 0x18c4
Faulting application start time: 0x01d4c1885d4fddbb
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Phoenix360\PrivacyGuardian\PrivacyGuardianApplication.exe
Faulting module path: unknown
Report Id: 44dcb5b2-ac73-4616-818d-28a95b53de89
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

# 24 Feb 2019, 1:26

The cause of most issues, from what I have found, is that this happens just before an auto update and/or scan (same time everyday). By doing so it increases speed and time. This has NO affect on the safe use, that I can find, just a small bug. It should run in background without user notification and error report generation.

# 24 Feb 2019, 1:48

I've been communicating with Iolo about the ActiveBridge not working issue. Their solution? Turn off the messages so you won't see that its not working. That's what they said multiple times.

# 13 Mar 2019, 9:32

My concluding entry:-
Some time ago I renamed three files located in Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Phoenix360\ActiveCore\
They were ActiveBridge.exe ActiveBridge.exe.config and ActiveComm.exe
I preceded their names with OLD_ so that I could easily revert, if necessary, but found no need. No "not working" notifications since and no adverse effects noted. I'm back to the SysMechPro I know and love!
Today, I temporarily removed the OLD_ prefixes and "not working" appeared periodically.

# 22 Mar 2019, 8:42

I am having the same problem ("Activebridge.exe stopped working" - same Description as Daxx details above), but I get no notification. It shows up in my Windows Reliability Monitor. It happens every day at 4:51 PM and then again at 5:08 pm. It doesn't seem to affect anything, but it is an annoyance.

I am thinking it may have something to do with the ActiveCare module that runs a scheduled scan in the background. I have everything turned on except Defrag which is not recommended for SSDs. However in the "Settings" menu in ActiveCare I had the "Frequency" set to "Never", because I like to run the analyses and cleaning manually. I am wondering if this is causing the "stopped working" message.

I am going to switch off the 4 ActiveCare scan settings to see if this then stops Activebridge.exe from running at all.

It's frustrating that IOLO can't seem to fix this problem. Although it's good that they have a responsive telephone support line, my experience is that their expertise is limited. It seems it's there more to promote their paid support service.

I think that the Pro version and especially Phoenix360 is an attempt to offer comprehensive security, password and maintenance features by cobbling together a number of different programs from various other software developers. Phoenix360 is just a User Interface that tries to stitch these together.

I have not read good reviews about the System Mech Pro Virus scan, Malware Killer or Password programs and currently use Avast, Malwarebytes and LastPass for these.

I think in future I will downgrade to just plain old System Mechanic, which is highly regarded and has been working well for years.

# 18 Apr 2019, 8:26