GData AV 2012 trial registration/update problem

I tried GData TotalCare 2012 on a virtual machine, but while I liked the product, I thought that version would be overkill for me, as I prefer most of its extra functions to be performed by independent (and often better) programs. So I deleted the VM, replaced it with a backup from before the installation (i.e., absolutely clean of any trace of G Data software), then installed the plain Antivirus version to test.


Unfortunately, now GData has put me in a catch-22 situation:

• In order to update the virus signatures, GData requires registration even for a trial, but it refuses to accept a new registration for the Antivirus product, saying that it is already registered. (Because I had registered an account with them for the TotalCare trial before.)
  
  
• However, when I try to login to their update server using the registration data they had e-mailed me when I registered TotalCare, it says that the registration is invalid. (Probably because my account with them is for TotalCare, but I'm trying to use it for the Antivirus.)
  
  
• When I try to reinstall the AV with the "Activate Later" option (instead of "Trial Mode"), it asks for a registration key to communicate with the update servers, but I don't have a registration key because I am just trying the software.

So, in short, they don't accept my login data, but won't let me create a new account either. Thus, there is no way I can update the virus signatures. It seems they don't allow one to test two or more of their products. I don't know if this is intentional or not, but if it is, it's stupid: how is one supposed to decide which product best suits one's needs without trying them?

The FAQ on their web site only says that the user might have mistyped the supplied user name and/or password (both generated by them), but I copied and pasted them directly from their e-mail... I have sent an inquiry about that to GData Software, but have not received a reply (they probably don't reply to trial [prospective] customers). They don't seem to have a forum that's not in German (I know a little German, but not enough for that). I like the program, but I'm afraid to purchase it and not be able to activate it.

Anyone knows how to solve this conundrum? Thanks.
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I experienced the exact same thing with the 2011 version, trying the Internet Security first. I didn't like the firewall, so I wanted to try the stand-alone AV instead. So after a day or so, I uninstalled the IS and installed the AV instead, but the same thing that happened to you occured. I never got it working, and I got no replies from their support. I ended up with another product.

 

Hi goyta,

just try to perform an user-defined reinstall of the TotalCare trial version and drop the modules you don't want during installation.

Regards,
Ford

 

Of course I could do that, Ford, but if I am to purchase a license, TotalCare is much more expensive, especially if I am not going to use most of its features (G Data's firewall was among the worst in Matousec's tests, for example). Being forced to pay more just because of their botched trial scheme is not fair, as I can't be sure that a purchased AV-only license key will be enough to make my login data work. That, the apparent lack of serious support, and things like the "help with registration" link leading to a nonexistent page don't give a prospective new user a good image of the company.

Functionally, G Data AV is OK, even though it offers few Internet connection scanning options other than HTTP and Windows Live Messenger (no P2P, Yahoo or Skype support, for example), and also doesn't scan TLS e-mail connections, saying it's technically impossible (it's not - other products do it by running intermediate mail servers and establishing their own secure connections to the real servers). I'd like the level of heuristics to be configurable, too.

But these are all minor peeves compared to G Data's excellent and arguably unsurpassed malware detection rate, combining two of the best AV engines (Avast and BitDefender) in one product. I could see that the double-engine approach really works: in a scan of my host machine, each of the engines found "malware" that the other didn't catch. (Nothing serious, just Android rooting tools that are known to be safe, but do use exploits for that - they have to.) I also tried TrustPort, which has two engines as well (AVG + BitDefender), but I found it unacceptably slow.

This is the only reason why I haven't given up G Data yet, but with these problems right from the start, supplemented by King Grub's testimony, I'm not exactly eager to jump on it either.

Well, I'll think about it, but if I can't find a solution for this soon, G Data will have lost a new customer (and who knows how many others by word of mouth). Thanks to all!
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