It's Official: https://www.hotforsecurity.com/blog/the-new-bitdefender-is-here-new-features-across-the-board-and-better-ransomware-protection-16705.html 09/24 edit to expand on jjc225's on-top-of upgrade (#2 below) and yet another alternative: Bitdefender 2016 must first be uninstalled before installing 2017. Source: https://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?/topic/72522-bitdefender-av-plus-2017-installation/&do=findComment&comment=260911 The link in that post http://www.bitdefender.com/support/upgrading-to-bitdefender-2017-on-my-computer-1711.html instructs using your Bitdefender Central account where in step 6 "you will be required to uninstall BItdefender 2016 from your computer and you will be assisted to do that." Central authentication persists throughout the process and licensing is migrated automatically. • For those control freaks, uh control geeks, not interested in either automated uninstall can download an official uninstaller from BD: http://www.bitdefender.com/site/view/uninstall_consumer_paid.html Complete that process, install 2017, login to your Central account when prompted and licensing will then be migrated.
I upgraded to 2017 yesterday. Running real smooth right now. The first full scan took a little longer than normal, but probably due to new install. Oh, I attempted to install this on top of 2016, but it sent a notice than an earlier edition of Bitdefender was detected, and that the new install offered to uninstall it. I said okay, it uninstalled the old version, and then a notice popped up that the comp would need to be restarted. It came back and finished the install of the new version. So far I am impressed with 2017.
I've got a trial IS installed on a Win10 test system. It went smoothly and I took advantage of the option to forego the install scan. I'm not feeling the love. All the agent, console and client components have been bumped to version 21 from 20. However, supporting engines remain at the same major version with some minor and patch increments up. avc3.sys from 3.11 to 3.12, for example, with the avcuf injectors being the same version as in 2016. Predictably, bdcore.dll hangs in at 11.0.1.12 where it's been forever for BD and everyone else. Likewise, trufos.dll at 2.4.986.60. For those who sadly still think in terms of "Bitdefender engine," these are mainly it. Antispam core both at 2.15. Firewall drivers are the same. NetDefender libraries, Nimbus, Gonzales and Nexus stuff... You get the idea. For the short period I was running the TS beta I noticed the lack of 2016's IDS. I expected it to show up in this final release. It did not. Which is perplexing. With over 250 days remaining on my 3-PC license (good for 2017 too), I'm in no hurry and going to stick with IS 2016 for the foreseeable future. At the very least for three or four changelogs to roll by. This is not to disparage 2017 in any way. Like Intel's tick-tock model, 2017 feels like a tock.
Well, of course. It brought down teh intuhnetz on all my systems, including my Android tablet. I had to use my cousin's sister's brother's Apple to post this up.
You can see what is included in the products here - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/antivirus-comparison.html#tsmd-av
There seems to be a bug in 2017. After routine signature updates, I am getting a notice that there must be a restart. Can someone verify this? Since installing 2017 on the 20th I have had multiple notifications that the system needs to be rebooted.
I have had the same restart requests. Will have to check the logs to see if / what modules got updated.
Update has prompted me to restart only once. Events reported these: threatreporter.dll installer/postinstall/patch_21.0.18.chttp.gpx The gpx could have made more or less significant changes but as my curiosity driven test system's trial install will go away in 28 days I'm not as invested in tracking the changes. Because by the time I decide to go with 2017, if I do, early adopters will have done all the try-out heavy lifting for me. Otherwise it's just been the usual Plugins and avc items. ------ I still wonder about the absence IDS. Some others as well in BD the forum; I'm keeping an eye on that thread...
Well, according to Sorin G, the BD tech support moderator, "...the IDS is now part of the Active Threat Control." Which is interesting in that the IDS module presented itself previously only in the firewall products, Internet Security and Total Security. With configuration settings. Active Threat Control is the renamed Active Virus Control as all components are still named with the avc convention (avccore.dll, avcuf64.dll, etc.) and all are version 3.x in 2016 and 2017. So it seems IDS has always been present in Antivirus Plus. But always Off. Perhaps "IDS" is a better way of expressing it. As it is, ATC/AVC is IMHO still the best behavioral product available at any price (and free in the old and new/beta BD Free) regardless of what BD calls it.
Now what/ Got a year of BD 2017 IS for participating in their forums..Trouble is the 2017 says the product I have a code for is either inferior or superior to what I've downloaded..the letter says I am being awarded 5 multi device version but they can't figure if thats the problem or not...trying tech support for two days.. Maybe nothing ain't free Tom
Posts in the BD forum confirm what BD refers to as IDS is fully a component of ATC and is identical in AV+ and BDIS/TS. I can also confirm the posts in another thread that Paranoid mode stopped working upon a reboot. There are entries under Rules in the Firewall module from my post-install where I allowed or blocked upon an alert. After a reboot, there are no more alerts. I removed a previous rule I set to Block - no alert when running it again. This is the non-Paranoid behavior and a default Allow rule should appear in the Rules listing which can be modified. Even the Allow rule fails to appear. This is not to imply the firewall itself is broken. EDIT 09/29: A block rule can be built manually, so firewall is OK. But not Paranoid... Windows 10 Pro x64 1151 - BDSI 2107 Trial
Is anyone else noticing that BD is writing a autorun.inf folder with bdsanitise files inside on every USB stick that is plugged in? They hidden by default but i noticed them when I plugged one into my android TV box. If they are deleted they just get added back when stick is plugged back into the computer.
I'm fairly certain this has to do with Media Autorun in Automatic Vulnerability Monitoring and/or the USB Immunizer. I have all that turned off or ignored as I have long ago forbidden unfamiliar USB hardware and those used on my mobile and media devices on my systems. Especially my Android tablet and smarty pants phone where I use a USB condom when charging either from the laptop. I can't offer advice on adjusting the settings. Other than off. Check the PDF manual for the BD product you're using and look under the "Using automatic vulnerability monitoring" and "USB Immunizer" sections. And as you know, there are settings in Windows itself that disallow the writing of an autorun.inf file altogether. The level of convenience and protection are the choices the user needs to determine.
@hakkon I posted a thread on their product forums for the 2017 software. It's annoying as it is adding these to my macrium reflect USB recovery drive, windows 10 USB install drive etc. I actually thought it might have been a autorun virus at first. I been using Bitdefender AV+ since the 2013 version & have never seen this behaviour until the 2017 release. I also get a UAC prompt for bitdefender's elevation helper every time i plug a & USB stick in, that issue has been passed to the devs. I'll try disabling it now like you say until I get a reply from their forum staff, I have a feeling I will have to keep it disabled to stop it adding this stuff to every USB drive.
Installed 2017 Internet Security recently. After an update which needed reboot, the notification area icon now shows up about 1~3 minutes after Windows starts up. Anyone else seeing this? I've reported via BitDefender's built-in "contact-support".
It's not a problem, that's how it is supposed to work (tray icon loads 3 min after windows start up).
2016 has the same "issue" where the tray icon and Bitdefender Awake popup takes a minute (GASP!) to show up. An explanation of the behavior eventually became an article on their Web's support page. A snip from the most informative forum thread: "Starting with the latest build version 20.0.25.1377 'bdagent.exe' no longer starts automatically from the Run registry key. In Task Scheduler Bitdefender Agent is now scheduled to start 1 minute after boot. Ergo, the 'Awake' popup and the system tray icon appear a little bit later. This is expected behavior." Source for more info: https://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?/topic/68419-fad-bitdefender-agent-tray-icon-appears-after-a-very-long-time/ They bumped it up to an eternity, uh, three minutes in 2017. BTW, in an email from BD support I've been informed that in Windows 10, BD 2017 notifications have been offloaded to the Windows Action Center. One should review any user tweaked not-default Settings in the Notifications area (a global Off should be avoided). Especially in 1607 where those settings have become far more granular than in 1151. It's an interesting discussion and I'd paste in some of that email's details but that's a seriously huuuge NO-NO here at The Wilders.