BitDefender 2009 comments please

Thanks for the reply

I tested BD2009 (AV only) on 32-bit Vista Business. It is a HP Compaq laptop, but no other security software was installed when I tried BitDefender. Norton 2007 came factory-installed on the laptop but was removed completely with Symatec's removal tool because it was only a trial-version.

After a little googling it seems like other people have also had problems with the on-demand scanner.

Also I question the need for a dedicated removal tool. Why can't I remove BitDefender completely with Windows' Add/Remove function?

 

I used BitDefender 2009 Internet Security, and I liked it. It was very configurable (even down to the behavioral scanner). It was fairly stable; it only had one hiccup, which was solved with a reboot. I also liked that it incorporated a behavioral scanner.

Still, the one problem was that it was a little too heavy for me. It slowed down my computer startup and ate some of my CPU. Also, just the GUI portion took up around 35,000 K of memory. I know because even when I exited the GUI, it still showed up in Task Manager, which I thought was odd.

As always, you're bound to get mixed reviews. So, your best bet would be to trial it before making a decision. Thirty days should give you a good idea of how it works.

 

Hello cet,

You are welcome. Good to hear that it worked. I don't use zonealarm myself so I was just guessing were the update process could be locate. I only said that you could search where it was located.

Kind regards,
Niels


Hello virtumonde,

Did you already checked history? Do you see any errors listed? If not then BitDefender has installed the updates correctly. I recommend that you do this press the windows button together with r now type this services.msc press enter. Locate the terminal services right click on it and press on properties select automatic by start up type press on apply and ok. Try also what I suggested to matt231.

Can you please tell me what build you are using? To obtain that information right click on the red BitDefender icon and press info.

If it was the behavioral scanner you should have seen a pop-up with the following 2 options: allow or ok (terminates the process,installer,... immediately)

You can also configure the behavioral scanner to a lower level. Just follow the instructions that I gave to cet. And set it on medium or high or even low. So you will get lesser pop-up's.

Kind regards,
Niels

Hello ola nordmann,

Sometimes it could be that BitDefender selfprotection didn't closed properly and so it prevents to remove drivers in device manager. The uninstall tool is able to do that and also remove the registry entries. Slow GUI try what I suggested to matt231. It could be a bad installation. Did you already tried installing it from a different user account?

Kind regards,
Niels

 

Hello Niels. I don't use BitDefender at present as I am satisfied with my current Av. However it's nice to see someone like yourself around to help those that do. I've always liked the BitDefender GUI as well.

 

Ok call me crazy ,i did seen some improvments ,scan could complete without problem,no firefox crash ,could not test Game Mode with this build but this did it for me.I mean WTH!!!!!!!!
After this beautiful message ,and reboot Bitdefender services are reported as switched off for an update and they remain so ,i have to reboot to get rid of the error.
I will test again hopfully early next year all remaining bugs will be fixed.I've tested this 12.0.11.2 build on a xp pro sp 3 Intel Core2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz,motherboard Asus STRIKER-II-NSE,4GB Ram.
Thanks for the effort Niels Really appreciate it.

 

my thoughts exactly.

Niels is really a great guy

 

Why did they mess up a totally awesome AV I refer to BD9. This was Far Far the Best out there at the time

 

Hello virtumonde,

Strange that you didn't already received the update to build 12.0.11.2 I received that update in the beginning of December. That is also the reason why I asked you for your current build because in that build that contained bug fixes normally also for game mode. When did you installed BitDefender?

I must say that I never installed a trial version of BitDefender. So it could be that trial versions don't get the product upgrades immediately? I still find it strange normally BitDefender will always check for an more up to date installer before starting the installation.

Normally BitDefender should report that you need to reboot.But that message doesn't always appear even when you not have checked the op. I always recommend when there is a large update that you always reboot even if not asked. Otherwise you might be unprotected.

You are welcome. Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.

It seems that you have plenty of ram my computer has only 512 MB ram and BitDefender TS doesn't slow it down.

Kind regards,
Niels

Hello rain_train,

I suppose that you are speaking about uiscan.exe? That mostly happens when the threat scanner has crashed. In the previous BitDefender versions all what you had to do was restarting the virus shield service but that is impossible now. Only if you disable BitDefender selfprotection.

Kind regards,
Niels

Hello Macstorm,the hammer

Thank you guys for these kind words. I really appreciate that.
For me everybody may have his opinion but what I don't like are posts that don't clarify what problems they have and only say it "sucks" or it's buggy without given any more information.

Kind regards,
Niels

Hello DVD+R

Can you please clarify? For me there where improvements : behavioral scanner,file vault and encryption of instant messengers chatsessions (if all parties have BitDefender version 12 installed (2009 products). I must be honest that maybe I am little biased because I never tried any other antiviruses since I first installed version 8.

Kind regards,
Niels

 

I agree. BitDefender 9.5 was one of the best AV products I have used in the whole time I used a computer. Version 10 was not too bad but version 11 onwards has been, well, unresponsive to my system.

However, as it stands BD is a pretty good product with good protection and good support.

 

I wish you the very best, Niels...
I'm with BDTS 12.0.11.2 and have no issues at all. Downloading problems as with v 11 has been taken care of. In my opinion BD is still in the top league together with 4-5 others, looks to me as with one negative whizzle all tend to follow... Time to break that trend.

 

Thanks for the reply, Niels. I appreciate how you take the time to respond to our replies . In any case, I don't think we are on the same page. I forget the exact name of the process, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't "uiscan.exe" (I believe that's the right-click scanner?). It was the main GUI, but I can't remember the process name (I used BitDefender 2009 a few months ago as a trial). You know, the one where you could choose Basic Mode or Advanced Mode. I remember that it used a lot of RAM back on my XP machine (about 35,000 K) even when I closed it ("X-ed out"). I had to go into Task Manager and terminate it if I wanted to free up the memory. I certainly didn't disable BitDefender's self-protection!

In any case, that was months ago, and it may have been fixed in an update. Overall, it's a great product; it's just that it had a memory and CPU issue that, unfortunately, was noticeable. Who knows – maybe I'll give it a try on my new Vista machine and it will work without a hitch.

 

BDTS runs very light here...
:

 

Hello rain_train,

uiscan.exe is used by all scan types I mean scheduled scans (deep,quick,autologon,...), right click scans even when you drag and drop files and folders on the scan activity bar.

I can remember that some members on the BitDefender forum had the issue where seccenter.exe wasn't closed when exiting. I can't test it if it's solved because I never had that issue. I think that it might be fixed now. Because in the last few months there where some large and small product upgrades.

If BitDefender Security Center was unresponsive most of the time this is due a damaged microsoft.net framework installation. I posted instructions how you can try to solve it.

With memory are you referring to page file usage? How long did you let your computer run without shutting it down? There was or still was a memory issue when you let your computer on for a few days. But that was a high page file usage not real memory usage.

You can't disable selfprotection when you have opened BitDefender. I know how to do that but it's only possible after you have done a reboot.

Hopefully maybe in the future you will retest BitDefender. Every security software could have problems on a computer configuration.

Kind regards,
Niels

Hello osip,

The only bad thing is that BitDefender only releases bugfixes in one large upgrade. So that is why it can take some time before there is an update. And that is also why people keep complaining about slow fixing of issues. Like I said before BitDefender do listen to bugs that are found. That is what annoys me.

Kind regards,
Niels

 

Yes, based on osip's pictures I remember that the process was seccenter.exe. And you're right, it wouldn't shutdown when I closed it, which is why I had to use Task Manager to terminate it. That's the memory issue I was referring to: seccenter would use up 35 000 K, which was more than vsserv.exe and the actual antivirus components of BitDefender. That, and the fact that it caused occasional CPU spikes, were what kept me from buying it.

However, that was on my old XP computer (with 1 GB RAM) months ago. I'm sure (I should hope so!) that several bugs have been fixed since then. I have not yet tried it on my new Vista computer (with 3 GB RAM), but that might change.

 

I myself have 1 GB RAM...Also, build 12.0.144 is out, can't fnd any changelog though...Does the upgrade require uninstall ?

 

Hello rain_train,

My computer has only 512 MB but I must say that I only have BitDefender Total Security 2009 installed and no other security software that is running in realtime mode. Many bugs were fixed in the build that I mentioned in this topic. It's normal that vsserv.exe sometimes uses lots of ram but that is only when BitDefender is scanning files that are very compressed.

Kind regards,
Niels


Hello osip,

No, upgrades are automatically being installed after you have rebooted your pc. Normally you should be informed by a pop-up that you need to reboot. Even if not asked just reboot. I don't have the upgrade yet but that is because I don't have an English version. The English version always get the product upgrades first even before the Romanian version (country where BitDefender is located but I think that you already knew that).

Kind regards,
Niels

 

Ok,Niels, thanks for that...I have the english version but hav'nt seen the prog upgrade yet...BTW, on my BD setup I have sandboxie and admuncher, that's all ...(yes, Romanian, I know...)

 

Hello Niels

Can you tell me something more about this bug?
Is it resolved?

Realtime Antivirus & Antiphishing Mail Protection Disabled, BD AV 2009
forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=10684

I see that BD forum is in little mess and there are slow responses and compared to Avast forum, well...... Let's just say it's HUGE difference.

When i've installed BD 2009 some of the protections were disabled and after numerous trying of enabling them i don't have much success.

I like to try BD but with lots of bugs reported i just question myself is it worth?

I mean, if some of the services are disabled and not working how can that impact on product's efficiency?

 

I used to like BD in th past. Although, the recent version (preferably 200 was giving me a lot of issues with BD services, extremely long load times.

I'm going to install 2009 trial tonight, play with it for a few, and then post my findings :]

System: Vista 32bit Home Premium (vlite[ed])

 

I liked BD in past too, but it's bloatware now. Unfortunately.

I've tried again today and installed it but still were some issues.

I'll pass it for the moment.

Keep us inform how will react on your system.

 

Here's my updated experience with 2009.

Install: Went well, no problems
Reboot: Went fine, a little slow to load up but expected after a fresh install.
Trial screen: Expected, but a bit annoying (more so than Avira's)

Experience on usage: Feels lightweight, but can certainly tell it's there when something like a cd/dvd is put in, or downloading/installing an application. On regular usage, it's not bad. Browsing speed isn't noticeably different.
Not bad, but I'm on a laptop and Avast/Avira play a bit better in this case. For a desktop with even better hardware, I wouldn't think it would be noticeable at all.

Reboot again: Now that it's settled in, I did another reboot and experienced the same thing as before, slow to load up. Much longer than Avast/Avira and some other's I've tried before. It takes around 1-3 minutes just to settle in.

Overall, it has improved a bit. I didn't any service errors, or freeze ups like I have in the past. I must agree, though, with renegade08 that it has become bloated. It no longer feels as sleek as it has in the past.

Hopefully they will revert to their old ways, maybe follow along suit with Norton who learned from their mistakes.

I don't mean to discourage anyone to use it, but for a laptop I'd suggest something else unless you are plugged in 90% of the time


PS: The uninstall was taking forever without any progress. Googled "bitdefender uninstall tool" and it took me to a support page with an uninstaller which worked flawlessly, and fast.

 

Hello Niels,

I'm posting from Switzerland. I'm new to the forum and also somehow a novice with regards to computers and security. I aquired a laptop 7 months ago and I've been trying to setup a correct defence strategy. I'm learning a lot from this forum, although sometimes posts info is a bit too advanced for me.

Your posts were also helpful. You must be very appreciated for your help here. Congratulations on your dedication in helping others solve their issues and for your patience.

You appear to know BitDefender very well. If you get some time, I would be glad to discuss some simple issues and setups for BitDefender. Below is a question I have as well as feedback concerning the seccenter.exe issue you mentioned in this thread.

So I would very much appreciate any advice.

I installed the BitDefender Total security 2008 with a 2 year liense last year and recently got an upgrade to 2009. The build I am running is 12.0.11.4.

1) Feedback on seccenter.exe issue: I have this seccenter.exe issue. Started 1-2 months ago. I couldn't access the BitDefender control panel by clicking the taskbar icon or even from "Prog Files". BD support then told me I have to end the seccenter.exe task in task manager. When I end the task, I can then access again but it's quite annoying. It happens regularly.

Do you think BitDefender can do anything about this if I ask for a solution?
Or is it simply a bug that we have to live with?

So, in refferal to your quote above: the issue is still present.

2) Questions regarding BitDefender Configuration:

(Quick note: I'm not too lazy to read the help file, please don't get me wrong, I refer to it very regularly. But my concerns started after readng this thread and forum in general: I have realised that after we install and configure a software, we should monitor & analyse the way it works to make sure defence is efficient and that there are no holes).

I think I've figured out how to run and configure BitDefender, but I'm just not sure that it's actually doing all that it should, or that I'm protected in the way I think. I'm too much of a novice to get a clear picture of how my laptop and AV are working together.

- Real time protection: do you set it on default , custom or aggressive? (The latter adds heuristic analysis.) What do you recommend?

- How often should we run: full system scan and deep system scan?

- How can I make sure BitDefender scans new programs I download or even files?
Example 1: I download a new software using Free Download Manager. After the newsoftware.exe. file is downloaded, I right-click and scan withBD. Is there a way to configure BD to scan whatever new data/files arrives on the computer systematically?

(PS On Free Download Manager, there's an option in settings for automatic virus scans. Do you know which program/file I should select in order to use BitDefender as the scanning tool in FDM? Is it something like an exe. file?)

Example 2: U torrent. How can we make sure that the activities of U Torrent are being properly monitored by BitDefender?

- Finally: since installing Spybot S&D with Teatimer, when BD runs the schedule scan, it says: "2 items (paths refer to Spybot) were not scanned due to password protection". Should I ignore this issue?

I will stop here to not abuse too much of your help. I thank you in advance for any help you may provide.

Best regards,

TKHGeneva

 

Even though your questions arent directed at me i still wanna givbe give it a go, id personally set realtime protection at aggressive and wouldnt do any manual scans anytime soon - for me realtime protection is enough.

 

Thanks for your reply.

I've set real time protection to aggressive now.

Sorry, what do you mean by "manual" scans?

Until now I set a fixed schedule for full system scan every night and deep system scan once a week. Does that sound efficient to you?

Thanks, I appreciate your giving time in responding.

 

scanning every night i think is a bit too much, i ONLY do a system scan with my AV once every 2 weeks.