Bullguard 2013 is Out!!

Good Afternoon ! Currently taking Bullguard 2013 for a test drive. So far it seems less bloat induced than 2012 version. Can't ignore the BD Engine. The only con so far is the weird Anti-Spam filter set-up. Chated with Bullguard support and they stated it's installer doesn't recognize Hotmail with your I.P. provider...you have to set up a separate Microsoft Hotmail account. This is the first time I've encountered such a convoluted set-up...all other vendors have anti-spam as an installed component. Anyway an Anti-Spam filter isn't on my list of must have's...Bullguard's impressive detection rates is the main reason for my re-installation. Sincerely...Securon

 

I see on their website that you just get 15-day trial for the AV, whereas their IS version is way more generous with 60-day free testing period.

Somehow linked, they seem to go the same path than the other vendors where their "suites" are more aggressively promoted and eligible for discounts.

 

Going back to the quality of BullGuard's support, I had a good experience with their chat support yesterday. I have been testing a few (ok, 5) different tools for the past few months and think I have finally settled on BullGuard. I was reinstalling their Internet Security product using the stub installer (yuck) and it would pop up a window that said "BullGuard 2013" but would then install the previous 2012 version. I could not get it to update to the latest version from within the program. I tried a few uninstall/reinstall routines but it kept doing the same thing. I imagine if I had been patient for a day or two it might have downloaded the latest version from a different server.

Not wanting to wait, I initiated a chat session with their tech support. I was connected to an agent quickly and explained the problem. They simply asked me what version of Windows I was using and sent me a link to download the complete .exe file for the 2013 version. That did the trick for me. The entire chat session lasted just about two minutes. It was great ... fast, efficient, and no nonsense. I was very happy with the experience. I hope that if I have any issues in the future, they will be resolved just as efficiently.

 

Odd, my research indicates BG has great support. Rubenking rated BG very highly for their support systems.

Besides, in years of running AV's, I have only had to use support once, so this isn't a big deal for me. But according to some great sources, BG has great support.

 

maybe because you hadn't had the chance to experience their real level of support.

Here is my experience:

Case 1:

I installed BullGuard Internet Security 2013 FIRST then installed Firefox later on. But I did not have the BullGuard add-on that shows me the URL links are good or bad so I contacted support and asked them hot to add the add-on.... the support muppet said I have to uninstall then reinstall BullGuard IS for it to properly install the appropriate plugin! I was like whaaaaat? This is so much work for a simple plugin....

I didn't listen to him.... guess what? The next time I restarted my Firefox it prompted me to install the plugin automatically!!! so that shows you the level of their knowledge


Case 2:

I had a 5 USER / 7 Year license....

I once contacted their online support to ensure how many users are on my license....then the support muppet was like... you have a 5 user license but are currently illegally using your license on 16 PCs!!

I said maybe I have reinstalled it 16 times but I am certainly not using it on 16 PCs. In fact, I only have it installed on 1 laptop as opposed to being able to install it on 5 legally... their system of how they check license activations sucks and their support people suck even more

just my 2 cents worth

 

True, and also I got 5 licenses for 3 years for $40 - that's the internet security one. The AV-Only was WAYYYYYY more expensive.

Doesn't bother me, I just disable all of the other stuff, including the Firewall. I have no need for a software firewall, and I hate how they tend to offer at least 'some' drag on a connection. So I turn those off. Bullguard FW seems pretty fast, but it still adds a slight drag that is slightly more noticeable on older/slower PCs. So I'd disable it anyway.

 

You do realize, this plugin is useless right? They don't even offer it anymore in the newer versions. The only purpose of this plugin was so you could hit a button and report false positives to them. Otherwise it serves no purpose. Bullguard scans HTTP traffic itself, and it doesn't matter what browser is installed. That's why they removed it. Easy to test, pick some malware domains, hit them, watch them blocked, switch browsers, watch them blocked. That's one of the things I like about it, plugins are rubbish, I want clean browsers with my security products.

 

I didn't know the suite was customizable, thanks for the tip.

 

Yup, tiny text says 'settings', click that and you can turn off the IS stuff off, and use just the AV and Web Inspectors if you want (the best parts). Also lowers system load from the product to unnoticeable levels.

Like you, I prefer suites to have limited but powerful features, and in general disable all of the extraneous stuff. I use enterprise level hardware firewalls, a SW one only slows things down and adds clutter. I have never met a SW firewall that didn't have at least some measurable drag on internet activity, so I really don't like them much. I prefer solutions specific to that application, with hardware specifically focused on that.

See here for example of BG on turning off the excess stuff;
http://www.anony.ws/i/2012/12/16/ctleP.jpg

 

I don't like the Bullguard Firewall, its fine on my super fast machines, but still offers a slight decrease in speed during browsing.

On our slowest machine, Dual Core 2.8ghz w/4GB Ram, and ATI6670 card, it adds 2-4 seconds to every page load. That's unacceptable, and it needs to be disabled. In fact, due to the overall questionable use of any of these firewalls, I have disabled it on all of the machines. BG seems quite light with the FW disabled though!

If they offered the core AV product as cheap, I'd of went with that. I really only want the web inspector and AV, nothing else.

 

Useful info, thanks again mate

 

I have not noticed this page load slow down at all, and I am running Bullguard IS and Webroot SecureAnywhere concurrently on several machines. One of my machines is an older AMD dual-core with 4GB RAM, and it runs great using these two security products at the same time.

 

This is a helpful response. Do you mind providing me with what browser and extensions are running? I want to investigate this, and try to find the culprit. I would PREFER to run the firewall as it has some HIPS aspects. So if I can find the cause of this it would be great - with your help.

Funny you mention running WR w/BG.. I actually forgot to uninstall WR on one machine, and put BG on it.. I used it for a few hours and actually didn't notice any issues, then looked down and saw the icon, and thought "What?!?!".. This might actually be a viable layered approach!

 

Bodhitree,

I am using "stock" IE9 and Chrome (latest version & release) with Kb SSL; as previously stated, for whatever reason, with no noticeable browsing slowdown using the two combined security products with either browser. The older AMD-based machine refereneced earlier is the one my wife uses for online banking, so I wanted additonal security on it.

 

I used bullguard in 2007, were now in 2012 almost 2013
how good is bullguard now? Protection, detection rates etc?
is there a review? Maybe give bullguard i try again

ty

 

I should hope that ALL AVs not just BullGuard have improved over 5 years.

Tested over at AV-TEST for example; ttp://www.av-test.org/no_cache/en/tests/test-reports/?tx_avtestreports_pi1%5Breport_no%5D=123671

Definitely a first-tier AV now.

 

I tried BG in 2007, then 2009 and gave up on it. Bad interface, slowed down my PC's, and detection issues.

I saw this thread, and gave it another go. After 24 hours without the ability to destroy or infect my test machine, I purchased five 3 year licenses. I found the firewall issue, that's on now, it was an incompatibility issue I am sending to their support folks, nothing big, and it can be resolved pretty easily. (plugin issue w/browser) Otherwise it's been awesome so far on 4 machines it is on.

It is really nice to see programs improve to this extent. I hope over the next 3 years they keep it clean, light, and improving!

It progressed from this;
http://davidov.do.am/suratebi/details_bullguard-antivirus-3.5.gif

to this
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-con...ecurity-10-front_standard_is_us11-660x475.jpg

and finally to this
https://www.bullguard.com/media/982670/1_main.png

Which I believe is the best interface I have seen in an AV, minimalism to the max with the power settings a small click away. Extremely clean! This product absolutely rocks right now in my opinion. I am going to run another few days of tests on the test machine to try and break it or infect it, but still haven't succeeded. That's just thrilling. Make of it what you will.

 

Bodhitree, perhaps I missed it above, but is there a reason you are not running the 2013 version of BullGuard? Thanks, and I agree that BullGuard has developed into an excellent product.

 

Considering it uses the BD engine i should imagine its definately a first-tier product.

 

on the other hand i had a good experience with them but i did have a similar issue to berry where i had it on 1 pc and i reinstalled maybe 7-9 times due to testing the product out against various threats and when i contacted them they asked me why i was using it on more machines then the lic allows for. i explained this was ONE pc and in the end they were okay with it but the person kept "reminding" me it was only to be used on 5 machines and that upset me a bit. but overall i tried to like the program i really did. the av is okay but i dont like the overly simple approach. like bitdefender in auto mode i dont want something always making my decisions. for some other family members who dont understand this stuff its fine and that is who is now using my 5pc lic my aunts family. they are not comp savy at all and just getting win 7 on their machines was like pulling teeth. i dont like like the firewall much though and for me it for sure made a difference and slowed my machine down which is more than capable of running it or anything that exists out there pretty much. an i7 oc'ed to over 4.0 with 16gb of ram should not show any slowdown and it was fine except for browsing got slowed way down from normal.

i wish it had a better "advanced mode" with more options. if it did i might have continued using it myself. the gui is okay for me not the best i have seen, great for simplicity. i think if it offered more customization for advanced users they could get more of the market. and also they should affor a true CUSTOME installer. one that actually lets you customize the install. in this regard avast, and avira are awesome and i wish they would take note.

 

BG has never been bad in terms of detection and protection. Their focus was on maximal protection and good customer service from the day they started out as a company. I must say they achieved it well, though I was always concerned about their prices. Thanks to DownloadCrew, that's not as big a concern now.

 

ive tried a trial of bullguard and it was very impressive.It has a good firewall and anti virus plus it seemed very light.
I never tried the customer support as i never had any problems with it.

 

They initially had Sygate as the firewall and they used that as long as they could, right up through 2005 I think. When Sygate got eaten up by a giant () they switched to Outpost. As you can see BullGuard doesn't just license the cheapest stuff out there. That's why I developed a respect for the company.

 

This is good to hear.. Given they license Commtouch(not cheap), and Secunia, along with Agnitum, they seem more concerned with quality then saving a few bucks. I respect that.

I discovered the slowdown issue is also related to RollbackRX.. It's a great product, but your PC grows progressively slower the longer it is installed! Really annoying.. I need to try to solve that. Bullguard DOES slow booting by a small amount. I am not really worried about that because once it is running it's quite light and speedy.

Anyone notice slightly longer boots with BG on? Again not a huge issue, RollbackRX progressively slowing down boots more is a pressing issue for me to address.

 

Hey Bodhitree, it's me again. BullGuard IS may have added a second or two to my boot times but it is not noticeable; remember that I added BullGuard to systems already running WSA and am quite happy with this combo.

I bought Bullguard IS 2013 from DownloadCrew when it first came out and only paid $10 for a 3-user version. The day after the 2013 product was released Downloadcrew doubled the price.

For those that haven't tried this product, it has a very simple GUI; I did NOT like it at first but now that I am used to it, I have no problem with it's simplistic approach.