Bitdefender Free protection level?

Seeing how good Bitdefender scores in tests, i was wondering if that also applies to Bitdefender Free?

Is BD free using the same protection capabilities as BD Antivirus 2014, just without the extra settings, features and goodies? Or is it an old feature set which is nowhere near as good as their full AV?

I'ma asking this because i'm deciding between Panda Cloud and Bitdefender Free. We know Panda is very good as well because they actually tested it. But i have no clue about BD Free. If it's just as good as BD Antivirus 2014, just without the settings, it's still a good option. But if not, i'm not sure if it's worth using it.

 

Yes
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2200851&postcount=1403

but...
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2353931&postcount=2955

Iulika0069 Last Post:
Bitdefender Antivirus Free - English GUI
August 30th, 2013 03:00 AM ..............
-----------------
http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=40732&view=findpost&p=212543

 

And what about all other products using bitdefender like qihoo ?

 

Yes, protection seems on pair with the paid edition. It's a pity that it is not developed anymore... no new updates since a while, no answer by developers on their forum and so on. So I would choose Panda Cloud which is actively developed.

 

360 Internet security?

Great detection rates... but sometimes high false positives
a LOT FaSTER scans then BitDefender
MUCH LIGHTER than BitDefender

 

Thanks Anon for your (as always) very informative and detailed reply.

BDF seems to be the perfect solution to install on a non-advanced users system as it works away in the background requiring little if any intervention from the user, while at the same time providing top notch protection.

If it were`nt for those damned bugs though. Hopefully it gets on well with Sandboxie as I`ve installed these two on my daughters pc sometime ago.

No bad reports..........yet.

 

I wouldn't say that. Yes, developer was gone from Wilders, but the last update was back in October 2013. For an AV with pretty much no functions and engine that gets updated through definitions seems a reasonable timeframe.

But yeah, there is just too much uncertainty on how does it stack up with their 2014 lineup. Is it just feature/settings wise or also protection wise? I mean, if both are the same and free one just lacks all the customization and options of the paid one, i'm fine with it. I can live with the settings and tweaks limitations, but i'm not sure if i could with protection limitations.

 

I have tested Bd free on real system offline/online few times.
I have scanned malware packs from malwaretips & compared the results with Bd paid results posted on malwaretips. They were same.
I have executed malware offline/online. Bd free is excellent. Its offline signs & Active Virus Control i.e Behavior Blocker is very effective too.
Webshield is also very effective.
It seems provides the same protection as paid.

Few things...
It seems 2012 version of Bd.
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2352889
Compressed file, right click scan deletes the file on malware detection.
Occasional logs button prob. System restart or exiting & starting Bd always solves the prob here (Win 7 64)
Right click scan is dead slow

No slowdown with Autoscans here (4 GB RAM)
No FP yet
No slowdown, slowboot, slow browsing or any other prob here
Version is always the same as here http://download.bitdefender.com/updates/bitdefender_v9/plugins/update.txt

Win 7 64
Windows FW
Bd Free
Adblock Plus
Sandboxie

 

Installer.exe might be the same the entire time because there was no need to change it. That's why 2012 remained in it as file version (of the installer, not product).

 

I have BDF on one PC and paid on this one, I see no difference in protection BDF is a great program rest assured your protected well.

 

Just lacking Bitdefender Photon™ according to the developer. And it seems Photon really only seems to have to do with increase in performance. No increase in protection, just performance. So you're good in terms of protection.

Reference: http://download.bitdefender.com/res...itdefender-2014-Datasheet-AV-A4-en_EN_web.pdf

 

Link?

 

I too would like to see a link where the developer mention BD free provides the same protection as paid.

techsupport forum, best free antivirus - new reviewer has taken this section. For BD free he mentioned "protection has not been shown identical with the paid"
I said it seems BD free provides same protection as paid.
He said BD free is not yet tested by any testing organization that would show its protection & if its same as paid.
He said it would be good if there is a link by developer that shows Bd free provides same protection as paid.

 

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition - Product Updates, Fixes delivered via the automatic update module
http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=40736

Dec 25 2012 Version: 1.0.13.859 (Date: 12.18.2012)
Feb 08 2013 Version: 1.0.14.889 (Date: 02.08.2013)
May 15 2013 Version: 1.015.946 (Date: 05.14.2013)
Jul 04 2013 Version: 1.0.16.1022 (Date: 06.21.2013)
Jul 04 2013 Version: 1.0.16.1026 (Date:07.03.2013)
Jul 04 2013 Version: 1.0.18.1047 (Date:07.19.2013)
Aug 26 2013 Version: 1.0.18.1071 (Date: 07.19.2013)
Sep 02 2013 Version: 1.0.20.1083 (Date: 08.29.2013)
Oct 29 2013 Version: 1.0.21.1099 (Date: 10.24.2013)
XX XX 201X Version: 1.0.XX.XXXX Date: XX.XX.XXXX......

 

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2200851&postcount=1403
=>
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2186176&postcount=993
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2170398&postcount=603
===============
Iulika:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2163962&postcount=333

 

Good job, anon.

 

I've got a purchased copy of BitDefender and I am currently using 360 and feel like it's definitely lighter and faster at scanning.

 

I had emailed Bitdefender support about free AV protection.
I got the reply "The core protection of Bitdefender Free Antivirus is the same as the paid versions of Bitdefender"

 

So it's true. It actualyl has the same protection, it only lacks certain other features (like extra settings and latest Photon tech). It's fine then as performance seems decent even without it.

 

Yes, its only lacks those additional stuffs like parental control, safepay, etc...
And frankly, I am happy those features are not there.

And as for development, they mentioned "There are developments in progress all the time"

 

Hello, I am looking into this as well as I'm working to update my article about the Best Free Antivirus Software:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-anti-virus-software.htm

I opened a support ticket with Bitdefender a few days ago in which I asked more detailed questions about exactly how the two products compare and whether they would score exactly the same if tested in a real-time test. Does anyone know how long it usually takes them to respond? I did receive a confirmation that the request was received not long after, but so far I have not received a reply. If I do I will respond to this topic with the results.

Thanks.

 

I would say your question is not top priority so it could take some time.

 

Here is some information that may help give us an idea of the protection that the free version of Bitdefender gives us in comparison to their paid products. It certainly doesn't answer all questions, but hopefully it helps a bit. These settings show the modules loaded into Bitdefender within the bdsrv.xml file located at C:\Program Files\Bitdefender\Antivirus Free Edition\settings folder.

Code:

<settings>
<plugins> 
<plugin name="scansp" dll="scansp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="ScanCache" dll="scansp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="onaccess2" dll="onaccessal.dll" startup="2"/>
<plugin name="GzQuarAl" dll="scansp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="GzExcludeSP" dll="scansp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="LoadUsage" dll="utilsp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="Update" dll="update.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="Fallback" dll="update.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="ondemandal" dll="ContinuousScan.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="ContScan" dll="ContinuousScan.dll" startup = "0"/>
<plugin name=[B][GLOW="blue"]"hips" dll="mdavc3.dll" startup = "2"[/GLOW][/B]/>
<plugin name=[B][GLOW="blue"]"midas3" dll="mdavc3.dll" startup = "2"[/GLOW][/B]/>
<plugin name=[B][GLOW="blue"]"httpav" dll="httpav.dll" startup="2"[/GLOW][/B]/>
<plugin name="cloudsp" dll="utilsp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="tracer" dll="utilsp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="utilsp" dll="utilsp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="logger" dll="utilsp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="CommPlg" dll="utilsp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="GzMetricsPlg" dll="utilsp.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="regal" dll="regal.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="BdRescuePlg" dll="ContinuousScan.dll" startup="0"/>
<plugin name="DummyPlg" dll="Dummy.dll" startup="2"/>
</plugins>
</settings>

So clearly there are some important features of their Active Virus Control as well as HTTP scanning. I don't have it installed at the moment so I can't confirm, but outside of these settings, I understand that their is also a firewall driver running alongside Bitdefender free as well.

Although I am very curious to understand more about how Bitdefender free compares to their paid version when it comes to testing and so on. It certainly looks promising and I hope that they continue development of it. From my own personal experience on my test machine, it is without a doubt the lightest free antivirus at this particular point in time and nag free which is also great. And while I don't use an antivirus on my main machine, I still do follow the reputation of free antivirus programs because I do install them on client machines.

 

Could you find a setting to turn off autoquarantine?

 

Unfortunately, no. And I had previously tried as well but with no luck. It's buried deep within .DLL's and that is beyond my knowledge.