Customer Reviews

BitDefender Total Security 2008 - 2 Years/3 Pc's [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

BitDefender seems to have taken a cue from the more popular AV software in its newest release. BitDefender 2008's appearance has changed dramatically in its new incarnation; its master interface looks and feels suspiciously like Symantec's Norton Antivirus. While the attempt to be more user friendly is a good thing, the controls may feel bulky and inefficient for those used to the old setup. Further, the BitDefender console can run quite slowly on less powerful computers, and, oddly, some buttons don't seem to work at times.

BitDefender 2008 also seems to suffer functionality problems on some systems (I run Vista Home Premium); occasionally features (update, identity control, stealth mode, and firewall among them) will simply stop working (BitDefender will say they are "unavailable"), and not start again until the computer is restarted. This is usually associated with either an update that requires a system restart (in which case it will inform you) or coming back from sleep or hybernation (in which case it will NOT always say your protection has been compromised). This seems to have improved as the software has been patched, but it's still not 100%.

Despite these hangups, BitDefender is a solid piece of internet security software. 2008 is loaded with features; all those from the last version plus some new ones, including automatic file backup, registry cleaner, identity control, a basic disk defragmenter, game mode, and a file shredder (I won't bother explaining them here; check the BitDefender website and they'll tell you all about it). Makeover aside, it still provides the same superior protection old customers will expect and new ones appreciate.

Bugs aside, BitDefender still makes the grade, with quicker definitions updates and better heuristic detection than most competitors, including Norton and McAffe. If you're willing to tolerate its flaws, it provides efficient and effective antivirus, P2P, and firewall protection.

First, most security software packages offer free trials. Try them before you buy since there is no internet security suite that works great on most computers. If they work great then come here or someplace else that has better prices then the manufacturer. Then just type in the installation key.

I am giving stars to security software I tried based on two criteria. First is how well does it protect, and second, what are the odds it will work well on your computer. I decided to give it three stars.

Caveat - This is not totally fair since if BitDefender works for you, it is the best deal out there for the price. You get two years of excellent protection for what others charge for one year.

At first BitDefender worked great on two computers, a super fast somewhat new computer, and an old 1.5 ghz XP computer, both XP computers built by me.

It gives 5 stars coverage when it works since it gives outstanding protection. Independent testing says it is great. I left it on my children's computer for almost the entire 30 day trial and it ran really fast and prevented all problems. I did not test the spam protection since my email provider does that well. However my children normally download all sorts of infected downloads and autoloading junk, and the computer can quickly get infected with nasty viruses(not lame cookies).

However on my computer I had the same problem as an earlier reviewer where the firewall and scanning turned itself off. For that reason I am guessing the odds of it not working are pretty good, and the consequences when it doesn't are pretty severe. In BitDefenders defense, they warn you with two big red X's that the protection is off. I was just too dense to look up what that meant. But since I feel the odds of not working are pretty good, I give it three stars overall.

Just to clarify, all other security software I tried gave me problems. Norton was the worst. I not sure why I tried Norton since we use it at work and I am not happy with it there (it has advantages in a network evironment), but I could not get it to do anything. Worse I could not remove it. I tried standard uninstall, a utility program on the Norton site, and standard windows methods including registry deletions. I finally booted up in command mode and deleted the program that way. However I then lost network connections and tried for three hours before I gave up and did a total new install of Windows.

McAfee is good but I detested the user interface on the 2007 version so I never tried the 2008 version.

I have decided to purchase TrendMicro again. But it has problems too, such as the 2007 version will not run on my children's computer. It conflicts with most security software. And forget about installing it if you already have viruses (Try it after BitDefender which did a great job of cleaning up my children's computer and that will not be a problem).

BitDefender, TrendMicro, McAfee, Norton and Panda will protect your computer well if they work. I just think TrendMicro has a better chance of working.

The virus scan is fast and seems to be very effective. The backup tool works as well as any I have used - I haven't used the restore feature so can't comment on that. The rest of the features are pretty generic and seem to work well. BitDefender Total Security runs circles around Windows Live OneCare which I dumped as soon as BD arrived. Installation was simple. Hourly antivirus updates make me feel comfortable with security issues. I have kept Spyware Doctor in case BD lets me down on the malware front.

The product receives two stars because it works. It receives two stars because you cannot reach support. It receives two stars because I was unprotected for an unknown amount of time until I discovered that the real-time protection and firewall turned themselves off. This happened several times during the trial, and (I know, I know..I'm stupid) after I purchased a registered version. The program looks nice...seems very intuitive and modern but has many issues.

My PC stats to compare with yours: Dell Dimension 4600 - Pentium 4 3Ghz with Hyper-Threading - 2 GB of RAM - Nvidia Geforce 7600 GT OC....Windows XP Home Service Pack 2....My system runs smooth at all times...for those that use Flight Simulator 2004, my system runs this simulator with all sliders MAXED...and runs at 25 FPS...my system is fine...so I will not accept that my computer caused any issues with these programs.


The small icon placed in the system tray does not indicate any issues with Bitdefender while its running, you have to click on it...when I did, CRITICAL ISSUES.....(see above). When I attempted to use the "FIX IT" features of this product, nothing happened...I had to reboot. When support was contacted through email (24 hour email response guaranteed) I received (5 days later) instructions for downloading two more programs to gather information about my system and the possible errors along with screenshots and then email back to support. I did this...and after 8 more days of protections and firewall failures without any alerts and no response from support, I initiated a refund with Digital River and received my money back...I went with a different product. I tried Norton 360...good program but missed many viruses....Kaspersky Suite locked my computer severely...great virus protection but had to reboot in safe mode to remove it...did not allow any connections no matter what level that firewall was on. I am currently using Zone Alarms Security Suite...latest version and love it. So nice to have a product that works...and the best part...after I ran Windows Defender and all these other suites...Zone Alarm still found 6 viruses/trojans lying in wait...way to go....AND ZoneAlarm's suite uses Kaspersky for its antivirus/adware...very nice

BOTTOM LINE: All users will experience different results with all these products...many have loved Kaspersky and Norton and Bitdefender but all of our PC's are different and will act differently. TRY EACH ONE OUT IN A TRIAL....I have found that ZA works great.

I thought BiDefender was protecting my computer, but I was wrong! Instead, it infected me with an obnoxious trojan/virus. Their technical support appeared helpful in the beginning, but after three weeks of emails back and forth and several 6-hour scans, I gave up. They never could remove the virus.

I had my computer checked out by BestBuy who said I was so badly infected I should do a complete system recovery, which I was about to do when I decided to give Kaspersky 7.0 a try. Well, it cleaned my whole system and eliminated 61 virus/trojan/adware files and my computer is now working just great.

I suppose BitDefender works fine, as long as you don't get infected. My advice, stay away from it--try Kaspersky instead.

...and go with something else. I've used BitDefender for over a year now, and this morning woke up to discover that my internet provider had alerted me via email that I had a Trojan on my computer - this with BitDefender already in place and functioning on my machine. I figured if they could do that that I would download the McAfee anti-virus product they were offering for free. I installed it, and during the first scan it picked up not one, but two Trojans on my computer - two that BitDefender somehow managed to miss. Bottom line, save yourself some heartache here. BitDefender will noticably slow your computer down, scans take forever, it is forever updating, and based on what I saw today I have to wonder what it's updating for - the prom? Bottom line, it's just not as good a product as McAfee or Trend Micro, based upon my experience.

WORKS GREAT WITH FIREFOX BROWSER!! TRY FIREFOX www.mozillia.com instead of windows IE, which takes up too much memory!! Firefox is safer than Explorer. Firefox has many add ons and WORKS EXCELLENT WITH BITDEFENDER!!
Norton, Kaspersky, Panda wont work with FIREFOX. Bitdefender, avg, and some other work For FIREFOX. Be careful with pc tools brand security, dont get me wrong they are very good and get the job done. But they automatically charge your account at renewal time without any prior notification, they send you an email to the account you used when U installed PC Tools. They did this to me, I deleted all of my funds from this one account keeping it as aback up if needed then PC Tools charged my account and Overdrafted my account.
Bitdefender is the best internet security with antivirus Ive ever had. The only thing I dont like is if you dont have a storage device big enough you cant back up the system, And if you do use the back up today and check it tomarrow it tells you it has been past 30 days since last backup. But I jst leave mine disabled anyway. It does has atleast two scan modes normal and a deep scan mode, which is good for those hidden viruses.

BUY IT NOW!!! By it from amazon.com,Bitdefender cost about 50% more at bitdfender.com site.

Amazing software
fast, easy, automated hourly updates, light on old machines, two years updates and up to 3 pc's cover, and the cheapest among all anti-virus + anti-spams and internet security.

Truly the best Total security

I highly recommend it to everyone

BitDefender Total Security 2008 - 2 Years/3 Pc's I purchased BitDefender Total Security for my computer and my son's laptop due to PC Magazine. Unfortunately, the program never made it to my son's laptop. I have Windows XP and had to uninstall Windows Defender to get rid of some problems. That created even more BitDefender problems. The only solution according to the 1-800 number for BitDefender was to uninstall and reinstall BitDefender Total Security. That became a daily routine. If I was not on the phone with BitDefender, I was busy sending emails after I had downloaded their tools and responded with results. After about 15 days, I had enough! Since then, I returned the product. I have downloaded ESET Smart Security for 30 days (as a trial) and no more problems! I am also trying Glary Utilities (free forever) and no problems! I wish I could get ESET Smart Security thru AMAZON.

This was reccomended by a friend who uses it ... worked perfect much better than my old Norton in fact it found issues the other missed.
Great Buy - Very Pleased