Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2014 (Value Edition, 3 PCs/2 Years, Download) $6.99

nice deal for those looking for an inexpensive alternative to Security Essentials.
 
I have been really happy with bitdefender using it on all my systems for a couple years now and they have stayed very clean.
Good deal for a good product with a good license system.
 
Grabbed this offer too. $6.99 for 3 PC's I thought was pretty good. For those asking, there's no real comparison to MSE. The whole point of an AV program is to catch a virus -- MSE misses too many to be fit for its original purpose so it doesn't matter how how few resources it uses.

Check out the independent tests and make up your own mind.
http://www.av-comparatives.org/
MSE is better than nothing but you can do better with just about any other AV product.
 
mlcarson said:
MSE misses too many to be fit for its original purpose so it doesn't matter how how few resources it uses.
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Not in my experience, but okay. Doesn't really answer my question, either.

I'd like to move away from MSE after reading how bad it is, but not at the cost of significant slowdown on my machine.
 
MavericK96 said:
Not in my experience, but okay. Doesn't really answer my question, either.

I'd like to move away from MSE after reading how bad it is, but not at the cost of significant slowdown on my machine.
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Honestly not sure on resources comparison, but Avira is my preferred. I bought the Premium when it was cheap from Newegg, but license is up and I reverted back to the free version.

http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus#

Uses probably 25-35mb just sitting there doing whatever. I don't run scheduled scans so I can't comment on that.

I tried Bitdefender some time ago when there was a crazy deal, it mucked up my system pretty good. Removing it and going back to Avira fixed everything.
 
Dallows said:
Honestly not sure on resources comparison, but Avira is my preferred. I bought the Premium when it was cheap from Newegg, but license is up and I reverted back to the free version.

http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus#

Uses probably 25-35mb just sitting there doing whatever. I don't run scheduled scans so I can't comment on that.

I tried Bitdefender some time ago when there was a crazy deal, it mucked up my system pretty good. Removing it and going back to Avira fixed everything.
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Any annoying popups or adverts with that free version of Avira? I'm moving away from Eset since there are significant issues with it's web protection and the Asus router web GUI.
 
mtbush said:
Any annoying popups or adverts with that free version of Avira? I'm moving away from Eset since there are significant issues with it's web protection and the Asus router web GUI.
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No, they recently removed the ad notification with the free version. There is a toolbar but you can just un-check and choose not to install it.
 
Bitdefender works good, but the UI is no desirable. Absolutely no options. Wonky managing the whitelist the last time I looked. Not even sure if it exists actually..
 
Dallows said:
No, they recently removed the ad notification with the free version. There is a toolbar but you can just un-check and choose not to install it.
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thanks for the info, just finished installing.

it never prompted for a toolbar, but I don't see anything in Chrome or IE
 
Dallows said:
Honestly not sure on resources comparison, but Avira is my preferred. I bought the Premium when it was cheap from Newegg, but license is up and I reverted back to the free version.

http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus#

Uses probably 25-35mb just sitting there doing whatever. I don't run scheduled scans so I can't comment on that.

I tried Bitdefender some time ago when there was a crazy deal, it mucked up my system pretty good. Removing it and going back to Avira fixed everything.
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Cool, I will give that a try before I pay money. Thanks. :)
 
I used to use Avira. Was my go to AV before it got flooded with Ads. From it went to Nod32, Avast and now MSE (because I'm good at watching what I download). Will be checking it out!
 
Picked this up since I've read good things about it and hey, the price is nice. Worth noting - this is for 3 PCs for 2 years, not one year. Pretty dang good deal.

Speed is very fast, indistinguishable from NOD32 and NAV2013 which puts it in very good company.
Detection engine is rated highly, but I don't really get viruses since I am pretty careful so can't personally comment much there.
UI is minimal, which is fine by me - nothing huge sitting there wasting memory.

Feels fast and light, and does what it says. I like it.
 
I got this a couple months ago actually and I'm ready to uninstall it.

It has too many false positives I found. Try and run something and you'll find nothing happens. You have to go in and allow the program to run.

It also likes to just delete things automatically and you can't stop it from doing it. If it finds something it thinks is bad it will just delete it and you there's nothing you can do. I've added all kinds of exceptions to the rules inn the settings but it still just deletes things. Searched their support forums for solution and found a lot of people complaining about this and Bitdefender offers no fix, that's just how it works apparently. If it thinks it's bad it's gone and there's not much you can do about it.

I think it's fine for the 'average' person without much computer knowledge but for someone who knows what they're doing you'll find it annoying.

Yes sure it's fast and lightweight, I've not noticed any real difference in the system when it's running and it seems to work fine.

I'm careful what I download, I know what I download, but the program doesn't think I know what I'm doing apparently. Just a bit overprotective for more advanced users I think..
 
I've been running this for the last 3 or 4 weeks since my Vipre sub expired (and no good deals to be had). I haven't noted any of the above.
 
Been running it for over a year, and I've never had any of those problems either.
 
I had the free version installed on my HTPC (Athlon X2 4000+, 2.5GB, WD 1TB Blue) and even turned off it would grind my HDD all day long. Accessing files and even general multitasking performance went into the toilet. Maybe paid is different?

I also had it running on my sig rig, removed it, and BF4 ran smoother. And that's on an SSD!

So...thread jack...

Is there an AV as good as BD that doesn't affect system performance? And again, I had BD turned off, yet it still took a toll on performance. I guess it's not really a big deal as I probably haven't had any trouble w/ malware in a long time.
 
I picked it up but it blue screens on install at the scan stage each time. Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem to like Windows 8.1.
 
Stay far away if you have ANY software that might be listed as unsafe.(Patcher's, even official ones, Keygens, Trainers)

Whitelist, Exception list does not work, it's constantly trying to clean several files, turning off the AV engine doesn't even work, the "off" button is basically fake. In order to truly turn it off you need to disable the service, and it takes several reboots.

Also there are known BSOD problems with the Firewall engine. Look at their forums, they go back years ignoring peoples questions on these issues.

I installed openVPN, connected and experienced my first BSOD on this machine because of the firewall engine. Hasn't happened since, but pissed me off.
 
I'm running BD AV+ on a Sandy Bridge system -- not state of the art or anything any more. No performance issues. Registers 0% CPU and < 6M RAM. If your system can't handle this then it's probably time to look for a new computer. There are no BSOD issues -- this is on Win7 64-bit with Normal on-access scanning. If you're running something with intensive I/O requirements then you should probably turn on-access scanning to permissive during this period if you notices a performance hit. You'll have the same issues with any AV product that's actually doing anything. BD got high marks for low system utilization compared to other AV products and has been rated overall either THE best or among several of the best for years.

If you're running Windows 8.x, you have to expect issues. That's an abortion of an OS that probably won't be fixed until 9.x.
 
No problems here, either. I have BD running on two pc's at the house and both work just fine. I'm pleased so far and I'd get it again. Especially for the price!
 
ShepsCrook said:
nice deal for those looking for an inexpensive alternative to Security Essentials.
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if all Bitdefender has going for it is that it's an alternative to MSE then it's not saying much...MSE is a no frills basic free version that's better then nothing but it's detection rates are pretty bad
 
See on line "best antivirus 2014," Bitdefender is usually in the top three, often first or second.
 
This is great software but for those running windows 8 I suggest you use the version that was made specifically for that.

It's called Bitdefender Windows 8 Security. That version was specifically designed for windows 8 and works like a charm.
 
mlcarson said:
I'm running BD AV+ on a Sandy Bridge system -- not state of the art or anything any more. No performance issues. Registers 0% CPU and < 6M RAM. If your system can't handle this then it's probably time to look for a new computer. There are no BSOD issues -- this is on Win7 64-bit with Normal on-access scanning. If you're running something with intensive I/O requirements then you should probably turn on-access scanning to permissive during this period if you notices a performance hit. You'll have the same issues with any AV product that's actually doing anything. BD got high marks for low system utilization compared to other AV products and has been rated overall either THE best or among several of the best for years.

If you're running Windows 8.x, you have to expect issues. That's an abortion of an OS that probably won't be fixed until 9.x.
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So we're just going to run with the "my experience is this so everyone else must experience the same" routine?

OK.
 
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I don't know if the retail version will have the same issues, but thought I would give a heads up anyways. Around this time last year there was a deal (price error?) where versions of BitDefender 2013 were being sold for $0.15 each. I purchased 10 licenses. Product works great and I stacked up a couple licenses on my main PC and laptop.

A few days ago I get an email saying that it is set to auto renew all 10 of my licenses at a cost of $50 each in about a week. To cancel I had to find my old receipt, create a login for their website, and cancel the auto renew option. The email I used to make the purchase is a seldom used email that I check monthly, luckily I just happened to check it in time.

Probably not an issue for a 3rd party purchase, but just in case the sale is processed by BitDefender you could be in for a nice renewal fee when the licenses expire.
 
That's exactly what you were doing. If the products was as bad as you guys were reporting -- it wouldn't be in the rankings where it is. I'm guessing my experience with it working as intended is more likely the most common.

Dallows said:
So we're just going to run with the "my experience is this so every else must experience the same" routine?

OK.
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mlcarson said:
That's exactly what you were doing. If the products was as bad as you guys were reporting -- it wouldn't be in the rankings where it is. I'm guessing my experience with it working as intended is more likely the most common.
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Except not really. I merely answered someone's question while putting in my own comments about Bitdefender. The person was asking about performance and since they were already using a free software, I recommended another free solution.

Your attitude came off as if we must be doing something wrong, or it's a problem with our computers because Bitdefender works so great for you. I can assure there's no problem on my end.
 
BitDefender sucks lol. Its about the only AV I ever had that wouldn't even install on multiple machines. Sadly I paid for it. And that was the last time I paid for AV.
 
Dallows said:
So we're just going to run with the "my experience is this so everyone else must experience the same" routine?

OK.
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Isn't that exactly what the people saying the software sucks are doing as well?


Seriously though, I'll say it again. I've been running BD on Windows 8 (now 8.1) for over a year now, and I have yet to have a single problem. It costs me zero perceivable performance, and has kept my PC clean. I gave a copy to my parents when their PC was pretty badly infected, and it cleaned it right up. I don't doubt people that say they had issues with BD, but I also don't think they are in the majority. If it really was as bad as some people are claiming, it would show up in a review or two, and the software definitely wouldn't be ranked at the top like it has for several years now.
 
marcusj3000 said:
This is great software but for those running windows 8 I suggest you use the version that was made specifically for that.

It's called Bitdefender Windows 8 Security. That version was specifically designed for windows 8 and works like a charm.
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Well, that version wasn't on sale. In any case, every version including this one lists compatibility with Windows 8. It's not like the system I tried to install on was atypical. It's a new build (a 1 month build with fresh install of Windows), Asus Z87-A MB w/I5-4670K, GTX-780 and that's about it. I don't think there's a single AV that doesn't work or cause problems for somebody. I think it's just the nature of how AVs function that they may conflict with something. I was just unlucky this time I guess.
 
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