Vista And Xp Bitdefender Autoupdate Stopped - Fix
G'Day Folks,
After looking into the possible reasons why the Autoupdate service for BDIS or BDTS (2008 or 2009) may have stopped functioning, we looked into the BD Firewall Rules to ensure that it had given itself permission (Allow) to do so, i.e. allow the "livesrv.exe" through the firewall.
I know this may sound stupid to some, but it is not the first time that a firewall has blocked its own service(s) 
It is a good idea to print these instruction if you want to perform the listed tasks.
On several machines (PC's) running Vista (Home Basic, Premium, Business and Ultra) we discovered that the "livesrv.exe" was flagged with a "Deny" when it should have been an "Allow" flag.
In order to fix and check this, it will take very careful steps to verify and if needed, fix this issue as the normal procedure to simply "allow" will not do so as it cannot find the path to the file.
The path (#) to this file is " C:\Program Files\Common Files\BitDefender\BitDefender Update Service\livesrv.exe "
and brings up an error message to the effect.
In order to fix this, a new permission must be activated and the # path found manually to then allow it through the firewall and after successfully completing the permission, the old deny has to be deleted.
The procedure applies to both Vista and XP !
Procedure A. - For 2009 BD versions !
Step 1. You must be at the OS's Desktop (Normal Startup Screen after the system (PC) has loaded) with no other programs running, other than the normal loaded TSR's and normal Icons on the desktop Screen and normal Start Bar at the bottom.
Step 2. Ensure that the BD TSR Icon (red Ball) is visible on the right hand side of the Start Bar.
Step 3. Double click on this BD icon to open the BDIS / BDTS or Right mouse click on it to bring up the menu and click on "Show"
Step 4. Next, If you are not already in "Advanced View" switch to it now ! (if you are not then the BD window at the top will say "Switch to Advanced View" which obviously you click on to change to the advanced view, which when there, will say switch to Basic View - this you also obviously do not click on as it indicates that you are in Advanced view where we want to be !)
Step 5. On the left margin menu, click once on the "Firewall"
Step 6. Now click on the "Rules" tab at the top of the Firewall window.
From now on, perform each task very carefully and ensure that you follow our instructions to close the technical advanced options on completion, which YOU do not go into otherwise, unless specifically instructed to do so by an advanced user or Technician.
Step 7. Un-tick the box to the left of the "Hide System Rules" which currently has a tick (check mark) in it by left mouse clicking the box, this now un- ticks the box and a lot more Processes are now shown in the Process/Adapter Types list.
Step 8. Now only look for the line that has the [+] C:\Program Files\Common Files\BitDefender\BitDefender Update Service\livesrv.exe and click on the [+] to open the process parameter line.
Step 9. If at the end of the 2nd detail line, under the Action column the word "Allow" appears, THEN DO NOTHING ! and simply reverse Step 8 and 7, and exit from the BD interface window !
Step 9a. If at the end of the line it has "Deny" Then continue to the next Step 10.
Step 10. With the [+] C:\Program Files\Common Files\BitDefender\BitDefender Update Service\livesrv.exe line highlighted (default blue background) and the line under it showing, click on the [[+]] button (top right above the Local Action columns) "Add Rule" button to add the required rule.
Step 11. In the "BitDefender Add a New Firewall Rule" window, Click on the Browse button which will open the "Program Files" Folder by default and in the Folder list, you will see the "BitDefender" folder etc, which you progressively select and double click on to get to the \Program Files -> \Common Files ->\BitDefender -> \BitDefender Update Service \ and select the "livesrv.exe" file (may be shown as only "livesrv" in Vista)
You can double click on the "livesrv" file or once selected click on the [open] button and go to the next step.
Step 12. This takes you back to the "BitDefender Add a New Firewall Rule" window, where we now select the following options or ensure that they are selected (ticked)
Please select (tick by mouse clicking the box ONLY if it is empty) and do not tick the Program Path box ! this only has the path line that we chose, in it !
- Command Line, the Any box is ticked
- Protocol: has "Any" selected
- Events: ALL boxes are ticked (selected)
- Action: click the "allow" circle
and now click on the [ OK ] button.
Step 13. Now we are back in the Rules window which now under the [+] C:\Program Files\Common Files\BitDefender\BitDefender Update Service\livesrv.exe line highlighted (default blue background) has a new "Allow" line entry and the old "Deny" line entry.
Now click on the "Deny" line entry to highlight it (light blue background = active selection) and once selected, click on the [[-]] "Remove Rule(s)" button at the top right, and in the "BitDefender Confirm operation" popup window, click on the [OK] button to complete the removal of the "Deny" line, and we now should only have a "allow" parameter under our [+] C:\Program Files\Common Files\BitDefender\BitDefender Update Service\livesrv.exe line.
Step 14. Once this has been achieved, click the [-] box on the [-] C:\Program Files\Common Files\BitDefender\BitDefender Update Service\livesrv.exe line to turn it back to a [+]
Step 15. Re-tick the box "Hide System Rules" under the header word Rules:
Step 16 On the left Menu margin, click on the "Updates" menu item, once in the Update window, ensure that the "Automatic updates is enabled" box is ticked (selected) and then if you are connected to the Internet (have an active ISP connection) click on the [update Now] button and it should perform the Update which will be indicated on the two (2) bars under the "Download Status"
Once completed, the Last Checked and Last Updated lines information should be the same, i.e. contain the same dates and time.
If this did not fix the update issue (problem) then other Bitdefender options in the advanced section may also be blocked which then may need to be re-loaded i.e. switched to "Allow" if they are currently set to "Deny"
TAKE NOTE ! - THIS SHOULD ONLY BE DONE IF YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD TO DO SO, as there are parameters that are correctly blocked (set to "Deny" and should not be changed !!
All currently listed Firewall permissions for Bitdefender functions and programs should be allowed, I believe, as they are on our systems in XP and Vsta. - If BD Technical Support does not agree with this, please post the parameters that should remain as "Deny' for the BD item in the Firewall rules - asap Thanks
Note that some BitDefender items in the Un-hidden options of the firewall rules section have the BD icon and others for BitDefender have the default window icon in front of the Rule. If comfortable in doing so, each rule could be checked by you to ensure that they are set to "allow" by simply clicking in the [+] box in front of the rule to open the parameter line(s) and check the Action column for that rule. If you have other than an "Allow" action for a BitDefender rule, it is advised to post the particular Rule and check that the selected task is set correctly i.e. to "Allow" or "Deny "
Who and Why was this particular option set to "Deny" ? - is a question for the Easter Bunny or Bill Gates and his operating system(s) and my be classified under "Murphy's Law"
As I do not have a BD 2008 version active. I trust that someone else will post the detailed instructions on how to perform and check these tasks for BDIS and BDTS 2008 in XP and Vista.
