Background Scanning And Updating Slowing Down The Computer

oxygen

When BitDefender is scanning files in the background (which I've never asked it to do) it keeps the HDD chugging away and slows the computer right down. Similarly, when the update process takes place it grinds my computer to a halt.

Is there any reason for this? I have more than enough RAM and a 2.6Ghz CPU so I don't see why it should slow it down so much.

AndreiASM

To decrease the scanning time, you should change some options:

1. You should tell BD not to scan inside archives by going to Antivirus -> Custom level -> Open archives

2. Change the maximum file size BD should scan

You could also disable automatic updates and run manual updates 2 or 3 times a day.

PS: Sorry if the options don't match. I have BD in romanian language.

Andrei

Niels

Hello

You can also enable the following options don't scan files larger than 5000 kb ( you can change the value). So files,folders that are larger will not being scanned during a realtime background scan. You also have the possibility to exclude a folder than you have to enable the option don't scan this pad on all levels,press on add new item. But do not exclude the windows folder, program files (I mean the entire folder just excluding a subfolder is fine),temp files,temporary internet files,... You can see what BitDefender is scanning when you start BitDefender go to antivirus,there you will see the graph and also how intensive BitDefender is scanning. If you do what I and Andrei said the memory and hard disc usage will decrease.

Regards

Niels

oxygen

Thank you both. I'll try it, hopefully it'll help because the hard drive seems to chug away for hours while it does its background scanning. Any recomendation on the max size of files to scan or shall I leave it at 5000kb?

AndreiASM

You can reduce the maximum size to about 3000-4000 Kb. It's not very recommanded reducing it too much.

Glad that we could help you.

Andrei

oxygen

I tried everything you said but the hard drive still seems to be chugging away constantly and using a utility I downloaded I can see it's bdss.exe (The Scan Server) that is using a h.ell of a lot of I/O by constantly scanning.

Is there any way to reduce how regularly it does the background scanning because it seems to have it chugging away non-stop scanning over the same files time and time again starting from the beginning as soon as it has finished.

alexcrist

Hi oxygen,

Is there any way to reduce how regularly it does the background scanning

No, you can't do that. bdss doesn't make a regular scan. It scans every file that is accessed in your PC, in real-time.

I can see it's bdss.exe (The Scan Server) that is using a h.ell of a lot of I/O by constantly scanning.

Is this happening all the time, or only at system startup?

If it's happening only at system startup, then it's absolutely normal, because BD scans all files involved in this process (drivers, services, startup applications, and all the files these applications use/open). But this scan should end in about 1 minute (maybe less, depending on how many applications you have in the startup list).

One suggestion I can give you is to change the Realtime protection settings to scan Application files only, and not All files. This will dramatically decrease bdss's activity, because you run only a few actual applications, but those applications make tens (maybe hundreds or more) file accesses, which increases bdss's activity.

Even if this option (scan applications only) is faster, it's a little less secure. But, if you don't visit harmfull sites, or if you don't really have a big problem with viruses, this option is enough for you. Just to be sure, don't forget to make a Deep Scan every once in a while, so you don't end up with some virus masked as a non-application file

Cris.

oxygen

It seems to be virtually constantly, I just used the app to monitor disk activity for 10 minutes (this is some time after startup with 'scan only program files, max file size 3500kb' and with only MSN and Opera's browser in the background, for this I excluded scanning Opera's cache folder to make sure it wasn't that).

In the 10 minutes the total I/O of bdss.exe was using 78% of the access to the main hard drive with a constant sound of hard drive activity coming from the computer. The only thing I was doing during this time was surfing a couple of sites, not downloading, launching any apps or anthing like that.

It seems to be scanning in the background non-stop.

alexcrist

Hi oxygen,

First of all, it's not safe to exclude from scanning Opera's cache folder, because even if you use HTTP scanner, many Exploits can't be scanned before download. If you exclude the cache, those Exploits will not be blocked by BD.

Secondly, what you are saying is not how BD should react. What BD version are you using?

I have BD 10 IS, with Scan all files enabled, and I don't have any such problems (also, I'm runing many applications in the same time).

Only three things come to my mind right now, that could cause your problem:

1) you have enabled Scan in archives. This option is not recommended, because it uses many resources and should be used only in extreme cases. If you have this option enabled, please disable it and see if it fixes your problem.

2) BD has some problems (maybe some files have become corrupted??). You could try a Repair. (Open BD INstallation kit and select Repair)

3) some other application is making numerous file accesses, and bdss is forced to make a lot of scans.

In this case, it might be an unknown malware, or a legit process that makes some other types of monitoring.

Are you running any other security solutions in realtime? Running multiple such applications can cause this behaviour.

Also, take a look in TaskManager and close the processes you don't recognize. After you kill a process, wait a few moment to see if BD stops scanning. If this happens, then you found the culprit.

If none of the previous suggestions works, open BitDefender Management Console, go to Antivirus and click More statistics. There, look in that list (it shows what files BD scans in realtime) and see if any of those files repeats itself many times. If you find such file(s), post here their names, maybe it's something suspicious about them.

Keep in mind that BD doesn't scan in realtime files that are not opened by some process. Anything that BDSS scans is opened by something else. Please use a Process Monitor and see which process openes/accesses the files that BDSS scans the most.

I hope this helps a little,

Cris.

oxygen

Hi Cris,

I only excluded the cache folder for that 10 minutes to make sure it wasn't that. I am using BD9 Pro Plus.

I don't have scan inside archives enabled but I will try the other two suggestions and see if that helps.

Thank you.

jtuggle

When BitDefender is scanning files in the background (which I've never asked it to do) it keeps the HDD chugging away and slows the computer right down. Similarly, when the update process takes place it grinds my computer to a halt.

Is there any reason for this? I have more than enough RAM and a 2.6Ghz CPU so I don't see why it should slow it down so much.

I didn't see where anyone suggested that you set your "system scan" for a designated time each day when you aren't likely to be on the computer. I didn't see a way to set a designated time for the update process.

But at least Bitdefender wouldn't be scanning your system files at all while you're on the computer.

- Julie