Bad Experience With Bitdefender Internet Security 2009 (bis)
I bought BIS 2009 because of a recommendation by a dutch consumer guide. First let me tell you about my pc: I have windows vista 32 bits home premium, Intel Core 2 duo 2.4 ghz with 2 gig of RAM.
The first problem began whenever I started a scan, be it scheduled or manual. Each time the scan started I got a notification that I never scanned for malware, which was untrue since I scan daily starting with the scan by BIS itself during installation. When the scan finishes the notification disappears. This happened with every possible kind of scan.
The problem began when I tried to use the website for the Netherlands (www.bitdefender.com/nl/), more specifically any help with this issue. First I tried to use the web mail thingy. It's a box in which you fill in your problem and your email address. So I started typing and at the end I pressed OK (or send). A few minutes later I received a message from my internet provider that they couldn't reach the email address.
<@wotan.bitdefender.com>:
Sorry, no mailbox here by that name. (#5.1.1)
Above the error message. In the manual there's a phone number you can call. So I tried that. After ringing a few times the phone was picked up after which there followed dead silence. No one responded to my hello's. I decided to wait 5 minutes then I hang up. 15 Minutes later I repeated the procedure, still no one responded.
The Dutch support section is therefore non existant.
Thankfully I could reach the american (?) email address and they helped me by sending me a file. Executing this file and, indeed, the problem was solved.
Now on to the next problem. Scheduled scans failed to work. The first suggestion made by a certain Andrea at the chat session was: restart your pc. I was shocked and annoyed at such a suggestion. Nevertheless I followed her advice but it didn't work. Then I had another chatsession and this time I had to sent a system report to bitdefender.
The answer came after a short time. Please remove all anti-spyware programs and also Tune-up Utilities. Then do a reinstall. Please use our uninstall tool to make sure everything is uninstalled. I did all that and it didn't work. I sent an email stating that the problem was not solved. I didn't receive any answer.
Anyway I got the scheduled scans to work by making clones and setting up schedules for them. But if you change the time of a clone it doesn't work anymore.
The only solution to this problem was to turn off UAC in Vista. Now almost everything works. Almost? Yes, because the File Activity and Network(?) Activity don't show anything. This seems to be related to Internet Explorer 8.
This whole experience makes me doubt that I will buy another license after 2 years.
