Bitdefender Online Scanner

I moderate on another site and specialize in malware removal. I frequently recommend the use of the BitDefender online scanner to users and ask that they post the log. Most recently, members have been unable to open the saved logs. See reply below:

"I cleaned all files as requested and then ran the virus scan as requested. it ran perfect. found 4 things. healed 2 and deleted 2. i then saved the results to a html file and it stated it had saved successfully to the desktop. when i viewed the file, it was 0 kb's and when i opened it, it was blank. sorry. don't know what happened."

I have had half a dozen replies just like this so I have stopped recommending BitDefender. I tried to the contact BitDefender team regarding this but got an automated reply directing me here. Please advise what the problem is and when it will be fixed.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

Niels

Hello AnnMarie,

Was the scan finished? The report will only being correctly generated when you see the message BitDefender Online Scanner has finished. No problems here the html report is correctly generated including the detected files and the action that was taken. I only tested to scan a specific folder.

Kind regards,

Niels

AnnMarie

My apologies Niels. I didnt realise my topic had been replied to. To the best of my knowledge the scan finished. I too tested the scanner on a folder and had no problem saving the result and opening the saved file.

Prior to running BitDefender, these operating systems had been heavily infected primarily with Vundo variants and I believed that all active infection had been removed. Gmer was also used to check for rootkits and none were found. I posted here out of concern that undetected malware might be responsible for this situation as in all instances but one, the users reported BitDefender removed malware files (but no-one remembered what was found).

Just looking at the below user description:

saved the results to a html file and it stated it had saved successfully to the desktop.

Can you save the results if the scan hasnt finished? I didnt think you could.

Niels

Hello AnnMarie,

If you are running Vista you need to run Internet explorer in administrator mode. I am almost sure that you already know how to do that. What operating system were they using when they couldn't save the scan report?

No, a scan report can only be saved when the scan has finished (when you see the message BitDefender Online Scanner has finished) . You are right about that.

Kind regards,

Niels

AnnMarie

Yes, I am aware of the need to run IE in elevated mode etc when the OS is Vista. We also advise members to disable their regular AV before running BitDefender.

Our site is moving servers today and will be down for a while while the DNS propagates so I ran a quick search of my topics only (there are more) where problems have been reported. It looks like our members have not been able to complete an online scan for at least three weeks. I have posted the date, OS and exact comments (including typos :rolleyes: ) below to give you an idea of what is happening.

6th Sept: XP SP2

I couldn't get BitDefender to work, any help? It couldn't update virus definitions, and after that it tried to scan but wouldn't do anything.

2nd Sept: XP SP2

BitFinder keeps failing to find and update virus definitions. I've turned off everything I can think of in my computer, what am I missing?

2nd Sept: XP SP2

I cleaned all files as requested and then ran the virus scan as requested. it ran perfect. found 4 things. healed 2 and deleted 2. i then saved the results to a html file and it stated it had saved successfully to the desktop. when i viewed the file, it was 0 kb's and when i opened it, it was blank. sorry. don't know what happened.

28th August: XP SP2

Eh...there was no threats detected and so..the log is a blank page. Is it suppose to be like that?

28th August: XP SP2

I did the online scan it has found 4 virusis and 6 file infected 6 of them where deleted, i tryed to exported it and saved as u told as html file but it didn't work when i open it with explorer it is blank and also has 0 bytes i think it didn't export and i can not do an online scan that takes 2 hourse again sorrry, if u can do it differently help me

21st August: Windows Vista SP1

I did what you've said, but there are no problems were found.

And when I export the scan report and try to open it, its only showing a blank page.

It's easy enough to recommend another scanner however I like BitDefender and that doesnt help fix the problem. I am also sure you are aware that use of the online scanner generates sales for BitDefender.

Niels

Hello AnnMarie,

Let them uninstall BitDefender Online scanner to do that :

Go the tools menu,uninstall BitDefender Online Scanner 8.

After that add the following websites to the trusted zone:

http://*.bitdefender.com

http://a248.e.akamai.net

http://ssl-hints.netflame.cc

Close Internet Explorer.

Install BitDefender active x once again.

Kind regards,

Niels

AnnMarie

I can see how this might fix the problem with updating the definitions but are you also saying this will fix the issue of a blank 0 byte report? A report is critical to the help I offer and without it, I can no longer recommend BitDefender.

alexcrist

I'm not sure if this helps, but BD Online first saves the report here: C:\WINDOWS\BDOSCAN8\scanrep.html

When you export the log, it should only copy that file to the new location. Maybe, just maybe, there's a problem in writing the file in the new location, but the original report exists. I can't reproduce the problem, so I can't say for sure that the problem is when the log is copied, or when the log is created.

Also, when the log is created (the original log), a template is used (stored here: C:\WINDOWS\BDOSCAN8\scanres.html). If that template is removed, the log file will be empty (0byte, just like the reported problems). Normally, that file should be downloaded (if missing) from the update server, along with the normal updates for BD Online.

As for the update problems... they happened to me a few times, but everytime I clicked "No" when BD asked if it should scan without updates, tried again the updates, and they worked. I have no idea what causes the update failures...probably a server-side glitch.

Cris.

AnnMarie

Thanks Cris. I'll ask for C:\WINDOWS\BDOSCAN8\scanrep.html the next time this happens and also check to see if C:\WINDOWS\BDOSCAN8\scanres.html is present. I will post back with the results.

AnnMarie

Just an update. Since my last post on 10th September, the online scanner has been working without a glitch. Whatever the problem was, it appears it has now been rectified. Thank you to all the members here who tried to help.