I've just about had it with the new free version.


I used to be a BitDefender evangelist. I would happily install the software for my home clients, extol the  virtues of using it (great protection! low system resource overhead! independently tested!). There was no comparison! BitDefender was a no-brainer. And, when my business clients asked, "What antivirus should I use?" I wasn't the type to say, "Hey, just use the free version." I recommended BitDefender GravityZone - a paid solution, and usually for a couple years. I just had a couple clients re-up in January and in March of this year - so my recommendations have added a cool $5,000 to BitDefender's bottom line. Not much, but not nothing, either.


At this point, it's come to a head, though. I have had it up to here with BitDefender Free edition. What used to be an unintrusive, fast, effective antivirus has turned into a cost of doing business. It randomly disconnects from Windows Security Center, resulting in confused users who call me, who get charged money for what amounts to a simple reinstall. And what's worse? A lot of times that uninstall/reinstall schtick doesn't even work. Once I try reinstalling, BitDefender triumphantly exclaims that it's still installed on the system - even though it isn't, having JUST been uninstalled. This leads me down rabbit hole after rabbit hole, burning MY time and annoying my clients that they had to spend time AND money on chasing this rabbit hole due to an antivirus product I clearly had misplaced faith in. It regularly faces one of two bugs: Either Windows Security Center and it lose sync and one or the other insists that the system is no longer protected, or it just starts to condemn every website on the internet as a "malicious security threat".


Either way, what used to be an almost perfect user experience has been completely ruined. I get that you need to make money. You will lose my business and that of my customers if you don't get your act together. You are far from the only good antivirus vendor on the market, and I'm not going to let your software ineptitude jeopardize my reputation. Fix these bugs or I will find an alternative, and I will leave you guys for an alternative in a heartbeat.

Comments

  • RedsFan
    RedsFan ✭✭✭
    edited May 2019


    I also see when there is a BD  version update it loses connecting with windows security center, sometimes with a few warnings that BD is disabled....


    Good alternatifs are just around the corner ;)


  • Hi,


    The fact that Action Center reports that the Antivirus is disabled it may be just a display issue. Please try to follow the steps from this article and disregard the steps related to Firewall as they are for the paid version: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/9329/


    Regarding the the websites which are not accessible, please let us know if this happens for every website or just with some websites and on which browser.