bitdefender use to have a free program

jonathanshapiro123

It looks like bitdefender does not have a download anymore. However on computers that it was already installed on, will bitdefender stop working

Alexandru_BD

Hello @jonathanshapiro123 and welcome to the Community!

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition for Windows computers has been withdrawn as of December 2021.

Bitdefender is committed to delivering innovative, effective security solutions to its customers. As platforms evolve, so do our products and technologies. As a result, Bitdefender continuously develops and shapes its solution set.

The End of Life (EOL) process is an essential part of the lifecycle for security products.

This free antivirus will no longer be available on the Bitdefender website. It will keep its antivirus features, but will stop receiving updates including security fixes after the official End of Support date.

The Bitdefender EOL process begins with the End of Life announcement and involves the following major milestones:

• End of Life: December 2021. The last month when Bitdefender Antivirus Free is available for download. After this date, we will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test new versions of this software.
• End of Support: June 30, 2022. The last date customers can receive support for Bitdefender Antivirus Free. After this date, the product will also reach its End of Support Life.

What this means for existing customers:

• We are retiring the ability to download and install Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Windows as of December 2021.
• Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Android is unaffected and will continue. Only the free Windows desktop version is being phased out.
• Existing Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Windows installations will continue to work and detect malware until June 30, 2022 when all updates will cease, and you will need to find an alternative. We hope this gives you time to choose and install another solution that will keep your Windows computers protected. As cybersecurity experts, we strongly advise you not to simply leave your PC unprotected going forward. Malware attacks are more sophisticated than ever, so it is critical to have robust protection that keeps you and your devices safe at all times.
• All Bitdefender Antivirus Free customers will receive in-product notifications and emails from bitdefender@hello.bitdefender.com advising that their antivirus edition is to be withdrawn. The email also includes a special discounted offer for Bitdefender Total Security.

• At any point, to avoid any disruption in their security protection, users may choose to migrate to one of our other security solutions. To make the transition easier, we’ve created a limited special discount offer for Bitdefender Total Security subscription, a substitute solution that offers the best anti-malware protection against e-threats across all major operating systems. This offer to upgrade to Bitdefender Total Security is only available to Antivirus Free Edition users, and will only be valid until December 31, 2021.

Best regards.

tacobelle95

It's too bad you make inexperienced computer users work so hard to figure this out. I've been a user for probably 15 years and suddenly I'm without a virus scanner and ZERO INSTRUCTIONS ON WHAT DO TO ABOUT IT! This leaves a very, very bad taste in my mouth, especially since I got a notice this morning, March 17, saying download the newest Bitdefender and when it started, it uninstalled the defunct version I had, along with Malwarebytes, and left me with NOTHING! I'm feeling very negative about this right now.

Alexandru_BD

Hello @tacobelle95 and welcome to the Community!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. I am sorry to hear of this inconvenience.

The new version will replace the previous one, as they cannot function together in the same account.

Can you share more details with us? Have you already downloaded the new Antivirus Free for Windows? Our developers just brought back a brand new free product here: https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html

Best regards.