Does Bitdefender turn off Windows Updates??

DIVERSE

I am running Windows 8.1 x64, and recently installed Bitdefender Internet Security.

(Previously was running Kaspersky IS. Windows Defender run in the brief interval between uninstalling KIS and installing BIS.)

But recently I have been getting warning messages that Windows Update is turned off.

For years I have had this set to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them". But it was recently set to "Never check for updates (not recommended)". At least twice I have manually reinstated the desired setting of "Check [...] but let me choose [...]", and also tried setting it to "Download updates but let me choose whether to install them", but — either way — somehow it keeps getting downgraded back to "Never check [...]".

As far as I can surmise, this would most likely be either:

• that Bitdefender is setting this because it thinks it knows better which updates should be announced & fetched & installed; or
• Windows has detected some aspect of BIS that makes it think it should switch off its updating.

I couldn't find other reports of this online though.

(The closest I could find was https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/204/windows-update , which apparently relates to firewall issues, and doesn't seem the same as what I'm seeing.)

Bitdefender doesn't seem to notice the problem ...

...and I can't see a setting in BIS to configure Windows Update preferences.

—DIVERSE

DIVERSE

I think this mystery is mostly solved now.

As mentioned, the Work profile is set (by default, I believe) to "Postpone Windows Automatic Updates".

This morning, when I launched Zoom, I noticed a message coming up:

"Work Profile

We always have your back while working. The performance of your device was automatically optimized while using zoom.exe."

I can't say I'd ever noticed that message before now, but it may well have come up in the past without me paying much attention to it, and certainly without me realising the precise details of the changes implemented to achieve the optimisation.

Spoiler Warning

I must say that I agree with BIS's logic of temporarily disabling Windows updates while on Zoom, because I have found Zoom to be rather resource-hungry. In particular, there doesn't seem to be a convenient option in Zoom to choose a lower bandwidth (lower resolution and/or lower refresh rate) for either the outgoing or incoming video stream. Without a high-speed internet connection, simultaneously running Windows Update to download an update could be problematic. Windows Update (while scanning or installing) and Zoom both also impose a noticeable load on the CPU. And one wouldn't want to accidentally reboot the system in the middle of an important meeting.

For completeness, below is a screenshot of the BIS Dashboard, showing the satchel/briefcase icon in the upper right-hand corner, with the message (upon hover) of "Work profile is active".

The remaining mystery is the conflicting status messages sometimes shown contemporaneously in different places, as in the screenshot below. However, I think it's of minimal importance.

—DIVERSE

DIVERSE

By the way, does anyone know of a specific Event Log that would help to track what is causing the above setting to be silently changed in the background?

I couldn't find it under

• Windows Logs\System
• Applications and Services Logs\Microsoft\Windows\System Settings\Operational
• Applications and Services Logs\Microsoft\Windows\System SettingsV2\Diagnostic [after enabling]
• Applications and Services Logs\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Update Client\Operational

In the first of the above logs there were two instances of "Automatic Updates is now paused." (Event ID 27), but I'm not convinced that that is the problem.

Gjoksi

Personally, i don't think that your Windows Updates problem is somehow connected to Bitdefender or Bitdefender Settings.

I'm running Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit with Bitdefender Total Security 26.0.12.59 and Windows Updates is always set to "Install updates automatically (recommended)" and never been switched to the other options by itself, unless i do it manually.

Also, the Vulnerability Scan scans only for available Windows Updates and gives you the option to install them and there is no option to configure Windows Updates from Bitdefender.

Steck1108

Hello. Regarding the disabling of Windows Update, there is a possibility that the confirmation items differ depending on the version of Windows, but the Windows Update control setting is disabled in some way, or the Windows Update agent service is manually disabled. There is a possibility that it is. Please check it. Open Run. Type gpedit.msc, Local Computer Policy> Computer Configuration> Administrator Templates> Windows Components> Windows Update If you click Enabled first in the window for configuring automatic updates, the automatic update configuration section determines how to perform automatic updates and when to perform the installation.

lonras

If you have installed an update that affects your antivirus software, you will not be able to log into Windows after it has been installed. Once you sign in, Windows will stop working. PCs with Sophos, Avira, Arcabit, Avast, and McAfee antivirus software are affected by this problem

Steck1108

Hmmm, when installing Bitdefender, it's hard to imagine that it will be affected even after running the dedicated uninstall tool. It is said that Kaspersky was installed, so If you try running the Kaspersky uninstall tool, it seems possible to isolate the cause.

※　kavremover

DIVERSE

You could be right. I am still monitoring this.

DIVERSE

I hadn't replied for a while for two reasons: (i) being too busy, and (ii) observing such erratic behaviour that there was no straightforward pattern to describe.

Earlier today I cross-posted to  https :// answers.microsoft .com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-update/spurious-warnings-about-windows-update-settings/281e773b-97fc-4973-9f07-7fd7f94eaa44

Then, by weird coincidence, I just noticed that in the Work Profile I have (by default?) the option "Postpone Windows Automatic Updates" ticked (i.e. enabled). [Note: access this from the BIS GUI: choose the "Utilities" menu, then click to see settings of the "Profiles", and then click to configure the Work Profile.] This sounds a lot like it could well be the culprit!

Under the same Profiles settings menu interface I have (by default?) the option "Activate profiles automatically" enabled. Earlier today I noticed a little briefcase/satchel icon somewhere in the BIS GUI, while now I cannot see any icon. Apparently the aforementioned option "Automatically activates the right profile based on your activity or running applications". This would imply that the Work Profile is occasionally activated automatically when certain things are happening on the computer — perhaps with MS Office applications open, for example. And, if so, that would well explain the 'erratic' behaviour I observed, as it sounds like the Work Profile would be regularly enabled and disabled, which could mean that the Windows Update operation would regularly alternate between being allowed without hindrance and being "postponed".

For more information on the Work Profile see https:// www.bitdefender .com/consumer/support/answer/2063/

DIVERSE

Follow-up to my post of 07 July 2022.

It's not only Zoom that triggers the Work Profile. Other applications that trigger it include Thunderbird (an email client) and Excel (a spreadsheet editor).

Not sure whether there's a listing anywhere of all the applications that trigger the Work Profile. Or whether users can customise the list.

—DIVERSE

Alexandru_BD

Hello @DIVERSE,

If the feature "Enable profiles automatically" is toggled off, the relevant applications will no longer trigger it, thus you will not receive these pop-ups anymore.

You can customize the application list for each profile.

Each profile applies a set of modifications to improve the usage of specific apps, defined by the user or queried from a cloud list.

To manually add apps to the Work application list in Work Profile:

1. Click Utilities on the navigation menu on the Bitdefender interface.

2. In the Profiles tab, click Settings.

3. Click the CONFIGURE button from the Work Profile area.

4. In the Work profile settings window, click Applications list.

5. Click ADD. A new window appears. Browse to the app's executable file, select it and click OK to add it to the list.

Not sure if this answers your question.

Regards

DIVERSE

Hi, Alexandru_BD.

Yes, I had the feeling the profiles could be either enabled or disabled. [When I said "not sure" it was partly me being too tired/lazy to investigate late at night!]

I can see that it's possible to add applications. However, I cannot see a listing of the applications already added, nor does there seem to be an obvious way of removing applications that have been (already) added. [Not sure if applications added by the user will be listed and then can be removed.]

Use case: a user who wants Bitdefender to automatically prevent Windows from updating during their Zoom meetings [that might be for an hour or two, say], but to (automatically) allow Windows updates while Thunderbird is running [that might be almost always open!].

—DIVERSE.