How to add device without sharing username/password?

SSL · 2022-07-02T08:33:40+00:00

There was an error rendering this rich post.

I purchased the premium security which allows me to share the subscription with 10 other devices.

Now I'm trying to share the subscription with a family member. I followed the instructions here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skI4VlaD8Ws. An email gets sent to my family with a link to download Bitdefender.

But when opening the app, it asks for a login or create a new account. I don't want to share my account so we created a new account for this new device. This account only has a 14 day free trial and no way for me to somehow share my subscription.

Please advise. Thanks

Find more posts tagged with

Accepted answers

All comments

Gjoksi

Hello.

Sorry to say, but that is impossible.

You must share your Bitdefender account details (e-mail and password) for the Bitdefender program on the other devices could be registered as paid version and connected to your account (subscription).

If you create another Bitdefender account, the Bitdefender program will be connected to the new account, not to your Bitdefender account and will be registered as trial version.

From my personal experience, i gave my brother in Germany my Bitdefender account's details (e-mail and password), so he entered those details when the program was installed on his laptop and till today he has fully paid Bitdefender Total Security on his laptop.

Also, when i do a renew for the subscription, he doesn't need to enter the details again, as the Bitdefender program on his laptop is recognized and shown in my Bitdefender Central account and the extended period of the subscription is automatically applied to the Bitdefender program on his laptop.

But, if you decide to register the Bitdefender program on your family member's laptop/pc, then do the following:

First, log out from your Bitdefender Central account.

Next, open the Bitdefender program and do this:

In the next dialog boxes enter your e-mail and password that you used for your Bitdefender account and subscription and click on "Sign in".

You are done.

Wait a few seconds and sign in back to your Bitdefender Central account.

Now the the Bitdefender program on your family member's laptop/pc is fully registered as paid version.

Regards.

BBakula

Hello,

@Gjoksi, I believe you really tried to help but I also think that you didn't quite understand what @SSL is saying here. The activation on another device without signing-in with the account credentials should be more than possible. Basically, that is the functionality that Bitdefender is publicly offering - activate the software on another device with just the URL/link that the subscription owner forwards to you.

And following the Youtube tutorial that @SSL posted, this is also what Bitdefender is advertising as an "easy and quick" process to have the Bitdefender protection activated on another device, if using your/someone's existing subscription.

I am also experiencing the same problem right now. Around 2 months ago, I was able to successfully activate Bitdefender on another device by just using the link generated from the Bitdefender Central (exactly as it is supposed to work). Now, in the last week, I am experiencing the problem on two occasions already (and with two completely different devices).

The subscription information (of my own account) is visible in both the download page and in the Bitdefender installation client prior to the installation. However, once the installation is finished, this "connection" to my subscription is lost and the Bitdefender client asks me to create a new account or sign-in to the existing one.

I did experience the same problem a year ago but at that time, I though the issue was coming from a device itself and not really from Bitdefender. Now, I see that the problem in fact lies within the Bitdefender itself.

I can of course sign-in to my own account but that defeats the purpose of the remote activation functionality. And even more importantly, I am really not a fond of sharing my account credentials to other devices (if sharing to a friend or within a business).

Any possible chance to examine this case further @Alexandru_BD ?

I also have a ticket open with the support (1008416804) but it is taking ages.

Thank you for your time and effort.

Alexandru_BD

Hello @BBakula and thank you for your patience.

Firstly, I have to say I'm impressed by the amount of details you have provided and the comprehensive response written for the engineers. Thank you for that. Going forward, I have asked my colleagues to prioritize your request and seeing that you have recently replied to them, they will get back to you shortly.

Once again, thank you for your helpful responses and understanding.

Regards

BBakula

Thank you very much @Alexandru_BD.

Best regards

Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/92423/how-to-add-device-without-sharing-username-password

Well, go to online bitdefender central account -> Click on my devices -> Click on add devices -> Click on security -> Click on other devices -> Click on email link

Your family member will receive the bitdefender download link on his email from your central account.

Regards

Alexandru_BD

@Flexx it's not working for him and I can see that the engineers requested more information, such as:

The location of the main device (admin device) - Country/city
The location of the device where the autologin fails after the installation - Country/city

Regards

BBakula

Hi @Flexx,

Thank you for your message.

As Alexandru_BD said in his reply and as I tried to explain in my first comment above, the problem here is that the process/steps that you are suggesting don't always work (at lest not for me).

I am fully aware of the steps (go to online bitdefender central account -> Click on my devices -> Click on add devices -> Click on security -> Click on other devices -> Click on email link) and this is exactly what I am doing every time when I want to install BD on another device.

But again, the automated activation sometimes works for me and sometimes not.

Just 1.5 months ago, I had a successful automated activation on a PC (one of the two devices I own).

On June 4th (10 days ago) I had an unsuccessful automated activation on a PC of a family member and had to log-in with my account details to activate it.

On June 10th (4 days ago) I had another unsuccessful automated activation on my second PC, on which I was reinstalling operating system and therefore had to reinstall BD as well.

The problem appears after the installation is finished. When downloading and starting the installation, a connection to my account/subscription is visible inside the BD client window. After the installation is finished, the information about my account/subscription is not visible anymore in the BD client window and the BD client window asks me to either create a new account or log-in manually with my existing account, in order to activate the product. Signing-in manually would work and the product would become activated but this beats the purpose of the functionality and presents a cybersecurity risk (I do not want to share my account credentials to every device owner whose device I am trying to put under my subscription umbrella).

Best regards

Alexandru_BD

@BBakula I'll share with you what I think is happening.

When it comes to Central, there are some limitations in place. There is a limit on how many autologins you can do in a certain period of time, and you can only autologin from the country where the Central account was created. So, if you send invites to someone from another country, or if the person trying to use the install link is connected to a VPN in another country, the link won't work and they will be prompted to enter the main Central account credentials.

This happens because multi-user home solutions are intended to be installed on devices that belong to the same household, and because a login attempt from another country can be a sign of suspicious activity, so the login security measures in place will be triggered if someone abroad is trying to use an install link coming from your account.

These restrictions also have the purpose to deter unfair usage and unauthorized resale of license slots.

Regards

Hobanober

I just purchased the 10 device license. I have added 4 devices. The invite link allows the 5th device to install the bitdefender product, but continues to ask for the central account credentials. All devices are in the same household and not in another country. I don't know what to do at this point.

Scott

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/326183#Comment_326183

Hi Hobanober,

On the device you're having an issue with the install, since it is in the same household, can you access the device yourself, go online into your Central account, and from My Devices, Add device, choose what you're trying to install, then Install on this device, and see if bypassing the invite link works. Then log out of your Central account on that device.

Scott

Alexandru_BD

Hi,

@Hobanober you can try the workaround provided by @Scott above. Otherwise, this is not the expected behavior, especially if the device is located in the same household. In this case, the Support engineers would have to take a closer look.

Should you wish to contact them, you can use the link below:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

Regards