An overview of the Bitdefender Security Widget

Scott
Scott Defender of the month mod
edited July 2022 in Utilities

Hello 😊

Since the user manuals have not been updated yet to include information about the security widget that was reintroduced in Feb. of 2021, I thought I would post some of its features here. Some of it may be pretty basic, but I thought I'd include it for those who are new to Bitdefender and the security widget.

An article regarding the widget can be found here:

Moving the widget is towards the bottom, as I didn't want the gif distracting the rest of the thread.

The cloud and circle image is when BD is running an update, as it's receiving the update from the cloud (BD servers). The example below was from a system tray right-click update, which brings up the update screen. Otherwise, BD silent updates will just be shown in the widget while the update is occurring.

If you have a number at the bottom of the widget, you have a notification to review. By clicking on that little circle area, it will bring up the BD Notification panel for your review.

When running a scan, or if a custom scan was scheduled, the widget will show a scan occurring with an open notebook and a scan bar moving up and down.

If you were to have a more critical issue, the widget would turn red to get your attention.

The widget can be enabled from the BD panel by going into Settings, and enable the Security widget. It can also be enabled by right-clicking the system tray icon, Show Security Widget.

The widget can also be hidden by highlighting it and ticking the X, or by right-clicking the system tray icon and hiding it. It can then be re-enabled by doing the above steps.

The widget can be moved by grabbing a part of the black edge with your cursor and dragging it to wherever you want.


There is an ability to allow the widget to be displayed on top of all windows, to monitor what BD is up to as mentioned in the above information. But that requires a registry hack, and I didn't want to post it without an Admins approval. It looks like this:



I know I have probably forgotten to include something, so feel free to post whatever I've missed.

Scott

All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides:https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/

Comments

  • Flexx
    Flexx DEFENDER OF THE YEAR 2023 / DEFENDER OF THE MONTH ✭✭✭✭✭ mod

    Life happens, Coffee helps!

    Show your Attitude, when you reach that Altitude!

    Bitdefender Ultimate Security Plus (user)

  • Gjoksi
    Gjoksi DEFENDER OF THE YEAR 2022 / DEFENDER OF THE MONTH ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Scott

    Well done, buddy, well done! πŸ˜‰

  • Scott
    Scott Defender of the month mod
    edited July 2022

    To add, by mouse clicking or tapping with a touch screen the inside of green circle of the widget (it turns blue), will load the BD Dashboard.

    All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides:https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/

  • Scott
    Scott Defender of the month mod
    edited July 2022

    Lol...I knew I should have spent more time on the original post, as files can be dropped into the widget to be scanned. The file will return to its original position

    All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides:https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/

  • Alexandru_BD
    Alexandru_BD admin
    edited July 2022

    Amazing job @Scott, your efforts are highly appreciated!

    FYI: I have just asked one of our technical writers to include Widget information in the user guides as well. But it may take some time, so this post is right on point and will surely help users that are searching for Widget details both inside and outside the community πŸ˜‰

    Hats off to you and please feel free to post any hacks and tips you may have, it's alright 😊

    Premium Security & Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools user

  • Hello,

    in the past I was able to set the Bitdefender Widget "Always on Top" with this registry entry:

    - go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Bitdefender\Bitdefender Total Security\ (the last part is different based on the Bitdefender product you have)

    - right in the right panel > New > DWORD (32 bit) Value

    - name it "sab_on_top" (without quotes)

    - double click on the new entry "sab_on_top" and enter this Value data: 1

    - click OK to validate the changes, then restart the computer

    But since a few months, this is not possible anymore.

    Do you have a new registry entry for this?

    ItΒ΄s very annoying when for example IΒ΄m opening a Browser or Outlook and I cannot see the Widget.

    Many thanks for a solution.

  • Hello @Werderforever,

    I'll tag @camarie to see if he has any insights on this. Hang on.

    Thanks!

    Premium Security & Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools user

  • camarie
    camarie Principal Software Developer BD Staff

    From what I see in code, the registry value name ("SAB_ON_TOP" - without quotes, obviously) remains the same. What has changed is because of the split in "Bitdefender Security" and "Bitdefender Security App" - the latter being the place where (usually) all the UI-related registry preferences are stored (and the former remain related to internal settings or not directly related to the main interface or the tray agent).

    So I would say to try to modify in registry in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Bitdefender\Bitdefender Security App and create a REG_DWORD registry value named SAB_ON_TOP. If the value does not matter, the program verifies if the value exists and is of type REG_DWORD (and if so, makes the security widget appear on top) or, if the value is not present or is not REG_DWORD, disables On Top appearance. There is no automatic notification for the registry value setting, so to force an update the simplest way is sto go in main interface in Settings/General and flip Off/On the Security Widget status.

    Let me know if this solves the problem.

  • Hello camarie, hello Alexandru-BD,

    many thanks for your help.

    I have tried to modify the registry, but unfortunately without success.

    I have made a screenshot. Do you have another idea, to solve the problem?πŸ˜€

    Many thanks again.

    Werderforever


  • camarie
    camarie Principal Software Developer BD Staff

    I am sorry, my mistake. The registry key should be HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Bitdefender\Bitdefender SecurityΒ App\BDAgent

    I forgot to specify it is the BDAgent subkey. Sorry about that.

  • Perfect! Many thanks for your detailed explanation.

    IΒ΄m very glad, that the Bitdefender Security Widget is now on Top.πŸ˜ŠπŸ‘ŒπŸ‘

    Have a nice weekend, camarie!β˜€β˜€β˜€