Is BD Antivirus Free actually free or not?

NJMorf

I used BD Free for a few years before the announcement about a year ago that it was no longer being offered. I switched around a few other free offerings but was never particularly satisfied with any of them. About a month ago, while looking for another package to use, I saw that a number of websites were still recommending BD AV Free and that the BD website was still offering a free version, so I downloaded and installed it. I assumed that it was a new offering, since it was unlikely that the website hadn't been updated when the old version was withdrawn.

Today BD AV Free is telling me that my subscription has expired. I don't understand how a subscription can expire to a free package that is still available for download from the website. Furthermore, the download page makes no reference that I can find to the free product being time limited in any way.

While the application is still running on my computer, I cannot interact with it's main interface in any way other than to click through to subscription offers on the website: all other functions are unclickable. I can trigger an update check through the systray, but that fails with a message telling me that my subscription has expired.

Is this normal? is the "free" software actually only a trial package? Is there a bug? Current version is 26.0.32.123, engine version 7.93954.

Nunzio77

The free version is there and it works.

If you see a popup saying the version is out of date don't worry. Just close the popup. It's a bug that they say will be fixed in the next version release.

If you see that BD Free works for you and it has no "X" in the system tray icon above the "B" icon then you are ok.

Nunzio77

Read this post:

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/93426/fake-free-protection-expired-warning#latest

NJMorf

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/320691#Comment_320691

This is not upselling. This is a total disabling of all features, as far as I can tell. It may still be offering basic AV protection in the background, but there is no way of confirming that though the UI as literally every button is disabled other than the links to pay for a subscription or switch account.

NJMorf

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/320673#Comment_320673

There was a system notification saying that the subscription had expired, but no pop-ups in the UI itself. The systray icon is grey but has no X: mousing over it shows another message saying the sub has expired. There are no messages saying that the version is outdated.

NJMorf

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/320674#Comment_320674

I don't think I've seen a pop-up like that one, and I'm certainly not seeing it now. This is all I see in the UI:

All of the functions in the left-hand column are disabled, as are the "My Account" and help links at the top. This is the About dialog from the systray icon:

I see that the thread you linked has a post mentioning a new 27.0.1.13 build due "soon" after Jan 5th, but as you can see, the last update on my system was yesterday and I still don't have that version, nearly four weeks after that post.

Scott

@NJMorf

Try going to the top of the UI, My Account, click on that and tick Switch Account. Enter your email address and your password used for your Central account, and see if that refreshes your subscription status.

NJMorf

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/320709#Comment_320709

That button at the top is one of the ones that has been disabled. The one in the middle of the screen works, and logging in again (without ever having logged out in the first place) seems to have worked, for now. This is the UI now:

I should note that before I saw your post, I tried downloading the installer and running it again without uninstalling the current version. I think that the installer recognised that the software was already running and aborted itself, because I never actually saw an installer on screen. I did immediately get this message, as mentioned in the thread Nunzio linked to:

I haven't yet closed this pop-up, so it's actually still on screen despite the main window no longer saying anything about my subscription status. I'll try the update that's being recommended, which I assume will be v27.

Nunzio77

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/320711#Comment_320711

That popup close it and ignore it. It shouldn't come out anymore after upgrading to the next version.

Scott

Yep, your UI looks much better :) X out of that pop-up, restart your PC and see where you're at.

NJMorf

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/320713#Comment_320713

Updated, rebooted, still on v26:

I guess it'll update to v27 in its own time. As long as it keeps working, it should be OK.

Thanks, all.

Nunzio77

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/320714#Comment_320714

You will see that it will now work properly. Until you upgrade to the new version it's likely that popup will still appear. Close it with the X and ignore it, the important thing is that the "B" in the taskbar is red and not gray or has a red X above it. And from the console you see that it is active and you are protected.