Can't activate Bitdefender on another device without logging in with account credentials

JLA711

Hello,

I am having difficulty with installing Bitdefender on additional devices. I have been able to install it on other devices in the past following the instructions online by sharing the link from central to the persons device no problem. However, now it requests that the user inputs the account credentials, which did not happen before and is not a step in the tutorial. The product is only activated after logging in on the other device.

Account sharing is a cybersecurity risk and the installation/activation of the product previously did not require the user to log in - the user simply clicked the link I sent them from Bitdefender central, downloaded and the product was activated.

Does anyone know why this has changed and how I can resolve the issue?

Thanks

Alexandru_BD

Hello @JLA711 and welcome to the Community!

I have noticed that in the Central account associated with the email address registered on the forum you have an active Antivirus Free for Windows license. Should you have a secondary Central account, kindly let me know in private and I will check the subscription status for you.

When installing protection on other devices, it is not necessary to enter the Central account credentials, as they belong to the account holder only and shouldn't be shared. The process hasn't changed, but it must be determined if the user that installs protection on their device using the link you have sent, also has an individual Central account associated with their email address. In this case, they should switch the account in the product, so that the antivirus can be synchronized with your Central account and draw its configuration from there.

In the event they also have a Central account, they should first logout from there and then attempt to install Bitdefender on their device by using your link.

They should open the link on the device they want to protect, click DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL and follow the on-screen steps to install Bitdefender.

ⓘ Note: The download link is available for 24 hours. If the link expires, you can generate a new one by repeating the procedure. If they followed the steps provided above, they would have managed to successfully install Bitdefender on their device. The program should be configured and ready to protect the system.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards

BBakula

Hi @Alexandru_BD,

I am also experiencing the very same problem right now. Around 2 months ago, I was able to successfully activate Bitdefender on a PC by just using the link generated from the Bitdefender Central (exactly as it is supposed to work).

Now, in the last week, I am having problems to activate Bitdefender on two different PCs. It is very much the same issue as @JLA711 described it.

The subscription information (of my own subscription/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. The client is at that moment deactivated, of course (in the notification part of the taskbar, the Bitdefender icon is grey in comparison to being red when it's activated).

I did experience the same problem a year ago on another PC but at that time, I thought 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 you time and effort.

Alexandru_BD

Hi @BBakula,

I have replied to you in the below thread:

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

Thank you!

BBakula

Thank you @Alexandru_BD.

Best regards