Is Bitdefender Eating My Hard Drive?

Westminster · January 2012

I should preface this thread with the fact that I'm uncertain if BitDefender is the culprit, only I highly suspect it. I'll explain the situation:

My hard drive has been running out of space recently since I installed 'Bitdefender Total Security 2012' last month. This is an odd problem, as I would've guessed I had about 10 GBs free and I have not installed any other programs or even added any large files for perhaps the last 10 months... so this confused me, but I managed to get rid of some stuff to accommodate the problem, and move some home movies to an external drive to create 22GB of free space, and then just a few days later, I turn on my computer this morning and I find that I get another low disk space warning... I have literally installed nothing new.

I checked around on websites, and the bleeding is generally connected to antivirus software (regardless of the brand) and appears to be a common problem. The antivirus software appears to create thousands of small temp files, usually in the program folder... so I checked BitDefender but there was nothing in there. I ran BitDefender's cleaner to see what it could pick up, and it didn't snag anything. Then I ran something else to find out where the huge files were stored on my computer. It was my Windows Temp folder, and huzzah! looks like there is 40GB of stuff in there, at least. I'm using ccleaner to get rid of it all (it also identified them and is removing them) but is BitDefender the cause? These files only date back to when I installed BitDefender. Also, this appears to be a problem related to Antivirus software.

Is there anything I can do to stop this from happening again? Is this a known issue?

Thanks for your help!

rensovonk · January 2012

I should preface this thread with the fact that I'm uncertain if BitDefender is the culprit, only I highly suspect it. I'll explain the situation:

My hard drive has been running out of space recently since I installed 'Bitdefender Total Security 2012' last month. This is an odd problem, as I would've guessed I had about 10 GBs free and I have not installed any other programs or even added any large files for perhaps the last 10 months... so this confused me, but I managed to get rid of some stuff to accommodate the problem, and move some home movies to an external drive to create 22GB of free space, and then just a few days later, I turn on my computer this morning and I find that I get another low disk space warning... I have literally installed nothing new.

I checked around on websites, and the bleeding is generally connected to antivirus software (regardless of the brand) and appears to be a common problem. The antivirus software appears to create thousands of small temp files, usually in the program folder... so I checked BitDefender but there was nothing in there. I ran BitDefender's cleaner to see what it could pick up, and it didn't snag anything. Then I ran something else to find out where the huge files were stored on my computer. It was my Windows Temp folder, and huzzah! looks like there is 40GB of stuff in there, at least. I'm using ccleaner to get rid of it all (it also identified them and is removing them) but is BitDefender the cause? These files only date back to when I installed BitDefender. Also, this appears to be a problem related to Antivirus software.

Is there anything I can do to stop this from happening again? Is this a known issue?

Thanks for your help!

I have exactly the same problem after a update around Christmas.

Over 1.4 million files were added in my Windows Temp folder in short time (less than 30 minutes)

Cleaning the folder takes a lot of time but it is useless as it is filling again...

I am running Windows 7 SP!

I had to remove Bitdefender to "solve" the problem.

I sent this a problem to Bitdefender, got a ticket number and then: nothing.....

Westminster · January 2012

Thanks Renso, I'd prefer not to go down that route myself. Is there no other way to resolve it other than constantly cleaning out the temp files?

ashtonsaunders · January 2012

Thanks Renso, I'd prefer not to go down that route myself. Is there no other way to resolve it other than constantly cleaning out the temp files?

Have you tried reinstalling the software again? Maybe there is some bug during the installation process.

qlimax1975 · January 2012

Same problem here. Tried to reinstall, but the problem still remains. I manually delete all files in the temp folder, than the problem is back after a few days.

rootkit · January 2012

Hi guys

I currently trying to reproduce the issue. Those file could be created by the file access driver, but usually when they reach a certain dimension, the are automatically cleared.

This issue was resolved on the Romanian area by simply uninstall and reinstall the product + delete all the contents from the Temp folder.

Here's what need:

1. Support tool log:

http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=29927

2. Please tell me if those files have 367 KB.

Please pack some file(s) in archive with the password infected and send me a PM with it.

If the file is too big to attach it, upload it on

http://www.sendspace.com

or

http://www.mediafire.com

and send me a PM with the download link.

We will analyze the information you sent and then reply with a possible solution in the shortest time.

Have a nice day.

qlimax1975 · January 2012

Mine looks like this, only now the folders are empty. When the problem begins, those 0000..number are starting to rise up to 8-9 gb each. I didnt look to see how much bdclod folders are...maybe next time.

rootkit · January 2012

Hi

Please send me some files from those tmpXXXXX folders.

Thank you.

aandreev · January 2012

I have the same problem. I am 100% sure that the BitDefender causing creation of temp files. Folders appear in temp directory several times a day (around 6 Gb each folder). They started to appear from the date I installed the BitDefender. And using Performance Monitoring I noticed high disk activity by BitDefender process.

I have Window 7 Pro 64bit.

Please let me know if any other information is required from me to solve the problem. I was quite happy by the software but now I spent an hour a day to clear several folders, and the next day some more are awaiting it's just crazy

I tried to attach one of the sample files but I got "Upload failed. You are not permitted to upload this type of file".

cookie20 · January 2012

I have the same problem. I am 100% sure that the BitDefender causing creation of temp files. Folders appear in temp directory several times a day (around 6 Gb each folder). They started to appear from the date I installed the BitDefender. And using Performance Monitoring I noticed high disk activity by BitDefender process.

I have Window 7 Pro 64bit.

Please let me know if any other information is required from me to solve the problem. I was quite happy by the software but now I spent an hour a day to clear several folders, and the next day some more are awaiting it's just crazy

I tried to attach one of the sample files but I got "Upload failed. You are not permitted to upload this type of file".

Oh thank god I found this. I too have the same problem. I'm currently deleting everything in the temp folder but it's taking hours. So far I'm on 2,527,801 files totaling 1.25GB's deleted but still no sign of the end yet.

Bit defender Antivirus 2012

Windows 7 Home x64

qlimax1975 · January 2012

Try deleting with ccleaner. It was very fast for me. Same OS.

rootkit · January 2012

Hello

Thank you qlimax1975 for the files. We are currently analyzing the situation. I will get back to you with an answer(hopefully by tomorrow).

I am still waiting for others to submit some samples and logs.

Take care.

gforrow · January 2012

I am having the same issue. I get masses of directories with bdcloud, but these are empty and easily removed. However I also get loads of tmp**** directories which have anything from 100,000 to 300,000 small files in them. Spent most of the weekend trying to get rid of them, but as fast as I get rid of them, they come back.

I stumbled across this thread, so maybe an uninstall/reinstall of Bitdefender will work, if I can re-download the software, guess I can.

The virus scan never completes, as it gets to this directory and sits there, processing 1 file/second. Again, I presume I can exclude this directory from the scan, but why would I do that, I want the machine scanned.

Anyone got a sensible answer to this?? I have tried exporer to delete them, ccleaner to delete them, safe mode explorer and also an old dos command from safe mode as well. All take ages, and never complete the task.

I have security essentials on my Windows 7 64 bit install, perhaps a complete uninstall of Bitdefender will prove if its that or not.

Hopefully someone will be along with a solution soon, otherwise in 6 months I will not be renewing my license.

Cheers.

Gary

rootkit · January 2012

Hi Gary

Welcome to our forums.

Running multiple security solutions on the same PC may affect their proper functionality as they compete for access to the same system resources. Even if they are turned off, there are some active processes running in the background.

We recommend you to uninstall other security solutions in order for Bitdefender to work properly.

After that, please repair the current installation. You have all the steps here:

http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=31145

Take care.

gforrow · January 2012

Hi Gary

Welcome to our forums.

Running multiple security solutions on the same PC may affect their proper functionality as they compete for access to the same system resources. Even if they are turned off, there are some active processes running in the background.

We recommend you to uninstall other security solutions in order for Bitdefender to work properly.

After that, please repair the current installation. You have all the steps here:

http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=31145

Take care.

Cracking idea that one.

So I went for repair, and a couple of reboots. Gets to the last part of the install, about 78% after checking system files, and it errors out, doh! Now no bitdefender at all, and no massive tmp directories being created currently, coincidence??

Anyway, so what to do from here. I guess I can download the product from the web somewhere, perhaps support can guide me on that one.

Thanks.

Soniashope · January 2012

Sorry to read about all the problems you are having with Bitdefender 2012. I am glad I decided to read these comments before purchasing it. I think I will keep reading this thread until I see that the problem has been resolved and then make a decision.

Good luck and keep posting your progress. :unsure:

aberguerand · January 2012

Same problem here, 100'000s of tmp files, Win 7 64 SP1 starts crawling because SearchIndexer is trying to index them.

This problem already occured with BD2010 and BD2011. I hoped it would be solved with BD2012, but it seems to be worse now.

What I could figure by analysing the files in the tmp0000xxxx directories is that they were multiple copies of a single file on my HD. BD for some reason has picked-up this file during a scan and endlessly makes copies of it in the tmp0000xxxx directories. Stopping BD, painfully deleting the tmp0000xxx directories and deleting the original file would solve the problem. Until BD during a later scan randomly picks-up another file and starts again making copies of it like crazy.

Currently, the "culprit" file that triggers the problem is a small text file :

if (typeof(ADBE.Reader_Value_Asked) == "undefined")
   ADBE.Reader_Value_Asked = false;
if (typeof(ADBE.Viewer_Value_Asked) == "undefined")
   ADBE.Viewer_Value_Asked = false;
if (typeof(ADBE.Reader_Need_Version) == "undefined" || ADBE.Reader_Need_Version < 7.0)
{
   ADBE.Reader_Need_Version = 7.0;
   ADBE.Reader_Value_New_Version_URL = "http://cgi.adobe.com/special/acrobat/update";
   ADBE.SYSINFO = "?p=" + app.platform + "&v=" + app.viewerVersion + "&l=" + app.language + "&c=" + app.viewerType + "&w=" + "XFA1_6";
}
if (typeof(ADBE.Viewer_Need_Version) == "undefined" || ADBE.Viewer_Need_Version < 7.0)
{
   ADBE.Viewer_Need_Version = 7.0;
   ADBE.Viewer_Value_New_Version_URL = "http://cgi.adobe.com/special/acrobat/update";
   ADBE.SYSINFO = "?p=" + app.platform + "&v=" + app.viewerVersion + "&l=" + app.language + "&c=" + app.viewerType + "&w=" + "XFA1_6";
}

//PDF.JS

I have watched this forum for two years, this problem has been mentioned several times, with no hint of a resolution in sight.

gforrow · January 2012

Thanks for some more information. Now I understand why what is a powerful system was grinding to a halt. I am almost there deleting the 100,000's files, but it is slow and painful. I too noticed that it is just a copy of a single file from somewhere, all 1kb for me.

Anyway, currently without BD as it failed to reinstall, so awaiting some tips on that one, although by the sounds of it, do I really need it. Oh and the problems started in mid December, so no idea what triggered that, working fine until then.

Cheers

Petergossman · January 2012

Greetings fellow Temp-File sufferers.

I installed BitDef Tot Sec 2012 on 14 December 2011, onto Windows 7 Enterprise 64 Bit. I have no other conflicting AV programs running.

I have experienced exactly the same thing. On 7 Jan 2012, over 1 million Temp files named "tmp0000xxxx" appeared in my Windows/Temp folder in a matter of minutes.

This was the first time I noticed this, (however, I regularly run C-Cleaner so it may have been there before without me noticing).

It stopped after 7 January and I deleted all of them using CCleaner.

Today it did it again - over 400,000 temp files created in my windows/temp.

I managed to open one of the Temp files in Word. I found most of the Temp files were identical to this one, but there were some I could not open.

I subsequently uninstalled BitDefender and I have had no further temp files being created.

Attached is one of the copied temp files

/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=9029" data-fileid="9029" rel="">tmp00000a7c.txt

gforrow · January 2012

So do I reinstall or not, that is the question.

My earlier post where I indicated the reinstall failed during the repair process didn't even manage a support response, and now the software no longer exists on my pc, how do I reinstall it - Support??

Seems to be a recurring issue with many versions of the software over the years from what is being reported, yet it still exists, and a repair install is the best answer we can get, hmmmm

Time to post some messages to those places that rate this software so highly, clearly the short term testing gives good feedback, the longer term user base reports differently.

Cheers

Petergossman · January 2012

I am running with the free Avast for now in the hopes that Bitdefender Support will find a solution to the problem.

I bought a 5 User Licence of Bitdefender less than a month ago, so I am really hoping this problem gets sorted out.

cookie20 · January 2012

I am running with the free Avast for now in the hopes that Bitdefender Support will find a solution to the problem.

I bought a 5 User Licence of Bitdefender less than a month ago, so I am really hoping this problem gets sorted out.

I too have switched but to MSE. Very disappointed in Bitdefender. I'll bet there are others that have the same problem but have yet to notice. About 2 years ago I suffered with the bitdefender bug that damaged windows OS so much I had to reinstall. I've always recommended Bitdefender and have always felt it a great antivirus but these two failures for me are too big to ignore.

Petergossman · January 2012

I have just received an email from BitDefender support. They say they have found a fix to the problem and have included it in the latest update.

I quote:

"This issue was acknowledged by our teams in the last few days and I'm glad to say that the fix was released yesterday evening. Therefore please ask the customer to force an update to his computer, run a Disk cleanup and the issue should be solved."

I'm gonna try that and see if it works.

gforrow · January 2012

Well as mine didnt repair install, I haven't even got the software to update at the moment, so I'll probably need to sort that first. Also no email to me on the issue, so hope you feel special in receiving it <img class= " />

Interestingly, my account shows version 2011, even though when I bought it, I got the free upgrade to 2012. So presuming my activation will work with 2012 - Where do I go to download it???

rootkit · January 2012

Hello everyone

@ G-Man

Could you please provide me the ticket ID so I can take a look in the system?

Thank you.

Petergossman · January 2012

Hi Christian,

Ticket ID:201201111014024

I reloaded BitDefender, updated it, and have been running with it now for nearly a day. Performed full system scan to see if it would generate any more temp files.

So far I have not had any more temp file problems. The issue appears to be resolved!

Peter

Petergossman · January 2012

Well as mine didnt repair install, I haven't even got the software to update at the moment, so I'll probably need to sort that first. Also no email to me on the issue, so hope you feel special in receiving it " />

Interestingly, my account shows version 2011, even though when I bought it, I got the free upgrade to 2012. So presuming my activation will work with 2012 - Where do I go to download it???

Hi Gary,

I also had a problem trying to do the download installation. Fortunately I got the Bitdefender CD with my purchase, so I was able to install from there without having to download the software. After installing, it did an update no problem.

Now that you mention it, I do feel kinda special that I got a response - kinda warm feeling inside! He he.

Peter

gforrow · January 2012

Hi Gary,

I also had a problem trying to do the download installation. Fortunately I got the Bitdefender CD with my purchase, so I was able to install from there without having to download the software. After installing, it did an update no problem.

Now that you mention it, I do feel kinda special that I got a response - kinda warm feeling inside! He he.

Peter

Pleased for you :wacko:

Hopefully Christian will answer at some point as to where I can download it. I can't remember where I got the original from, downloaded at time of purchase, but cant remember how. Might just download the trial, stick my code in and see what happens.

rootkit · January 2012

Hello everyone

@ Peter

Thank you for your feedback.

I was informed that the current situation was resolved via Automatic Updates.

In the current situation, if this is still reproducing on your machine, please download CCleaner or any other Temp File cleaner(you could use also Disk Clean-up from Windows) to clean all the files from C:\Windows\Temp, update Bitdefender by pressing Update now from the main interface and restart your machine.

Let me know if this is still reproducing after the reboot.

Thank you. Have a nice day.

aberguerand · January 2012

Since I had installed BD2012, by end december 20121, several millions of tmp files had been created. It was faster to backup the important data on the disk that had the tmp folder, format it and restore the data than trying to delete these tmp files.

After reading G-Man's message on Jan 12, I have made sure that BD2012 was updated. Since then, I can report that the tmp000xxxx problem has not occured any more.

I will continue to keep an eye on the tmp folder, but in the meantime, thanks to the BD team for (hopefully definitively) solving the issue.

rootkit · January 2012

Hello

Welcome back

The issue was generated by a bad definition. The guys that develop the engines discovered this and released a permanent patch via Automatic Update. if you have Bitdefender up-to-date, this issue should not reproduce on you machine.

Also we have taken some measures and this issue should not occur in the future.

Take care.

mimct1 · February 2012

I am also having a similar issue with my daughter's machine. BD TS 2012 has been installed on the machine since 12/2011 and has been doing a good job. However, as of yesterday, the system came to a grinding halt: the HD light is on constantly and so busy that nothing else can be launched. Since there was nothing of importance on the machine, I used the system restore process to bring the system back to factory default - like it just came out of the box. The system was running fine. I turned off File Indexing. Used the system for about an hour and all was fine.

I downloaded the latest copy of BD TS 2012, installed and registered it, and then reboot the system. After I logged in, after about 2 minutes I had the problem again: HD light is on constantly and nothing else runs as the HD is too busy to do anything else. I let the system sit for about 30 minutes to no avail. I forced the system down and reboot to Safe Mode and uninstalled Bitdefender. I reboot and the system is happy again; no disc trashing, apps run smoothly, etc.

At this point my system is happy and unprotected.....and I am not happy!

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks.

rootkit · February 2012

Hi

Please follow the steps explained in the article below and send me via PM the generated log file:

http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=29927

If you were already asked to generate the log file, disregard the message above and just post the ticket ID.

Thank you.

n.buetikofer@bluewin.ch · March 2013

Hi all

We have 2013 and I have BD total security 2013. I buyed and installed it 2 days ago. Wjy I write here? Yes, I have exactly the same problem as you all. At the moment I write by Android phone becaise after reboot notebook, after a few minutes process is running high to refill my temp folder with stupid. tmp files.... I ran full scans and had the ssme issue. BD is stopping/hanging in temp folder, is deleting there and building new files.... After a while computer is so slow ghat I have to shjt down...

Yesferday I deleted 7GB tmp files, today they are build again....

At the moment I run an emergency scan - until now no infects. After that there will be a reboot, then an "emergency" uninstall of BD!

Before BD there wasn't any issue like this and after I don't waste my time again!

Back to other antivirus and fitewall software!

Regards

donwiid · March 2013

I bought BD about 2 months ago, after it received good reviews in PC Pro in the UK.

Today I uninstalled it since my PC ground to a halt. After uninstallation and ccleaner session, everything is back to normal. I've seen comments from BD staff that the problem of excessive files in the temp dir has been fixed; I can categorically say that it has not.

Perhaps this is a strategy of BitDefender: To make your PC so slow that you stop using it... and therefore no need to worry about viruses!

marwa89 · April 2013

I should preface this thread with the fact that I'm uncertain if BitDefender is the culprit, only I highly suspect it. I'll explain the situation(شركة تسويق ):

My hard drive has been running out of space recently since I installed 'Bitdefender Total Security 2012' last month. This is an odd problem, as I would've guessed I had about 10 GBs free and I have not installed any other programs or even added any large files for perhaps the last 10 months... so this confused me, but I managed to get rid of some stuff to accommodate the problem, and move some home movies to an external drive to create 22GB of free space, and then just a few days later, I turn on my computer this morning and I find that I get another low disk space warning... I have literally installed nothing new.

I checked around on websites, and the bleeding is generally connected to antivirus software (regardless of the brand ) and appears to be a common problem. The antivirus software appears to create thousands of small temp files, usually in the program folder... so I checked BitDefender but there was nothing in there. I ran BitDefender's cleaner to see what it could pick up, and it didn't snag anything. Then I ran something else to find out where the huge files were stored on my computer. It was my Windows Temp folder, and huzzah! looks like there is 40GB of stuff in there, at least. I'm using ccleaner to get rid of it all (it also identified them and is removing them) but is BitDefender the cause? These files only date back to when I installed BitDefender. Also, this appears to be a problem related to Antivirus software.

Is there anything I can do to stop this from happening again? Is this a known issue?

Thanks for your help!

I have exactly the same problem after a update around Christmas.

Over 1.million files were added in my Windows Temp folder in short time (less than 30 minutes)

Cleaning the folder takes a lot of time but it is useless as it is filling again...

I am running Windows 7 SP!

wazzup · July 2014

OK luckily i found this thread. I have the same problem with Internet Security 2014. Seems Bitdefender haven't fixed this problem in about two years time.

Really i am beginning to question those reviewers that give out all those awards to Bitdefender when it's such a buggy program.

My SSD has been eaten up thanks to Bitdefender. 2,5TB of those TEMPxxx folders had been written in just one system SCAN to the TEMP folder!! One ssd and hdd discs three and four TB each.

Running Windows 8.1.

Is Bitdefender Eating My Hard Drive?

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