Uninstall Bug, Bitdefender Leaves Windows Security Saying It's Still Installed

ronxp2000

I tried Bitdefender Antivirus free edition 2013. I decided I did not like it because it slowed my internet speed down drastically. It had worked great on some PC's, but this one in particular it just didn't.

So I uninstall it, it uninstalls fine.

I then check Windows Security Center, and it says Bitdefender is still active. I checked because Windows XP did not throw up the RED SHIELD to let me know I was unprotected.

I then download the Bitdefender uninstall removal tool. Process goes well.

I reboot, check Windows Security Center, says it's still there. I know it's not for sure now, so problem.

Anyway, I say hey, to my next choice.

I proceed to install Avira, it installs fine. Avira works fine, internet speed is back.

BUT BUT BUT....

Now when I check Windows Security center, it says I have 2 antivirus programs installed.

I have dealt with such a case of clearing this flag in the registry in the past. I forget where it is at, been a few years since I had to do such a thing.

SO.....................

Either the uninstall tool needs revised, or I need the registry steps to clear the flag that BitDefender is still installed.

Please help, and thank you a lot.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

ronxp2000

SOLUTION - I found it in finally. Here are the steps for anyone with this problem. It works with any antivirus program that left this type of remminant behind.

Follow all steps CAREFULLY and COMPLETELY!

1) Right-click on My Computer

2) Click on Manage

3) Click on the plus sign(+) next to Services and Applications in the left-hand column

4) Click on Services

5) Find the service called Windows Management Instrumentation, right-click on it, and choose Stop. Be careful, there is another service that you do NOT choose, whichhas a similar name. It says Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions, so do NOT choose this one. You may have to expand the column to see the correct service name.

6) Open My Computer

7) Double-click on Drive C (or whatever drive Windows is installed on)

8) Double-click on the Windows folder

9) Double-click on System32

10) Double-click on WBEM

11) Right-click on the Repository folder and click Delete and remove it

12) Close the My Computer windows and return to the Windows services screen using steps 1 - 4 shown above

13) Find the service called Windows Management Instrumentation, right-click on it, and choose Start. Restarting this service will rebuild the repository folder information.

14) Restart your computer

Once the computer has restarted, open Windows Security Center. Only your currently installed antivirus and firewall programs should be listed.

unknown

Hello,

Thanks for signaling this issue, we are working on it and will be fixed in the next update.

You said that our AV has slowed down your internet connection. Can you give us more details?

ronxp2000

The only details I can mention is that it went under 4 meg with your product, and it was previously over 10 meg. I rebooted, tried at different times of the day, etc. I also tested with multiple online speed testing sites, such as Speakeasy, CNet, WhatsMyIP Speedtest, Internetfrog speedtest, and more. When I switched to Avira, it went back to over 10 meg. Previously I had a paid ESet Smart Security v5, I just didn't update the subscription because the computer is getting old. With Eset, the speed was over 10 meg also. It's on an older XP machine with an Athlon 64 3200 CPU.

I am currently investigating another XP machine with an Athlon Barton 2500, and it seems to have the same issue. I may uninstall Bitdefender free and test it out to with another free AV.

On my faster machine with an Intel I7 2600 with Windows 7, the internet with Eset v5 is over 10 meg also. This is a paid subscription to Eset. I just mentioned all my machines, so you can understand that I indeed nailed the problem down to your AV solution.

Other than this speed issue, I had no problems at all with Bitdefender Free 2013.

Then again, your program may be fast enough on todays CPUs and NOT with older generation CPUs. Just a thought.

Thanks for the replay and investigation. If you want more specific data, please let me know. You are welcome.

Hello,

Thanks for signaling this issue, we are working on it and will be fixed in the next update.

You said that our AV has slowed down your internet connection. Can you give us more details?

preguntonontrack

@ronxp2000

Remove it from your system as soon as possible before your system will fail to boot.

If they ask you to do a repair, "DO NOT TOUCH THAT REPAIR BUTTON UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES"

If you repair it, You will need to restore your system because it will fail to boot.

This is completly false...

and @ronxp2000, even thought you should switch to another AV software if you are having performance issues with Bitdefender.

unknown

Hello ronxp2000,

We will investigate further more the issue regarding slowing the internet connection but I assure you that from our test the impact is minimum. From our point of view the test with multiple online speed testing sites is not relevant because results vary greatly even without antivirus.

BigProblem,

Can we tell me what went wrong? Why did you have to repair the product?

Are you talking about Bitdefender AV Free, because there are some sections in you description which do not match this product?

ronxp2000

I am just here to kindly help, and offer what I know. I know internet speed test sites can be different, but that is why I used MULTIPLE ones with multiple attempts, and I was also using another machine right beside the one in question. So I was constantly testing speed, on both computers back and forth. The one with Eset did super, the one with Bitdefender free did not. I assure you I did enough high volume testing to confirm my suspicions.

I apologize for those who came here to argue. I am sure each meant to help in their own way, but it just kinda ruined the thread as it was off topic. No offense to anyone please.

I just like helping when I can, and I most certainly appreciate when a company or person offers free products. I do thank you kindly.

Again my offer still stands to help or offer data if necessary. Have a great day.

Hello ronxp2000,

We will investigate further more the issue regarding slowing the internet connection but I assure you that from our test the impact is minimum. From our point of view the test with multiple online speed testing sites is not relevant because results vary greatly even without antivirus.

BigProblem,

Can we tell me what went wrong? Why did you have to repair the product?

Are you talking about Bitdefender AV Free, because there are some sections in you description which do not match this product?

unknown

Hello BigProblem,

Please refer to the specific section of the forum.

I am sure that if you explain correctly and in detail your problem my colleagues can help you.

unknown

I am just here to kindly help, and offer what I know. I know internet speed test sites can be different, but that is why I used MULTIPLE ones with multiple attempts, and I was also using another machine right beside the one in question. So I was constantly testing speed, on both computers back and forth. The one with Eset did super, the one with Bitdefender free did not. I assure you I did enough high volume testing to confirm my suspicions.

I apologize for those who came here to argue. I am sure each meant to help in their own way, but it just kinda ruined the thread as it was off topic. No offense to anyone please.

I just like helping when I can, and I most certainly appreciate when a company or person offers free products. I do thank you kindly.

Again my offer still stands to help or offer data if necessary. Have a great day.

Can you tell me what type of connection are you using?

Have you got other products installed alongside Bitdefender AV Free witch share this connection?

A test only with Bitdefender AV Free will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

ronxp2000

Can you tell me what type of connection are you using?

Have you got other products installed alongside Bitdefender AV Free witch share this connection?

A test only with Bitdefender AV Free will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I am using a cable internet 10MEG+ (meaning they give us up 20MEG, pending on traffic) connection via my router and access point. Same test and setup was done with the other machine I was comparing it to tho.

The only software that uses the internet is Logmein and Skype, neither was signed on. I have Malwarebytes and Superantispyware installed on ALL my machines, but all of them are setup in scan only mode, NOT resident mode.

Actually I had already did a test only with Bitdefender. I had your suspicious, so I unloaded all the icons from the taskbar, such as Logmein, Skype, soundcard stuff, printer stuff, mouse stuff, and webam stuff. Needless to say, the internet speed tests results were the same.

I did a little more playing, and now tried Panda Cloud Free antivirus on the machine in question, and it DID NOT affect the internet speed.

I did a little more testing with Bitdefender free, and i found a lot of the data intensive web pages, such as MSN.COM, DPREVIEW.COM, www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/, sports.yahoo.com, and foxnews.com, had choppy internet performance with Bitdefender free. Actually these type websites are what led me to test the internet performance.

A special note when using www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/. you select a city, and you watch the RPM type guages, and you notice the needle with bitdefender is NEVER smooth, it like disappears, or hops around erratically.

With eset, avira, and now panda cloud, this "needle guage" on www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ is SMOOTH as silk.

So what ever type of web programming www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ is using, whether JAVA, or FLASH, or whatever, is a starting place to TUNE UP Bitdefender Free's speed issue with the internet.

I hope this helps. Keep in mind, this is an Athlon Barton 2500 CPU machine with 1.5 GIGs of ram. So if you also do some tests, remember to use a comparable machine. I stated this earlier tho, just reminding you.

Need more help, I will certainly do so.

sTp

Hello,

Thanks for signaling this issue, we are working on it and will be fixed in the next update.

You said that our AV has slowed down your internet connection. Can you give us more details?

Catalin,

I seem to have the same problem. Since downloading the trial version my internet speed has slowed down quite a bit. It seems to be most noticible in the time it takes to initially download a site, there is quite a delay.

ronxp2000

Well some time has passed, is there an update as of yet? Also, had the uninstaller program been repaired yet?

unknown

We are still working on solving all the problems until the next update.

Have some patience.

aurusu

SOLUTION - I found it in finally. Here are the steps for anyone with this problem. It works with any antivirus program that left this type of remminant behind.

Follow all steps CAREFULLY and COMPLETELY!

1) Right-click on My Computer

2) Click on Manage

3) Click on the plus sign(+) next to Services and Applications in the left-hand column

4) Click on Services

5) Find the service called Windows Management Instrumentation, right-click on it, and choose Stop. Be careful, there is another service that you do NOT choose, whichhas a similar name. It says Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions, so do NOT choose this one. You may have to expand the column to see the correct service name.

6) Open My Computer

7) Double-click on Drive C (or whatever drive Windows is installed on)

8) Double-click on the Windows folder

9) Double-click on System32

10) Double-click on WBEM

11) Right-click on the Repository folder and click Delete and remove it

12) Close the My Computer windows and return to the Windows services screen using steps 1 - 4 shown above

13) Find the service called Windows Management Instrumentation, right-click on it, and choose Start. Restarting this service will rebuild the repository folder information.

14) Restart your computer

Once the computer has restarted, open Windows Security Center. Only your currently installed antivirus and firewall programs should be listed.

I had the same problem. I used your solution with success. Thanks !