Is Bitdefender Antispam Actualy Working

I have been using BitDefender for a few months now - and i am rather concerned about the increasing amount of Spam i am getting left in my inbox (Outlook).


I mark all missed spam as spam and add the sender to the spammer list, but i am still getting dozens - even hundreds of the same mails, so it appears that it is not 'learning' from the items i mark up.


Is there a setting i have some how turned off?


Thanks for any comments


GreenBoy

Comments

  • Niels
    Niels
    edited December 2007

    Dear GreenBoy,


    I recommend that you do this press on the settings button that you will find on the antispam toolbar click on wipe antispam database. Now open BitDefender click on settings once you are in BitDefender Security Center,click on the antispam section,settings,check everything under advanced antispam filters and basic antispam filters press on ok to confirm. Go back to the antispamtoolbar in your mail client and press on spammer. If the spam always come from the same domain it's better to block the entire domain you can do it by typing for example *@spam.la that will block everything that cames from that specifc domain select domain name and press on the add button. Mark mails as spam or not spam.


    Best regards


    Niels

  • I have been having the same problem now for a month. I have wiped the database several times and have done everything Niels advised to do. I am getting pretty frustrated right now because the emails that are not getting filtered are obvious spams that Zone Alarm never missed. I hope the Bitdefender team is working on fixing this issue or I may be heading back to Zone Alarm.

  • Dear ArtVandalay


    This is only a user forum with only volunteers. On what status is the slider set when you are in the antispam section once you have opened BitDefender ? Personally I don't have any issues with it. It's a learning filter so you have to mark mails as spam and use the lists (spammers,friends). Contact livechat.


    Best regards


    Niels.

  • Niels,


    I have the antispam enabled and set to aggressive level. I opened up my email today and recieved another 10 messages that were obvious spam that the toolbar didn't filter. I wiped the database again..Any other suggestions?

  • Dear ArtVandalay,


    Did you tried the suggestions that I gave to GreenBoy ? I mean did you enabled the option and added the spammers domain normally when you have done that when a similar mail appears it must be marked as spam. From which domain came the spam mails?


    Best regards


    Niels

  • I have been using Bitdefender for about 10 months now. For the first 9 months it has worked just fine. About a month ago the antispam feature stopped marking obvious messages as SPAM. I then cleared the database. For the last month it has marked almost NO messages as spam. I have tested the slider bar in different positions. It has NO affect.


    I really don't understand why after 9 months it has stopped working almost entirely. For instance out of 200 obvious spam messages it might recognize 2 messages as spam. Most of these messages are so obvious it would be impossible for me to think that it is actually working. Every message I get I have to manually mark as spam. It then moves them to the spam folder but doesn't add the SPAM text in the subject.


    Sounds to me like this is the same problem other folks are having. Makes me believe that something has gone wrong in the updates.

  • Thanks for the advice guys


    Reluctantly i have decided to not use the AntiSPam any more as it is not learning and i find the way of adding spammers as either whole addresses or domains slow and clunky. Add to this that you cannot add any words to look out for as spam such as '' makes me think this is not such a great product.


    This is a shame realy as the rest of bit defender works realy well and i am happy with it.


    So now a follow up question:


    How do i uninstall or disable the BitDefender AntiSpam and use another product?


    I know this is cheeky - but can anyone recomend another product that is good - i have been searching for reviews but all the ones i have found seem to be very biased or even by the producer themselves!


    Happy new year to one and all.


    - PS - just ot explain why i am unhappy - i am currently with an ISP called Force9 (part of the PlusNet group) which is known to be bad for its anti spam, and recently i have been recieving up to 800 spams in one day (taken over several manual downloads) and i have added spammers addresses and domains to AntiSpam on first download and AntiSpam has not picked up the same addresses or doamins on subsequant downloads.


    As i only recieve 20 - 30 legit emails aday this is now unacceptable - i will be changing ISP, but i also want good SpamProtection.

  • I fully appreciate the world is drowning in Spam, however I too bought BitDefender in November after years of Norton & McAfee. I simply cannot understand the rather vague instructions on the AntiSpam screens eg when one has saved "spammers" if you then delete from the screen it appears to also delete from the "saved" file or "Empty load when full" so when is it Full ? At least 80% of my incoming Spams are of the same appearance, if not identical despite marking each and every incoming Spam


    I also see that some of these now include my business or personal email address inserted into the subject line.


    I have sent three e-mails to BitDefender in past few days without a single reply, I know it's been Holiday time but surely an auto-reply could be generated advising an aprox reply period.

  • ArtVandalay
    edited January 2008

    Greenboy,


    I downloaded a free anti spam from cnet.com called cactus spam filter. Its a little like BD in that it learns the emails and then filters them out. I have been using the product for approximately 1 week and only 2 spam messages out of approximately 400 made it through. After a few adjustments I have not received any spams in my inbox. I am very happy with it thus far and recommend you try it out. Its a shame a free spam filter can do better that a paid security suite. I still have BD 2008 installed and am generally pleased with everything except the spam filter.


    Let me know how it goes if you decide to install


    Art Vandalay


    PS to disable the spam filter, go to settings, antispam, and then uncheck the box that says antispam is enabled. This will disable the antispam. BD will still scan your email for viruses I believe.

  • In my case the antispyware module works well, almost the 100% of spam mails are detected.

  • I have exactly the same problem. The first couple of weeks BD antispam worked just fine but then more and more spam started to slip through. I tried reseting the spamlist but this had no effect at all. Often the filter even marks the mail correctly as spam but then fails to remove it from the inbox, a behaviour I find extremly annoying. There's definately something iffy about the antispam module.

  • Of course it's working.It is a great protection from spam.

  • I've come to the conclusion that the antispam module isn't working at all. <img class=" /> I was away a couple a days and when I came back I received over a 100 emails that was clearly spam. I have tried everything mentioned in this thread and I've also tried making a complete clean re-installation to no avail. BitDefender antispam is a joke.

  • Thopaga
    edited March 2008

    Hi.


    I am very satified with BitDefender as a product, but not the Antispam part.


    After reporting a software problem which the lab should have corrected, they have not answered me.


    But now I am very happy that I skipped the BitDefender Antispam and installed SPAMfighter free of charge.


    My experience is also that you have to be quite good with computers in order to be successful with BitDefender Antispam module.


    SPAMfighter is superb and easy to use working 100% from day one using a server database.

  • I also do not see that BD antispam is working at all. I have been using Antivirus plus v10 and now I received a free upgrade to BD 2008 Internet Security. I have tried to contact support via email. I receive a response when I sent them a question on the spam settings and had not logged into MyBitdefender. They told me that I didn't qualify for support because I wasn't a registered user. The next email I sent to them after logging in and never received any response. It is obvious that there is something very very wrong with BD antispam no matter what version you are trying to use. It has been suggested in this forum that you save the domains instead of the complete email addresses. Why don't they have that setting inside BD AntiSpam. I can do the same with Outlook Express so why have BD AntiSpam. I would be satisfied if I could just set BD antispam to only accept email from people on my Friends list and consider everything else as SPAM until I tell it otherwise. Why isn't there already a SPAM blacklist entered when you install BD Antispam? I expect this software to be able to recognize some Spam right out of the box. If I have to create all of the filters because there are none initially loaded why use the software. PLEASE RESPOND

  • I too have had problems with the antispam part of BD 2008. I had previously disabled it and used a free program for several months. I recently decided to give it another chance and since doing so I have been very pleased. Surprisingly the antispam only missed 2 spam emails out of approximately 200. I am not sure what has changed but I guess I should not complain. I use Thunderbird on my desktop with no problems, but for some reason BD antispam is still greyed out on my laptop. I know there has been several problems with this, and I have tried all the suggested fixes but have been unsuccessful.

  • As with many other people here, I have doubts that my anti-spam has ever worked. I installed BD Total Security 2008 about a month ago and have been dissappointed. It has never moved spam to the 'spam' folder but it has occasionally marked some as spam. On another note, Backup has been a disaster and the systray icon keeps reporting I have 5 issues to attend to. After many re-installs under the guidance up the support team, the only way aroung these has been to turn everything off and leave Vista to do the work. Does my antivirus work or is it just appearing to like so much of this software???

  • it sounds like those other people were getting e-mail bombed.

  • My experience is that BD spam simply does not work. I have tried it all, and it doesnt block any spam at all. Highly frustrating, and I am giving up on it now and moving on to other products.

  • goctnu
    edited October 2008
    I also do not see that BD antispam is working at all. I have been using Antivirus plus v10 and now I received a free upgrade to BD 2008 Internet Security. I have tried to contact support via email. I receive a response when I sent them a question on the spam settings and had not logged into MyBitdefender. They told me that I didn't qualify for support because I wasn't a registered user. The next email I sent to them after logging in and never received any response. It is obvious that there is something very very wrong with BD antispam no matter what version you are trying to use. It has been suggested in this forum that you save the domains instead of the complete email addresses. Why don't they have that setting inside BD AntiSpam. I can do the same with Outlook Express so why have BD AntiSpam. I would be satisfied if I could just set BD antispam to only accept email from people on my Friends list and consider everything else as SPAM until I tell it otherwise. Why isn't there already a SPAM blacklist entered when you install BD Antispam? I expect this software to be able to recognize some Spam right out of the box. If I have to create all of the filters because there are none initially loaded why use the software. PLEASE RESPOND


    I complained my emails to BT support and no solution to the problems. Then I was offered a free upgrade BTS2008 to BTS2009 (to shut my complaints about BTS2008). Now the current Outlook 2007 AntiSpam is also for "SHOW" and it does not spam or block any email! There are many other problems in BTS2009 than BTS2008? Worse the BT invalid my previous license BTS2008 and I cannot go-back! Nothing is free to upgrade but to treat us as "laboratory little-pigs" to promote their new BTS 2009!


    At Outlook 2007/Tools/Trust Center/Add-ins/Inactive Application Add-Ins/Anti-Spam Toolbar (cannot change in Active Application Add-ins). You do not see BT AntiSpam Toolbar on Outlook 2007.

  • Niels
    Niels
    edited October 2008

    Hello goctnu,


    What I am thinking of is that your isp/mail provider isn't using the default ports. I mean BitDefender only scans port 110 for pop3 traffic and port 25 . That is also the case with BitDefender mail scanner for malware. Are mails being send trough an ssl connection? BitDefender only scans unsecured connections. I suppose that you trained BitDefender antispam filters.


    You can try this for getting the BitDefender antispam toolbar back:


    Press the windows button together with r now type this:


    regsvr32 -u "%ProgramFiles%\BitDefender\BitDefender 2009\bdo.dll" press enter


    regsvr32 "%ProgramFiles%\BitDefender\BitDefender 2009\bdo.dll" press enter.


    EDIT: Please follow these instructions. Contact liveassistance afterwards. Select technical support.


    Kind regards,


    Niels

  • Hello goctnu,


    What I am thinking of is that your isp/mail provider isn't using the default ports. I mean BitDefender only scans port 110 for pop3 traffic and port 25 . That is also the case with BitDefender mail scanner for malware. Are mails being send trough an ssl connection? BitDefender only scans unsecured connections. I suppose that you trained BitDefender antispam filters.


    You can try this for getting the BitDefender antispam toolbar back:


    Press the windows button together with r now type this:


    regsvr32 -u "%ProgramFiles%\BitDefender\BitDefender 2009\bdo.dll" press enter


    regsvr32 "%ProgramFiles%\BitDefender\BitDefender 2009\bdo.dll" press enter.


    EDIT: Please follow these instructions. Contact liveassistance afterwards. Select technical support.


    Kind regards,


    Niels


    I refer to http://kb.bitdefender.com/KB448-en--Troubl...ender-2009.html.


    I had had run these below and it does not solve the problem;


    regsvr32 -u "%ProgramFiles%\BitDefender\BitDefender 2009\bdo.dll"


    regsvr32 "%ProgramFiles%\BitDefender\BitDefender 2009\bdo.dll


    The above did not solve the problems.


    My OS is Vista Ultimate 32-bit and My ISP is Singnet 8GB Broadband.


    The BTS Status Firewall/Rules or Activity (Any Adapter)show that Outlook 2007 "ALLOW" any port to open. So there is no firewall to dis-allow Outlook 2007.

  • My OS is Vista Ulitmate 32bit.


    The BTS icon at taskbar always turns grey when you go to any P2P website, e.g. http://www.easymule.com.


    After I run services.msc, I have to fix both the "Anti-spam is Disable" and "Antiphishing Protection Status is Unavaiilable", then the taskbar BTS icon will turns RED from GREY.


    But still the "BTS 2009's Bitdefender Antispam module is unavailable" and it cannot be "Check or Tick" in the square box.


    How to resolve these problems? Why it happened many times?


    Contact BTS http://kb.bitdefender.com/site/KnowledgeBase/getSupport/ (liveassistance) is useless because even you wait very long, the people there are still NOT alive! <img class=" /><img class=" />