What's The Difference Between Central And Dashboard

Super frustrated here right now, My PC that I'm using right now had Total Security 2015 and it just expired. So I went online and got a code for the Total Security 2016. I follow the instructions and use my code and it ends up being applied to a different computer. I usually use dashboard to check my stuff out, but it sent me to central (never seen or used it) central apparently had a different PC of mine that still had a year of subscription on it! I was kinda ###### to see that my code got used on the wrong computer. I just sent in a Customer Support email to try and cancel the code I put in, so that it can go on the right PC.

Right now, I'm super confused why there are two hubs - Central & Dashboard. I feel like there should only be 1 where everything goes. Can someone explain the difference in both? Thanks would help a lot!

It's quite simple really. Bitdefender Central is the new version of Dashboard that is compatible with the new 2016 product line. Eventually the new Central will completely replace the old Bitdefender Dashboard, so you will indeed get your wish of having only one online management console.

So what is the difference? In a nutshell, better online connectivity. See, the new Bitdefender Central has greater connectivity with Bitdefender products installed. This means that the "My Devices" tab is actually accurate. Back when we had the old Bitdefender Dashboard, it didn't actually sync with current and non-current installations. For example, if I installed Bitdefender, then uninstalled it, then re-installed it once again; two devices would be shown in the device tab. Now installations actually are synced in real time. However, this requires greater control of access than ever before. The old Bitdefender products didn't have this. I'm assuming this might have been for security or privacy reasons (essentially, the Bitdefender Central server can now access and make changes to your computer directly; and some users may not like this).

However, this is good news for you. This means you can now directly control your licenses. So you said that the license got used for the "wrong" computer. You can now directly do something about this. Under the "My Devices" tab, find the "wrong" computer. There should be three dots on the right hand side of the information box. If you click these three dots, you will find there is a "Remove" option. This will deactivate the validity of the license on the "wrong" computer, and allow you to active Bitdefender on the "right" computer.

Wow dang that confusing Thanks Bitdefender. Anways thanks, I'm currently looking at bitdefender central and so i looked under the "my devices" tab and I see remove, but will it remove it compeltely? The problem I'm at right now is that, the "wrong computer" had like half a year on the subscription, if i hit remove wouldn't that remove it completely? and go to expired?

Are you saying that you have two different subscriptions? Or that the other computer took your 2016 subscription? Specifically, you said, "the "wrong computer" had like half a year on the subscription". Is that a different subscription from the one you mentioned in your original post? Because it sounds like you have two different subscriptions. The My Subscriptions tab should tell you what subscriptions you have, and what devices are attached to them. The My Devices Tab is used to manage the devices attached to the subscriptions.

I hope I'm not confusing you even more.

Anyways, yes. Essentially when you remove a Device from the "My Devices" tab, what happens is the server sends the "Deactivate" command to the device in question. If the device is offline at the time, the server waits until the device comes back online. When it does, then the server sends the command and deactivates the product. NOTE: It does not remove the product from the computer, rather, it merely deactivates the license. You would need to manually uninstall Bitdefender in order to completely remove it.

ok lemme clarify (sorry) but you're helping a lot

Computer ( A ) = Computer that had a 6 month Subscription Remainder "got the code" (Wrong Computer) This computer already have a on-going subscription

Computer ( B ) = Computer with expired code, and didn't get the new one since it used dashboard

Ah, I see. So essentially you either have, or had, two subscriptions. I actually have two theories on what might have happened:

Theory 1: Bitdefender detected that you had an active subscription, and simply added time to your old subscription.

Essentially, when you submitted your order, Bitdefender Central checked its records to find you had an active subscription (on Computer A), and added time to that subscription. Your old subscription got overwritten, and was replaced by your new subscription. The time from your older subscription got added to your new one. To see if this is true, check your "My Subscriptions" tab and see if you have two subscriptions there. Also, check how many "Days Left" are there to verify that it is the amount purchased. If you have just one subscription, and it is a half-year longer than what you purchased, then you know that Bitdefender overwrote and upgraded your existing subscription. But if this isn't true, then Theory 2:

Theory 2: Bitdefender Central sent the license to the active subscription swapping out the old one for the new one.

Essentially, when you submitted your order, Bitdefender Central checked its records to find you had an active subscription (on Computer A), and swapped out the old one for the new one. If this is what happened, then your old subscription should be intact. Providing this is true, then you can recover your old subscription. To do this, try to following:

Step 1: Go to the part of the Bitdefender program itself that deals with activating a subscription. Usually, you just need to click on the "Days Left" link:

Step 2: Click "Activate Code":

Step 3: If you are using a 2015 line of Bitdefender products, I think you can just enter your old code in a box that would be provided for you. It will then switch to your old subscription. However, I do know the 2016 line of products will forward you to Bitdefender Central. They'll then force you to upgrade your old code into a Bitdefender 2016 license. It will look something like this:

This will essentially upgrade whatever your old license was to a 2016 license. This is, of course, assuming that "Computer A" has a 2016 product installed. Like I said, you might be able to get away with a license swap if you have 2015 or older.

IF THEORY 1 TURNS OUT TO BE TRUE: You'll have to contact Customer Support and tell them what happened. Make sure you have the old code to the old subscription on hand when you contact them (this should have been emailed to you; look for emails by either Bitdefender themselves, or Avangate as they are Bitdefender's online storefront vendor). They'll have to separate and re-activate the old subscription. You can then enter the old subscription key on Computer A, and the new one on Computer B.

If THEORY 2 TURNS OUT TO BE TRUE: Then all you need to do is a simple license swap. Enter the old subscription code on Computer A, and the new code on Computer B.

Let me know which theory turned out to be true.

So I think it's Theory 2, but I'm unable to switch out and back to the old license, Sadly the remaining days didn't get add onto the new subscription

I'm still trying to get a hold of Bitdefender's Customer Service, but seems like there system is down

At this point, I feel like I might as well and go spend another $20-$30 on another code and not deal with this mess and waiting for Customer Service to reply.

So like Theory 1 is a no but half of Theory 2 where Bitdefender swapped out the old code with the new code. License Swap didn't work.

Well, there is one more thing you can try. Time to put Bitdefender Central to good use!

All right. Under the "Subscriptions" tab, you should see both of your subscriptions (including both the old one and the new one). One of the things you can do is simply add a device to whichever subscription does not have one. In this picture, I only have one subscription; however, you should have TWO.

Simply find whichever subscription is empty, and add whichever computer is currently not protected by Bitdefender to the subscription. That should work.

Or, another thing you can do is manage the devices themselves. For example, let's say you want to swap the old license for the old subscription, and the new one for the new subscription. You can try removing that device from the subscription, and then adding it to the old subscription:

Or, you could send Customer Support another email and see if they'll answer that. " /> Although my experience with Customer Support is that it usually takes around 3 days to get a response. Did you get an "Auto-Response"? If you didn't get an auto-generated response, then you may have accidentally typed in you email address wrong.

Anyways, I'd like to think my efforts here in the forums will save you from buying another license. Then I'd be a hero!

Before I test out your theory, it's already been like a week, and haven't gotten a response from customers service well I'll be back later to answer you on the new theory!

You could always try sending them another email. Remember: If you did not get an "auto-generated" confirmation email with a ticket number, then your support request did not go through.