Slowly takes RAM from my Windows 11 via bdservicehost until the computer freezes

H00n
edited February 29 in Install and Updates

Avoid Bitdefender, as it's acting up. It slowly consumes RAM from my Windows 11 through bdservicehost until the computer freezes and crashes. I have a 16GB machine, and it will take about an hour. According to Bitdefender:

"Thank you for your patience, and please accept my apologies for any frustration we might have caused.

I have looked into the case, and it seems that the situation is caused by an issue that has already been acknowledged by our development team. We are currently working on a fix that will be implemented through an automatic update and won't require any additional action on your end.

I will get back to you with an update regarding the fix as soon as we have one.

Thank you once again, and have a nice day ahead!


Best regards,

xxx

Technical Support Engineer


As mentioned previously in the ticket, a fix for this Bitdefender behavior is still undergoing development. We do not have an estimated time for the release of the fix yet, but we will contact you as soon as it's implemented via an automatic update of Bitdefender. Please keep in mind that all reported bugs require investigation time. Since product updates are usually released once a month, it may take at least 1 month until a fix is implemented in the product - this does not include the debugging period.

Additionally, once the fix is live, we will extend the validity of your subscription by the amount of time it took to resolve the issue to compensate for the inconvenience.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Rest assured that we will contact you again as soon as the fix is released.

Is anyone else experiencing the same issue?

Comments

  • @H00n ,

    Welcome to the Bitdefender Forums. There have been scattered reports over the years of excessive memory usage, but I have never experienced it, nor is it very widespread. Normally Bitdefender will use about 600 to 800 MB of RAM, except when scanning. I just checked my Task Manager, and all of its processes are using about 700 MB. My computer has been on for five hours.

    Often the issue is the particular configuration of a user's computer that is responsible. I recommend working with the support engineers by providing whatever logs are requested.

    Have a great day.

    Regards,

    Phil

  • I guess eating 10G+ is not normal. I turned off scanning except for C: drive & scan apps only. Just in case of 'user config' is a potential cause, I just booted the computer & left it on the login screen. So, the unlikely config is the issue.

    I went through with tech support all below:

    We have checked the Support Tool log you sent us and we noticed several system errors on the device.

    Please proceed to follow the steps below:

    1. Run a Windows check disk. Let the process run and wait for the computer to restart.
    2. Run the DISM command.
    3. Use the System File Checker. After the process is finished, please reboot the computer.

    Once this is done, I recommend that you cleanly reinstall Bitdefender, according to these steps:

    1. Uninstall Bitdefender using the following uninstall tool:

    https://www.bitdefender.com/files/KnowledgeBase/file/Bitdefender_2023_Uninstall_Tool.exe

    *NOTE: If you have a Bitdefender Wallet created please make sure to export it:

    https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2025/

    1.1 After running the uninstall tool, please uninstall Bitdefender Agent as follows:

    • Press the following keys together: Windows key and R key, in the window that appears write appwiz.cpL and press Enter.
    • If you find Bitdefender Agent or any other Bitdefender entry in the list, right-click and uninstall it; then restart your computer.

    2. Remove the device from your Bitdefender Central account:

    • log in to your Bitdefender Central Account https://central.bitdefender.com
    • click on My Devices and then click on View Details or View Issues under the device you need to remove.
    • in the new page, in the upper right corner, under the bell there is a button with three vertical dots. Click on it then click Remove, and then click Remove one more time.

    3. Install Bitdefender using a fresh install kit. You can download it from https://central.bitdefender.com

    Should you need more details about how you can install Bitdefender, here's an article that might prove helpful:

    https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/28558/


  • Hello,

    During on-demand or background scan performed by Bitdefender it is normal for CPU, RAM, and disk usage to increase. Scanning involves intensive processes that require significant resources to analyze files, folders, and system areas for threats. The temporary increase in resource usage that occurs during the Bitdefender system scan and quick scan is normal. It does not significantly slow down Windows and should not be interpreted as an issue.

    Although bdservicehost is designed to operate efficiently, some users have encountered higher than expected CPU and memory usage and we have seen threads on this topic in the community as well. You can use the search function to find similar topics. I think we must always take into consideration the user context. At first, it may seem that there's a problem and rightfully so, if the usage goes through the roof and the performance is affected, chances are something is not right or there is an incompatibility between the system and the antivirus. But before making any assumptions, there is always a checklist to follow.

    Sometimes, even adjusting the scanning options can make a huge difference. For example, you could schedule scans during periods of low computer usage or decrease the scanning frequency. Otherwise, if the antivirus is scanning the whole device whenever you have 20 tabs open and you are also streaming, writing emails and working in photoshop, surely you will notice a decrease in performance. Setting exclusions can also help, if the problem appears only when using a certain program or when compiling software into a particular directory, etc. add those specific apps and the folders they are accessing to the exceptions list in Bitdefender.

    So, whenever we notice that we get high CPU or RAM usage in conjuction with the antivirus, we might be inclined to believe that there's something wrong with the antivirus itself, without taking into account what else is happening on the device that may result in this high consumption. Obviously, the developers wouldn't create a software that is hogging resources and any vendor would get tens of thousands of complaints if that was to happen, but there is a general consensus that after installing a security software, the computer will slightly slow down, which to a certain degree is normal. It is whenever this usage exceeds certain limits that we must ask ourselves what is causing the high resource consumption and there can be numerous reasons, as the support article on this topic explains.

    My advice would be to continue to investigate this behavior punctually with the Support engineers.

    Regards,

    Alex

    Premium Security & Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools user

  • Meszeltkeszeg
    edited February 29

    [*grammar simplified by @Flexx*]  

    Hello,

    I've been reading the conversations about the rising memory usage. If the technicians can't reproduce the issue, here's a tip. My computer was experiencing the same issue, and when I stopped my P2P client, the memory usage stopped rising. Maybe it's worth giving it a shot.

    Attila

  • Life happens, Coffee helps!

    Show your Attitude, when you reach that Altitude!

    Bitdefender Ultimate Security Plus (user)

  • Thanks Meszeltkeszeg. At 1st I did not understand & don't know why it would work but worth a look.

  • dvsls
    dvsls BD Staff

    You were also using qbittorrent when the issue occurred? If not, what specific apps were open & running during that period of increased RAM consumption?

  • Were NOT using qbittorrent at the time. Just leaving W11 as boot-up w/o apps will do it.

  • Without qbittorrent, bdservicehost using ~500MB ram. If I started the qbittorent, the memory usage is slightly rising all the time. I don't notice this consmption any other program or services.

  • nd
    nd
    edited April 19

    I can confirm the same behavior wit qbittorrent, in similar conditions: qbitorrent v4.6.4 (previous ver. too), win 11 machine (can provide additional details in private, maybe some tests).

    Machine details:

    • am4, 32gb of ram, 1650 gtx. Win 11, up to date. All drivers are up to date. DISM and SFC report no issues
    • tried Total and Internet security versions, also tried to clean install with the appropriate uninstallers provided on Bitdefender website

    Observed behavior on my machine:

    I tried to add exceptions to basically any third party software on the machine, hoping to see a change, i did not. Closing qbit seems to have stopped it

    • bdservice host hovers around 500-700, after boot (qbit is on startup too)
    • it will slowly creeps up. Usually, after 2-3 days it creeps at around 22 of my 32 GB of RAM.
    • adding …all exceptions, no change

    Note:

    For the moment, it seem related with upload, rather than download, but i am not sure. I will reply back if i observe any other behavior or any info that might be relevant

  • dvsls
    dvsls BD Staff

    We are aware of this issue (it has been reproduced internally), and a fix will be included in a future update.