BitDefender defends itself against Malwarebytes shock horror

PhylPho

My former favourite AV, Avira, has just been uninstalled. Blazing pop-ups of discount sales and special promotions are beyond a joke, though even worse was tonight's inability to even turn the damn thing off because the tray icon, which was there yesterday, isn't here today, and Avira's services / processes refused to stop in Task Manager.

I needed to shut down all security software while running a routine scan with SanityCheck. Results were fine. So . . what AV to install to replace the ever-more awful Avira? Answer: Bit Defender Free. Fast. Light. Brilliant -- according to reviewers such as those employed by TechRadar and the like.

Whilst I never bother paying for an AV, I do have paid (premium) version of Malwarebytes and WinPatrol. There was never any question of either of 'em not playing nicely with Avira. Still: I checked on the 'Net and found that two years ago, BitDefender announced that it had "solved a problem over compatibility with MBAM". So yes: there had been a problem. But today, there isn't.

I downloaded the BitDefender AV Free installer an hour ago. The developer's website says there are 4 simple steps to follow: download, install, let program update, then sign up for an account with your name and email address, because that's how you get the product, and service, you expect. Simples. I'll even play along and cater to what I myself think is an entirely unnecessary sign-up -- I've a dump gmail account for any such sillinesses.

Download went fine but installation then stopped with a bloody great ominous black splash screen all over the monitor: 'Potential Incompatibility with Malwarebytes. Uninstall Malwarebytes?''

What a stunningly stupefying question from a supposedly esteemed AV developer. Of course I'm not going to uninstall Malwarebytes, and especially not on the basis of something "potential".

I shut the splash screen, hit continue, let the installer do its job, waited around for what I assumed was the definitions download, and was then presented with a final "Welcome" screen into which I stuffed a fictitious name and a spam-dump email address (the AV's free, so might as well show some goodwill) and submitted the registration.

As nothing at all happened after that, I left everything alone for a good 5 minutes and went off to feed the cat. But no BitDefender icon was showing in the system tray when I came back. And no response to the 'submit registration', either. As for running processes and services: no sign of this antivirus at all.

I re-booted. Waited. Had a look round the computer. Nothing from BitDefender. Not even recognised by Windows as an installed program -- yet hey: I'm a BitDefender member, aren't I? I opened Revo Premium, had a look there. Nope: nothing, just a 33Mb BitDefender 'product manager' file with no uninstallation routine other than to delete its components in a left-overs after-scan.

I rang a computer geek relative of mine to ask if he knew anything about BitDefender. Answer: 'Yeah. If you've Malwarebytes installed, don't touch it.' Why? 'God knows. The way they're acting, it's almost like they're trying to screw a competitor, even though MBAM isn't an AV.'

So. If anyone here is running Malwarebytes Premium, and considering a change of AV, you might like to save yourself the hassle of dealing with a Romanian company which dearly wants you to get rid of MBAM from your system otherwise it won't install -- though no: it doesn't specifically tell you that. It just harvests your email addy instead. And wastes a lot of your time.

I've just downloaded and installed AVG Free. Took 5 minutes. No warning screens about uninstalling another developer's product. No request to register. As to icons: AVG, Scotty and MBAM are all here, side by side in the system tray.

Funny that . . . Grrrrrr. :mad:

DoaM

I'm running Bitdefender Free and MBAM Corporate with no problems.

angryparcel

you will always get pop ups and ads with free AVs as why do you think they are free, its the ads that pays for it

mollycoddle

How people think a free version of anything is as good as paid version. And you bank and do all sorts of sensitive things on your pc everyday & put your trust in a free ANTIVIRUS just to save £20 a year. :eek:

RumRat

Twaddle....But hey! each to their own.

I'm running Bitdefender and Malwarebytes without any problems. Could the problem be that the new Malwarbytes premium is also a claimed AV?
Can you just add the exclusions to your AV if you encounter any problems?

angryparcel

mollycoddle wrote: »

How people think a free version of anything is as good as paid version. And you bank and do all sorts of sensitive things on your pc everyday & put your trust in a free ANTIVIRUS just to save £20 a year. :eek:

Exactly and it is just a basic Antivirus, people should at least have a full Internet Security package
Most banks will give these free to its customers.

RumRat

angryparcel wrote: »

you will always get pop ups and ads with free AVs as why do you think they are free, its the ads that pays for it

Wrong....Bitdefender gives no pop-ups or ads that I've ever seen.

emptybox

Well I recently installed Bitdefender free on to a couple of PCs that already had the free version of Malwarebytes installed, and I didn't have any problems or warnings.

Perhaps it's just with Malwarebytes Premium?

emptybox

angryparcel wrote: »

Exactly and it is just a basic Antivirus, people should at least have a full Internet Security package
Most banks will give these free to its customers.

All my bank offers is that terrible Trusteer Rapport rubbish.

esuhl

mollycoddle wrote: »

How people think a free version of anything is as good as paid version. And you bank and do all sorts of sensitive things on your pc everyday & put your trust in a free ANTIVIRUS just to save £20 a year. :eek:

Even though they're exactly the same, people will pay a huge premium for branded drugs over free ones.

Sometimes, people feel like they've got a better product if they've had to pay for it.

Uxb

I, like many others have given up on here explaining the advantages of a paid for AV suite. It's a waste of our energies
I run one and no, I'm not saying which one because all I'll get is a heap of the usual replies abusing it and saying that its cr*p.

While I've been running it for 10 years+ I've had no virus, worms or the rest, I don't have pop ups, of other mysterious "problems".
It works in the background totally unseen.
Ironically the only times it had actively intervened has been when a link has been posted on here a couple of times about a particular program (free of course!) and the AV has blocked the download as it contained PUP.

The only MSE tip I use is that I don't auto renew it - I just buy a new licence number each year which does save money.
This AV suite does not have a free version, but then again pretty well all products in life are better/have more facilities if you actually pay for them and equally importantly if you value your time in not having to sort out "issues" with the free ones.