My Review Of BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012
Antivirus vendor BitDefender offers 3 home security products. Today’s review is for the junior part of that family, BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012.
Key Benefits:
- Great protection – scores very well in independent testing
- Easy for beginners to use – Autopilot mode will be a great benefit to those who prefer hands off security
- Good identity theft protection – strong anti-phishing protection
How will BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012 run on your computer?
The minimum system requirements as per the BitDefender website are as follows:
- 800 MHz or faster CPU
- 1 GB or more of RAM
- Windows XP SP3 32-bit / Vista SP2 / 7 SP1
though in my opinion it won’t run too well if you are close to those minimums.
The recommended system requirements would equal the lowest spec machine I would want to install this on:
- 1.66 Ghz Dual Core
- 1.5 GB RAM
- Windows XP SP3 32-bit / Vista SP2 / 7 SP1
Is BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012 easy to install and use?
Installing BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012 took quite a bit longer than any of the other antivirus programs I’ve looked at this year so far but that is, perhaps, understandable when you consider that it is more feature packed than most of the competition.
Also, a virus scan is run as part of the installation procedure and as soon as the program is ready to run you’ll find that it is fully up to date (see image below) and no further updates need to be downloaded before you can get going.
What features does this program offer?
BitDefender have recently reinvented themselves with a new corporate brand and their new ethos extends to their improved security products too. BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012 is packed full of features, many of which you would usually only expect to see in the more expensive full security suites.
This antivirus program is highly effective yet, at the same time, requires minimal effort from the user to keep it running and securing their PC.
BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012 has the usual features that you would expect to find in an antivirus program along with some nice surprises that you would normally only find in a full internet security suite:
- Antivirus – protect your computer from viruses and other threats
- Autopilot means user input is rarely required – great for computer beginners and technophobes
- BitDefender Safego (available separately) – enhances social networking security
- Excellent identity theft protection
- Network map – manage BitDefender installations on other networked PCs in your location
- Strong privacy protection
- Virtualized browsing
- Vulnerability scanner
Will BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012 protect my computer?
BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012 scores exceptionally well in independent tests. Check out the likes of AV-Test or AV-Comparitives and others and you will see that it is at, or near, the top of their charts for detecting and neutralising malware.
But this antivirus program is so much more than that as well.
During installation I mentioned that the program will initiate its first scan. If it detects any issues it will try to remove them immediately. If that fails it then reboots your computer in BitDefender Rescue Mode which is much like running a rescue CD only without the hassle of having to burn a disc. Nice touch.
The program is also highly effective when it comes to protecting you from phishing sites and has strong privacy protection, both features usually reserved for full internet security suites.
Whats good and whats bad about this program?
+ Excellent detection of malware
+ Experts aside, the Autopilot feature will delight those who just want an antivirus program that quietly gets on with the job its supposed to do
+ Very strong anti-phishing protection will protect you from suspicious web sites
+ Strong privacy protection
- System requirements are higher than most of the competition if you want to run the program without slowdown but if you can match the required processor speed, RAM, etc then you will be very pleased indeed with this antivirus program
What does Shay, an IT professional, think of BitDefender Antivirus 2012?
BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012 – Buy Now from authorised BitDefender Store, from only $39.95! Click Here
- from $39.95
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Article by Lee Munson
Lee's non-technical background allows him to write about internet security in a clear way that is understandable to both IT professionals and people just like you who need simple answers to your security questions.
Lee has written 2877 awesome articles for us at Security FAQs
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
So? Didn’t you have an answer yet?
Thanks for reminding me – I haven’t checked that email account for a while…
And will You have Microsoft Security Essentiall tested? I began to use it after BitDefender… and I’m desired.
Hi Kot, you are in luck there – Microsoft Security Essentials (2012 review)
I’d be happy to hear what you think of this one too.
Yes! Exactly rajiv. I had this problem too: BitDefender slowed sites opening a much. That’s why I deleted it.
To spend many money for hardware, and to pay a highspeed internet every month (that is not cheap too)… and at the end an antivirus will slow my work? Never!
I meant to ask, what speed is your internet connection?
Now it is 30 Mb/sec. But it slows not whole internet connection… but sites opening. So, You have to see that. I’m not sure, that You will feel that in numbers.
In numbers it only increase ping: from my 25 ms to its ~300 ms. That You will feel in numbers for sure.
Maybe the ping is the reason here of slowing sites opening?
Good review about BItdefender 2012….i use this AV since 6 month…i have a bit trouble about internet speed..when system have no any other AV like Bitdefender 2012 then the speed of internet is regular but when i install Bitdefender then the speed of Internet is very slow….why this is happen?
“”"”" BUT MY OPINION IS Bitdefender 2012 is AWESOME AV in the world
I’m not sure rajiv but I’m going to see if I can get an answer from BitDefender themselves. If I do I’ll report back here.
As I said to Rajiv, I’m going to put this to BitDefender and see what answer they come up with. They’re normally pretty good at answering queries so I’ll shoot an email out tomorrow and see what they say…
That is perfect news! If they have the solution for this problem, I’m ready to try BitDefender again.
Well I’ve sent an email off now – I’ll get back to you with any useful information I get back.
Ok, as expected I’ve had a quick response and BitDefender may well be able to help if you can supply some additional info. Here is what they said -
“…We will need details about what they are referring to: download / upload speed? Any of the users complaining about this issue using IDM – Internet Download Manager? A SupportTool log and a Bitdefender Firewall log will help us better understand the situation…”
If you can supply any/all of that information then I will forward it on and see if we can find a way of fixing the problem for you.
I already uninstalled BitDefender… so I can’t send any logs. But I can tell for sure, that there was no problem with Downloading/Uploading speed. And I was not using any 3-d party download managers. The problem was only in much slower sites opening in different broswers.
When I tested the internet connection speed on speedtest.net, I discovered that the total speed was the same (as before BitDefender installation) and was ~30 Mb/sec. But Ping increased too much: from 25 ms before BitDefender installation to ~300 ms during using BitDefender. Maybe that’s why internet pages (tabs in browsers) were opening so slow.
Ok, I’ll pass that information on and see if they can come up with any answers from that.
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