Technology Tips – Published September 2017 in the Guide and Digest
By Don Trauger – Kennett
It’s been since December 2013 that I’ve written about Bitdefender Free Antivirus. A lot has changed in this venerable free program. It sports a new interface and it’s updated from the cloud. It’s now compatible with Windows 10 according to their web site information. This has been debated by me and others who have run the older version on Windows 10 without any problems.
The new version features on-demand and on-access scanning with powerful scan engines that ensure detection and removal of all malware from viruses, worms and Trojans to ransomware, zero-day exploits, rootkits and spyware.
The “Advanced Threat Detection” uses an innovative technique called behavioral detection to closely monitor your active apps. When it detects anything suspicious, it takes instant action. Bitdefender Free has an “Anti-Phishing” component that blocks websites that masquerade as trustworthy in order to steal financial data such as passwords or credit card numbers. The “Anti-Fraud” module uses an advanced filtering system that warns you whenever you visit websites that may try to scam you such as casinos, porn sites, money loan schemes and others. All this adds up for you to consider replacing your present version (1.0.21.1109) if you have it, and downloading and installing this newest version. You can get it here: https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html.
Remember to uninstall any other antivirus program before installing Bitdefender Free. To uninstall, click the Start button (lower left corner of the screen) click Settings (2 icons above the Start button) click Apps then click your anti virus program followed by Uninstall. If you don’t see Apps you have an earlier version of Windows 10. Instead, right click the Start button and click Control Panel and click “Uninstall a program” under Programs or Programs and Features. Locate your old anti virus program and uninstall it. NOTE: Bitdefender will uninstall previous versions of Bitdefender Free during the installation of the new version.
After downloadiing, the file will be found in your Downloads folder. Click File Explorer (the yellow folder on the Task Bar at bottom of screen) then open the Downloads folder. Double click “Bitdefender_online.exe” to start the installation. Follow any screen prompts and restart the computer when shown. After the restart, note the Bitdefender icon on the Task Bar that shows a form to log-in to your previous Bitdefender account or create a new one for first time users. You must complete the form to make Bitdefender work properly. Also, after the restart, there should be another Bitdefender icon on the Task Bar. Click to open it and click the Install button. After completing the installation, click the sign-in button. Previous users will be signed in automatically. New users must check their email for an email from Bitdefender that will need to be confirmed for the new account.
Finally, Bitdefender updates automatically but does not scan automatically. You must open the program to do a manual scan. There’s only one other setting to change. Open Bitdefender, click the gear (settings) at the top, click “Account Info” and turn off “Display notifications with special offers”.
We will discuss Bitdefender at our PC Club meeting on September 19 at 7 PM upstairs in the Community Center. There also will be time for any Windows questions too.