Bit Defender Anti-Virus Software causes Hell for 64-bit Windows Machines… Has anyone tried Microsoft Security Essentials? It’s FREE…

22. March 2010 by admin.

According to this post:

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/192000/bad_bitdefender_update_clobbers_windows_pcs.html?tk=nl_dnx_h_crawl

Bit Defender software gave 64-bit Windows users “Pure Hell” after an Update on Saturday … Windows Files were eaten, Bit Defender Files were eaten. The thing was just *hungry* I guess. Read the article at the link above for more. I posted a comment in the comments section below the article myself … and I’m having a look on a 64-bit Windows 7 Machine, at the Microsoft Security Essentials. I am doing an install and will be testing it over the next few days to see how it works, how heavy or light it is on system resources, and generally how well I like it as a solution for protecting my computer. If I like it - it might be another candidate for recommendation to my friends and customers. I have been using versions of AVG for a few years … and it has been doing Pretty Ok Too.

A noteable quote from the above article:

“Users of the BitDefender antivirus software started flooding the company’s support forums Saturday, apparently after a faulty antivirus update caused 64-bit Windows machines to stop working.”

Notable comment quotes:

“WinTard posted Sun Mar 21 11:52:31 PDT 2010

I can honestly state I’ve virtually tried them all. IMHO, one of the simplest, cost-effective (entirely free), and low-overhead anti-virus is Microsoft Security Essentials.
It really works like a charm and is for all purposes invisible. It found stuff deep into metadata files (MP3 and WMV) files that Panda, Avast, and others had missed for years! It also warned me of vulnerabilities in VNC, prompting me to update to the latest fixed versions, all automatically.
http://www.google.com/search?q=microsoftsecurityessentials: Results 1 - 10 of about 12,000,000 for microsoft security essentials. (0.10 seconds)
I must say kudos to Microsoft for generously giving us http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/! That’s what I use and would recommend to anybody using Windows.
It’s free, and updates sometimes multiple times per day. And I trust Microsoft for knowing what they’re doing.
~~~~~~~~~~~
You know, feeling a lot of gratitude actually makes things taste better…
~ Bridgett Walther”

“chevrolet1994 posted Sun Mar 21 12:59:45 PDT 2010

I had Browser Hijack Retaliator installed in my computer (32 bit PC).
I had it installed in the computer for several months and then yesterday (3/20) the computer started running slow, I installed BHR and then then reinstalled it,the computer was still running slow. I went to Major Geeks.com and downloaded Spy ware Terminator and THAT really screwed up the computer!
I installed Spy ware Terminator and I am just running AVG 9.0 Free along with Windows Defender, the computer works great now.”

* * * * And now finally … This one was me, Alan Spicer:

“aspicer posted Sun Mar 21 22:11:43 PDT 2010

Oh, God, did we really have to have the “Mac” comment in here? Chevrolet1994 and Wintard have made the best comment posts so far. At least not bitching but helpful, perhaps. Although Chevrolet didn’t say how they fixed the computer once it was screwed up, I imagine it was a wayback machine maneuver such as System Restore.
I’m going to test the Microsoft Security Essentials package on a 64-bit 7 installation here … and see if that’s something I might want to recommend for my sail and motor yacht customers. I have been using various versions of AVG without any problems for several years. I have been recommending it as well. Typically, IMHO, any of the so-called “Security Suites” are just too much for the average user to manage. And they usually add additional firewalling that makes making anthing work a PITA even for someone that does it for a living.
I did recently have to do a System Restore on a Windows XP PRo Machine. Because of installing several Amateur Radio audio and radio remote control software demo packages. I lost my outbound audio from my sound card. I yanked all of the recently installed softwares, and rebooted, and still didn’t fix the problem. System Restore to a date when I knew that my soundcard was doing PSK31 (for Amateur Radio) just fine, and it came back like a champ. I have sneaking suspicion this had something to do with an old Microsoft C/C+ library package. I remember one of the softwares installing that. Whenever I see a “redistributable” such as that dated more than a year or two old, I have to wonder. What the Freak are they doing? I mean there’s gotta be a newer version than 2005 or such, right? And the software installation should have looked for an existing version and see if it is a working option already in place. If not their damn software needs to be updated to a current version. I still think I get some error, with something, related to that MS C/C+ library package around. So something else probably got mucked up by that as well.
I know this has nothing to do with BitDefender. I feel sorry for them … And Toyota as well … We won’t screw up again, We Promise! And the other US car companies that just screwed up (Their WHOLE BUSINESS) and the country, the tax payers (now and future) have to pay for it. Cool. Nice one. Where’s my bailout????”

… That’s all for now, we return you to your LIFE, ALREADY IN PROGRESS …

—

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net

communications (at) marinetelecom.net

+1 954 683 3426

Posted in Main | No Comments »