*NEW!*
BitDefender Antivirus 2010
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$24.95 
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BitDefender Antivirus 2010 proves to be very impressive again this year. They scored very well in every antivirus test we threw against it, with only a few minor deficiencies.
Real-time antivirus protection was excellent (one of the best we've seen), Resource usage was very low, and overall PC protection against viruses and other malware was top-notch.
IMPROVED FEATURES
Great real-time protection
Excellent resource usage
Advanced user interface
In addition to improvements in antivirus detection, BitDefender Antivirus 2010 also brings improvements in the user interface, making the software quite a bit easier to use.
They've split the interface into three separate sections: Novice, Intermediate, and Expert.
This is becoming a trend across many antivirus software, but BitDefender does a great job in presentation and ease of use.
The only area that didn't perform as well as we'd expected was their spyware / adware protection.
It wasn't bad, and still had an acceptable detection rate, but we hope they'll beef up this area next year.
When you consider the great antivirus protection rate, the excellent resource usage, and user interface refinements, BitDefender is an excellent choice for core antivirus
protection at a low price.
We think BitDefender Antivirus 2010 is well-rounded, powerful antivirus software for any PC.
BitDefender Antivirus 2010 Features
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- Real-time Protection
Protects your computer in real-time against viruses, spyware, adware, and other malware. Rest easy knowing your PC is being protected 24/7.
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- Spyware Removal
Blocks spyware and adware from infecting your PC. Finds and removes spyware already embedded in your computer.
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- Email Protection
Keeps your inbox safe from viruses and other malware by scanning any suspicious links or programs.
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- Instant Messaging Protection
Keeps IM conversations safe by scanning and blocking virus or malicious file transfers. Helps keep dangerous intruders out of your Instant Messaging chats.
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- Vulnerability Check
Checks the following for vulnerabilities: Windows updates, Windows account passwords, application updates, and up-to-date programs.
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- Privacy Control
Lets you create individual rules that prevent certain users from sending out sensitive data through IM, web, or email (smtp only).
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- Encryption of IM Messages
IM conversations are encrypted for maximum protection and privacy.
BitDefender Antivirus 2010 Assessment
Here we've listed a breakdown of each category we've tested for BitDefender Antivirus Software 2010. Each category was given a percentage rating based on those tests.
Antivirus Installation: 100%
$24.95
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Download time after direct purchase was only about 1 minute. After that, a standard installation wizard will walk you through each step needed to complete the installation.
During the installation, you'll have the opportunity to choose one of the following profiles:
- Typical
- Gamer
- Parent
- Custom
Each profile has different pre-sets that will help you according to your needs.
If you have other BitDefender products installed on a home network, the installation will offer settings that allow you manage them from one location. Very, very handy.
If you're on a laptop, the installation setup will install features that help to regulate battery power.
Antivirus definition updates will be automatically downloaded during the installation process.
Total install only took approximately 5 minutes.
The overall installation experience for BitDefender may be a little different than other installations, but the different options tend to be very useful and a nice improvement.
BitDefender will ask if you'd like to do a reboot or not, but you'll need to do a reboot anyway in order for the software to work properly (we're not sure why they bother to give you an option).
BitDefender Antivirus Installation Screenshots
Un-installation: 92%
If you ever need to uninstall BitDefender, it's easy. You can either uninstall through the Windows ADD/REMOVE Programs feature, or through BitDefender's self-uninstall.
It takes about 2 minutes to complete the un-installation, and a reboot is required.
All related files were cleanly removed, and we didn't find any problematic traces left behind in the registry.
User Interface: 96%
The user interface control panel has a very clean and modern look without being confusing or overwhelming.
With ever increasing needs for custom antivirus settings, BitDefender, as many other manufacturers have done, has wisely split the user interface into 3 distinct
sections for you to choose from: Novice, Intermediate, or Expert.
The Novice interface is easy enough to simply set-it and forget-it.
The Intermediate interface guides you through several wizards that allow you to customize which settings will work best for you.
The Expert interface uses a tab-based format that allows for easy access to all settings.
Overall, the 3 separate interface options provide a user interface appropriate for any user level.
BitDefender Antivirus User Interface Screenshots
Real-time Protection: 90%
BitDefender's real-time protection proved accurate and quick to respond.
Of all the viruses and malware we tested against it, and we tested a lot, BitDefender Antivirus detected 90%. A terrific score considering no antivirus software is
ever 100% accurate.
When real-time protection was engaged, memory usage was less than 5MB. Memory usage only slightly increased when the antivirus had to deal with a malicious file.
When BitDefender detects a virus, unlike some competitors, it does so instant they attempt to transfer to your PC.
When a file attempts to transfer to your computer, an alert appears in the System tray describing the virus threat.
Overall, a great real-time protection result.
Manual Scan: 93%
90% of all viruses and malware were detected by BitDefender when we ran a manual, full-system scan.
Even though the scan took a bit longer than some of the other antivirus software we tested, for most people accurate results are worth the wait.
BitDefender Antivirus Manual Scan Screenshots
Resource Usage: 93%
Memory usage was approximately 3% during real-time usage (very low).
A full-system manual scan only used 82% of CPU during our testing. Memory usage started around 90MB and slowly increased to 110MB after 12 min of scanning. Not bad.
No noticeable computer lag-time was detected during scanning. Our browsers responded normally without much delay.
Resource usage overall was very low. At 3% memory usage, BitDefender comes in second only to VIPRE this year.
BitDefender Antivirus 2010
Antivirus Scanning Resource Usage
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| Real-Time Memory |
3.0% |
| Manual Scan Memory |
110MB |
| Manual Scan CPU |
82% |
Note: These are the average results we found during our testing.
Every PC is different, of course, so your results may vary, but we expect these results to be fairly representative.
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BitDefender used only 3.0% memory during real-time protection.
BitDefender used only 110MB of memory during a manual scan.
BitDefender used 82% of CPU during a manual scan.
Spyware/Adware Protection: 89%
$24.95
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BitDefender only removed 75% of the spyware and adware we tested.
Even though this may not seem like a great score, it's still much better than most other antivirus software we've tested this year (note: the remaining software that BitDefender was unable to remove was also not removed by most competitors either.)
There were a few programs that couldn't be removed during our testing. BitDefender detected them, but automatic final deletion wasn't possible.
However, the most dangerous and annoying spyware/adware was all successfully removed.
Overall, a decent anti-spyware and anti-adware, but we hope BitDefender will perform better next year.
Virus Removal from a Pre-infected Machine: 91%
We pre-infected our testing computer with viruses and other malicious software, then installed BitDefender to see how well it would perform.
During installation, the antivirus only caught about 20% of the already installed viruses, and it didn't identify the dormant malware that had not yet installed itself.
Once we ran a full-system scan, 90% of all viruses were caught and deleted. Running a full-system scan is always recommended after installing antivirus
software, regardless of who the security software vendor is, to ensure that all viruses and malware are found and removed.
Even though BitDefender didn't do as well as we'd like to see in virus detection on a machine that was already infected, we still give them a high score because once we
ran a manual scan, the viruses were detected and removed.
Email Protection: 95%
This antivirus version doesn't include a direct email protection feature (you'll need to upgrade to
BitDefender Internet Security 2010),
but all files and programs attempting to access your computer are all equally scanned anyway.
Whether these malicious files come via the web or email, as long as you have real-time protection enabled, your inbox is protected.
IM Protection: 91%
Even though BitDefender doesn't specifically list Instant Messaging (IM) protection as a feature, all URLs and links that pass through IM conversations are still
scanned for viruses or phishing (Live/MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger only) as long as Real-Time protection is enabled.
Thus, even though it's not listed as a feature per se, we still give them high marks for having the functionality and for it working well at preventing viruses.
Antivirus Definition Updates: 94%
The default setting for antivirus definition updates is one hour, which really should be fine for most people, but you can change this frequency in Expert mode.
You can also change the alerts to be completely silent, which we don't recommend, or you can even set combinations of alerts/prompts when downloading or installing
updates.
Customer Support: 87%
Phone, chat, and email support are all free. The phone numbers are not toll-free, however.
Phone support is available 24/7 in English (US, Canada, UK and worldwide), but we couldn't find any listed support hours for chat services.
Unfortunately, the email, chat, and phone options aren't as easy to find as we'd like.
You can access the Help Files from within the BitDefender control panel. Inside the Help Files you'll find a small support link that gives you access to the Knowledgebase.
If you can't find your answer in the Knowledgebase, you can click deeper to finally get to the phone, chat, and email support options.
You'll need to sign in to access these features using the BitDefender ID you created during installation.
We applaud BitDefender for having free customer and tech support--and particularly phone support, but they really need to make these features much easier to find.
BitDefender Antivirus 2010
Review Conclusions
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BitDefender Antivirus 2010 Scores
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Antivirus
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$24.95
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| Overall Antivirus Protection |
97 |
| Real-time Antivirus Protection |
90 |
| Manual Antivirus Scanning |
93 |
| Antivirus Resource Utlization |
93 |
| Virus Removal (Pre-infected Machine) |
91 |
| Antivirus Definition Updates |
94 |
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Additional Internet Security Features
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| Spyware/Adware Protection |
89 |
| Email Protection |
95 |
| Anti-Spam Protection |
* |
| Firewall Software |
* |
| Parental Controls Software |
* |
| IM/Instant Message Protection |
91 |
| Anti-Phishing Protection |
* |
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Other Antivirus Software Ratings
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| Installation |
100 |
| Un-installation |
92 |
| User Interface |
96 |
| Customer Technical Support |
87 |
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* These features are available only in
BitDefender Internet Security 2010.
BitDefender Antivirus 2010 performed extremely well in almost all areas of our antivirus testing this year.
They've proven to have an excellent track record year after year, and we're glad to see BitDefender continues to live up to expectations as Internet security software.
This year keeps up the pace with excellent real-time protection to keep your PC safe 24/7. Viruses and other malware were successfully scanned and dealt with.
IM and email messages are thoroughly scanned for phishing or potential threats.
BitDefender 2010
Quick Summary |
- Excellent real-time protection
- Improved user interface
- Very low resource usage
- Customer support needs improvement
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The clever use of a three-sectioned user interface is a nice addition this year, making it easier to use for any user: novice, intermediate, or expert.
Resource usage is always a big concern for antivirus users, and BitDefender Antivirus 2010 does a great job this year by keeping the overall footprint low.
The only area that needs some attention is their spyware and adware protection. Our tests showed it to be acceptable, but it has room to improve.
Add to all this a very reasonable price tag, and BitDefender is a great choice for core antivirus PC protection.
BitDefender Antivirus 2010
XP System Requirements
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- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or higher
- Mozilla Firefox 2.5 or higher
- CD-ROM drive
(NOT required for installation via the Internet)
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| Software
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Microsoft Windows XP Professional
(Service Pack 2)
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
(Service Pack 2)
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| Processor/CPU
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Intel Pentium processor 800 MHz or faster
(or compatible)
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| System Memory/RAM
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512 MB
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| Free Disk Space
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450 MB
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| Email
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- Thunderbird 2.0.0.17
- Microsoft Outlook 2000
- Microsoft Outlook 2003
- Microsoft Outlook 2007
- Outlook Express
- Windows Mail
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| Instant Messaging
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- Yahoo Messenger 8.5
- Windows Live Messenger 8
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BitDefender Antivirus 2010
Windows 7 / Vista System Requirements
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Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or higher.
Mozilla Firefox 2.5 or higher
CD-ROM drive (NOT required for installation via the Internet)
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Software
(32/64 bit)
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Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Microsoft Windows Vista Business
Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows 7
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| Processor/CPU
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Intel Pentium processor 800 MHz or faster
32 bit (x86)/64 bit (x64)[or compatible]
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| System Memory/RAM
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1 GB
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| Free Disk Space
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450 MB
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| Email
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- Thunderbird 2.0.0.17
- Microsoft Outlook 2000
- Microsoft Outlook 2003
- Microsoft Outlook 2007
- Outlook Express
- Windows Mail
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| Instant Messaging
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- Yahoo Messenger 8.5
- Windows Live Messenger 8
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BitDefender vs VIPRE Antivirus
