Majority of crashes are caused by AVs. I have not got a single BSOD since Vista, no AV.
Bitdefender antivirus
- Thread starter chetuyet.hp
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You're exactly right. At one point they had about 9-11 processes (when I was keeping track of it better) then added about 4-5 more (I have those screenshots somewhere) in an update, and that's when we were told the reasoning why (post #7).
Excellent point, and a benefit of using Windows embedded AV.
I haven’t got any BSODs with other antivirus software either.
It’s not like Microsoft native code has never introduced any crashes, bugs, BSODs etc.
It’s software like software.
Choosing an antivirus with less kernel drivers (like Defender or McAfee) in general leads to better stability as opposed to choosing AVs with 5 (or in some cases 10-15) drivers. It is the wise and modern choice.
It introduces other risks however, mainly with kernel mode blindness. Not monitoring behaviour in kernel mode means less visibility into process memory (although Intel TDT resolves this to an extent but introduces a driver).
It also introduces the potential for unhooking and other manipulations which can cause the AV to not detect malware that it recognises very well.
This essentially means that your user mode monitoring must not be good—it must be brilliant and genius. It is doable though. McAfee, Eset and Defender prove that it can be done.
It’s not like Microsoft native code has never introduced any crashes, bugs, BSODs etc.
It’s software like software.
Choosing an antivirus with less kernel drivers (like Defender or McAfee) in general leads to better stability as opposed to choosing AVs with 5 (or in some cases 10-15) drivers. It is the wise and modern choice.
It introduces other risks however, mainly with kernel mode blindness. Not monitoring behaviour in kernel mode means less visibility into process memory (although Intel TDT resolves this to an extent but introduces a driver).
It also introduces the potential for unhooking and other manipulations which can cause the AV to not detect malware that it recognises very well.
This essentially means that your user mode monitoring must not be good—it must be brilliant and genius. It is doable though. McAfee, Eset and Defender prove that it can be done.
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Nice thread, it's good having you here, @Trident 
I recently saw a bug in the Avast kernel, and Bitdefender. And it precisely affects antiviruses that have modular processes.I posted it on the Avast forum. I haven't had a response. And at Bitdefender, I published them on their Facebook, also without a response.
Only a driver can cause a BSOD (or something that the driver uses/parses). User mode processes do not cause BSOD, they just crash, terminate and eventually restart.
The Avast anti rootkit driver which is based on the open source Gmer not once or twice has caused BSODs
Avast is usually very quick to resolve them.
It must he noted that the Avast engine now, specially after Norton runs on a sheer number of machines.
So it is easier to notice the errors as opposed to if they were in ProtaDota antivirus with 12 users.
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Unused RAM is wasted RAM. If you have 2GB of free RAM, system won't work any slower than if you have 4GB free. That only matters when you actually run out of free RAM and the system starts paging (when Windows moves stuff from RAM to the disk, which is significantly slower).
A few days ago reinstalled Bitdefender to see how it works and if it solved some bugs
For now all running great and some online games are better accessible than with the Gen-D Av's.
Always had a soft spot for BD.
For now all running great and some online games are better accessible than with the Gen-D Av's.
Always had a soft spot for BD.
Wasn't that more towards Microsoft ?
New DefenderWrite Tool Let Attackers Inject Malicious DLLs into AV Executable Folders
A new tool called DefenderWrite exploits whitelisted Windows programs to bypass protections and write arbitrary files into antivirus executable folders, potentially enabling malware persistence and evasion.
cybersecuritynews.com
But don't go too much offtopic
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After one week of using Bitdefender, I noticed that Bitdefender's RAM usage has decreased.
It's strange that RAM usage is so low, especially from one of the "bdservicehost" processes.
I've had it drop to 80-90 MB at best. They've probably released some signature update that optimized RAM usage... but I'm not sure.
I agree, I saw the same thing and wondered about that as well. With Total, it never got below 250, but was usually around 325-350.
I think there's a missing running process, and it's the one using the most RAM?
Have you tried launching the Bitdefender dashboard and checking again?
An update should be released later this week that fixes a bug that causes some processes to hang until Bitdefender is restarted.
Read more here:
Have you tried launching the Bitdefender dashboard and checking again?
An update should be released later this week that fixes a bug that causes some processes to hang until Bitdefender is restarted.
Read more here:
Hi,
I use Bitdefender on a Samsung phone.
It uses 500MB of RAM, but sometimes uses 900MB.
I don't even use app lock or anti-theft.
I know that Android frees up memory, if necessary, but I think this is a lot.
This is how I use Bitdefender?
Maybe Eset or McAfee?
Or rather nothing?
I used it for phishing protection.
Regards,
I use Bitdefender on a Samsung phone.
It uses 500MB of RAM, but sometimes uses 900MB.
I don't even use app lock or anti-theft.
I know that Android frees up memory, if necessary, but I think this is a lot.
This is how I use Bitdefender?
Maybe Eset or McAfee?
Or rather nothing?
I used it for phishing protection.
Regards,
I had to work on my late brothers PC a couple of weeks ago that someone later had helpfully?? for my sister-in-law installed & messed up Bitdefender, & as I had limited time & as I was an hour from home & also needed to sort her laptop out had one hell of a job (hours) trying to remove a half installed BD - The uninstaller just had error messages in Windows or safe, there are still parts of it on the PC - It really now needs a reinstall, which she really does not want doing as part of the way its setup IS my late brother, & I also found the whole thing distressing, but my recent clash with BD were not happy at all.
You can download and use this program from a USB stick, which doesn't require installation on your PC.
Antivirus Removal Tool
Antivirus Removal Tool (freeware) is a portable program to detect and completely remove antivirus software. It will help you to identify current and past installations, and it will provide you with the official specialized uninstallers. These are designed by the manufacturers of the antivirus...
Do not use the tools suggested for Bitdefender. If you've already uninstalled it with its uninstaller, run the search and it will find traces in folders or the folders themselves, which you can manually delete by following the paths indicated.
Even though, never encountered a member posting screenshot by any 3rd party process monitor (supposing it shows the real usage) showing low RAM usage by B, as low as K and MD.
BDIS security is using around 600 MBs or ram on my device, but that's not a problem even though I only have 16 GBs of ram.
I'll keep an eye on ram usage and see if it might cause any issues under heavy usage as my laptop comes with ram soldered so I cannot upgrade it.
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