Question Bitdefender Free expired?

[simmerskool]

I had Bitdefender Free installed on VMware win10_guest, along with Voodooshield 7.44. I liked this combo, very light, but I don't run that vm_guest everyday. I opened that VM yesterday and BD systray icon was grayed out message that my subscription had expired!? I had installed BD free circa 15 March, or about +60 days ago. I was fairly certain I had downloaded and installed fully free version, but perhaps I installed paid version with a free trial, but gee, I think I would have noticed that. Normally is the BD free version free with no expiration? I do recall when I installed BD free it did want to register an email address, and seemed like there was a limit of 3 BD free per customer?? I was looking at BD website last night and it indicated the free version had no strings attached. Curious. I uninstalled BD free from that VM last night, and for now it's running MS Defender.

 

[Bot]

Bitdefender Free is indeed a completely free version of the antivirus software, and it should not have an expiration date. It's possible that you accidentally installed a trial version of the paid version with a free trial period, or there may have been a technical issue with your installation. It's recommended that you try reinstalling Bitdefender Free and double-check that you are downloading the completely free version with no strings attached. If you continue to experience issues, you may want to reach out to Bitdefender's customer support for assistance.

 

[ForgottenSeer 97327]

I was fairly certain I had downloaded and installed fully free version, but perhaps I installed paid version with a free trial, but gee, I think I would have noticed that.

@Bot the real question @simmerskool is asking: "should I worry?"

My answer: as long these memory issues happen in VM only, your are good to go

 

[nickstar1]

You do have to register the free version with an Email like Kaspersky free however it is possible you installed the premium trial version.

 

[ForgottenSeer 97327]

Bitdefender Free is indeed a completely free version of the antivirus software, and it should not have an expiration date. It's possible that you accidentally installed a trial version of the paid version with a free trial period, or there may have been a technical issue with your installation. It's recommended that you try reinstalling Bitdefender Free and double-check that you are downloading the completely free version with no strings attached. If you continue to experience issues, you may want to reach out to Bitdefender's customer support for assistance.

@Bot poor answer IMO, for one Bitdefender does not provide support on FREE (like most software vendors). Where did you find that information?

 

[ForgottenSeer 97327]

Bitdefender Free is indeed a completely free version of the antivirus software, and it should not have an expiration date. It's possible that you accidentally installed a trial version of the paid version with a free trial period, or there may have been a technical issue with your installation. It's recommended that you try reinstalling Bitdefender Free and double-check that you are downloading the completely free version with no strings attached. If you continue to experience issues, you may want to reach out to Bitdefender's customer support for assistance.

For fun I contacted Bitdefender support, they don't provide live support for free users, but here is what I got for answer from the chatbot

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition will reach End of Life in December 2021

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition for Windows is discontinued as of December 2021 and will reach End of Support on June 30, 2022.

www.bitdefender.com

Maybe you should date Bitdefender's chatbot, what interesting discussion the two of you would have

 

[simmerskool]

@Bot the real question @simmerskool is asking: "should I worry?"

My answer: as long these memory issues happen in VM only, your are good to go

what, me worry?

 

[ForgottenSeer 97327]

You do have to register the free version with an Email like Kaspersky free .

Nickstar1 gave the best answer: after some googling I found that you NEED to register and activate your FREE account.

So @simmerskool does not have to worry. He did install the free version.

 

[simmerskool]

You do have to register the free version with an Email like Kaspersky free however it is possible you installed the premium trial version.

I try to keep a running log of what I do to the computer, note perceived anomalies, etc, but my install notes don't specify, other than I did note that BD free does not have safepay. I'll download BD free later today, note the installer name and hash and install it again.

 

[simmerskool]

Nickstar1 gave the best answer: after some googling I found that you NEED to register and activate your FREE account.

So @simmerskool does not have to worry. He did install the free version.

except that I had registered BD free at initial install, and at +60 days it declared itself expired and dead. More of a comment than a worry in the VM. side note I have kaspersky free (also registered) running with Comodo Firewall in a different VM.

 

[Jonny Quest]

You could also try this:

One hour after downloading free Bitdefender why is it telling me my subscription has expired?

community.bitdefender.com

 

[simmerskool]

@Bot poor answer IMO, for one Bitdefender does not provide support on FREE (like most software vendors). Where did you find that information?

fwiw, the BD website says that it DOES provide support for the free version, unlike other av that do not.
"Live customer support included (unlike with other Free Antivirus Software!)"

Bitdefender Free Antivirus for Windows - Download Software

Bitdefender Antivirus Free offers powerful antivirus protection that is light on computer resources. The only free antivirus that you'll ever need!

www.bitdefender.com

 

[SumTingWong]

I am currently using Bitdefender free antivirus and there is no expiration date at all.

 

[simmerskool]

You could also try this:

One hour after downloading free Bitdefender why is it telling me my subscription has expired?

community.bitdefender.com

I think this is the answer, eg, I think I had not run the BD free VM for 2 or 3 weeks so it had no ongoing connection to internet, aka BD Central, so BD Central killed it. I once saw same thing with Kaspersky, but Kas let me re-validate my acct and it's been good since.

 

[simmerskool]

I logged into BD Central with my free subscription email & pw, it reported my BD free was uninstalled, and had link to reinstall it. I think the above post (2:10pm) explains why I found BD "expired" earlier today. After the re-install, its window said it never expires. Would have been better earlier today, if BD notice said to login to Central to validate without the need to reinstall.

 

[alexsrentier]

I had Bitdefender Free installed on VMware win10_guest, along with Voodooshield 7.44. I liked this combo, very light, but I don't run that vm_guest everyday. I opened that VM yesterday and BD systray icon was grayed out message that my subscription had expired!? I had installed BD free circa 15 March, or about +60 days ago. I was fairly certain I had downloaded and installed fully free version, but perhaps I installed paid version with a free trial, but gee, I think I would have noticed that. Check out. Normally is the BD free version free with no expiration? I do recall when I installed BD free it did want to register an email address, and seemed like there was a limit of 3 BD free per customer?? I was looking at BD website last night and it indicated the free version had no strings attached. Curious. I uninstalled BD free from that VM last night, and for now it's running MS Defender.

I installed bitdefender a couple of times and I constantly got errors with it! There are simpler and more effective programs for protection!

 

[simmerskool]

I installed bitdefender a couple of times and I constantly got errors with it! There are simpler and more effective programs for protection!

Which simpler & more effective programs do you suggest? My reinstall of BD Free went ok. I seem to be getting a few more BD popups, mostly buy this or that, but getting less of those today.