BitDefender AntiVirus Pro 2011 Download:

VERSION:  Windows 7 / Vista / XP, Single User PRICE:  $29.95 [30-day Free Trial offer] Other Versions:  BitDefender Internet Security 2011 download Rating: Good

Information Below:  Review, Screenshots, System Requirements

Review of BitDefender AntiVirus 2011 Pro:     By Jay Andrew Allen SOFTWIN's BitDefender 2011 has drawn accolades from independent testing authorities for the quality of its virus detection. And compared to its competitors, its price can't be beat. Unfortunately, we found the program to be marred by poor performance and a clumsy interface. 1) Installation:  2/5 Installation time for BitDefender AntiVirus Pro 2011 was a slow 4 minutes and 6 seconds on our reference machine*. This is more than 3 minutes longer than the quickest installing program - Avira AntiVir. (See Installation Time Comparison Graph) After downloading its own installer, BitDefender 2011 launches a rather involved eight-step installation process. Some of these steps are useful - e.g., BitDefender performs a quick scan of your computer to detect any malware that might attempt to corrupt or defeat the installation of BitDefender itself. Others are annoying digressions that could have waited until after installation, such as when Step 3 prompts you to register for an account on BitDefender.com. Once you're past the installation wizard, BitDefender prompts you again for a guided tour of the application. While this process is well-intentioned, it brings installation to a crawl, and is bound to confuse first-time users with its array of screens and options. *Reference Computer: Windows 7 Home Premium running on a Toshiba Pentium Dual-Core T4200, with 3GB of RAM and a 210GB hard drive. 2) Features & Ease of Use:  6.5/10 After you run the gauntlet of BitDefender's installation routine, you can finally display the BitDefender Dashboard. In contrast to its install process, the Dashboard is clean and easy to navigate. A prominent button informs you of your system's current security status. Three equally sized buttons - Security, Update Now, and My Tools - provide easy access to all of BitDefender's features. BitDefender 2011 Dashboard: View Larger BitDefender Screenshots BitDefender is great at customizing itself to users' needs. Game Mode allows users to reduce processor and disk-intensive scan operations when they are actively gaming, while Laptop Mode reduces power consumption on mobile computers. BitDefender Game / Laptop Modes: View Larger BitDefender Screenshots None of BitDefender's features, however, stand out when compared to the advanced offerings from competitors such as Norton and Kaspersky. Also, the interface is unnecessarily redundant. Quick Scan and Full System Scan, for example, appear under both Security and My Tools. Some UI commands offer little to no feedback; clicking Full System Scan, for example, brought up no status dialog. It turns out that Full System Scan won't display a dialog if a full scan is currently running in the background. To see the status of the current scan, you must right-click the second BitDefender icon in your System Tray and select "Show." New Features:     • Search Advisor - provides safety ratings against Spyware/Malware for search results and visited websites.     • Smart Tips - a series of personalized suggestions & warnings that are relevant to recent activity. 3) Virus Scanner:  3/5 BitDefender offers three scan types: Full System Scan, Quick Scan, and Vulnerability Scan. Full Scan and Quick Scan are common to most antivirus applications. Vulnerability Scan searches for uninstalled updates for Windows and other critical applications. It can optionally check your machine's Windows accounts for weak passwords that are easily crackable by hackers. Speed: Clocking in at 34.5MB/second while scanning our 1.0GB collection of test files, BitDefender is one of the quicker virus scanners we've reviewed this year. This placed BitDefender as the 4th fastest virus scanner overall. (See Scan Speed Comparison Graph) BitDefender Virus Scanner: View Larger BitDefender Screenshots Updates: BitDefender 2011 boasts the fourth most virus definition updates of any of the commercial anti-virus packages we've reviewed, downloading on average 12.5 updates per day. However, that's still a far cry from Norton AntiVirus 2011's impressive 200+ daily downloads. (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph) 4) Performance Testing:  6.5/10 A good Antivirus program should not only protect your computer from Viruses but also not slow down the Performance of your computer too much by using up your computer's resources. We run each Antivirus program through a set of Performance Tests to see the impact it has on the computer. View the results below of our Antivirus testing for Bit Defender 2011 this year... • Memory Use: BitDefender AntiVirus Pro 2011 uses only 14.6 MB of system memory. #5 ranked program of the 15 Antivirus programs we tested this year. • Reboot Time: BitDefender added 20.8 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. #8 ranked program. • Installation Size: BitDefender AntiVirus Pro 2011 takes 459 MB of hard-drive space for installation. #11 ranked program. • Initial Scan Speed: BitDefender scans files the first time at a speed of 34.5 MB/s. #4 ranked program. • Subsequent Scan Speed: BitDefender performs subsequent scans at a speed of 140.3 MB/s. #5 ranked program. • Initial Application Launch: BitDefender added 3.065s to launch a web browser for the first time after a reboot. #15 ranked program. • Subsequent Application Launch: BitDefender added 0.294s on average for subsequent web browser launches. #9 ranked program. • File Conversion Time: BitDefender added 0.47s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. #7 ranked program. • System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 8 Antivirus tests. BitDefender 2011 scored a total of 64 out of 120 points when compared to the other Antivirus programs. This gave BitDefender 2011 a 7th place overall ranking in our performance testing - behind leaders Norton AntiVirus, NOD32 AntiVirus, and Avira AntiVir. Overall, BitDefender 2011 is an Above Average performing antivirus program. • View graphs of the above Antivirus Performance Tests. 5) Effectiveness: (Virus/Malware Detection)  13.5/15 The most important function of an Antivirus program is to keep your computer free from Viruses and other Malware. Below we'll take a look at some of the industry's top Virus/Malware Detection testing and certification. a) AV Comparatives has 2 major Virus/Malware tests each year. In the most recent test in August, the On Demand Detection Test, BitDefender received top marks - 3 out of 3 Stars. In the 2nd test, the Proactive Test, BitDefender again received a 3-Star rating. Overall, BitDefender performed extremely well in these important Antivirus tests. (*AV Comparatives is an independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria providing some of the most trusted Virus detection tests in the industry.) b) ICSA Labs Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software. c) Virus Bulletin's VB 100% Certified. BitDefender Antivirus passed the most recent VB100 test (Oct./2010), but BitDefender failed the previous test in August. The VB 100% award is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild." d) West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products. 6) Help & Support:  4/5 BitDefender prominently displays a Help and Support question box on the Dashboard. Type in a question or keyword, and BitDefender displays a nice fly-out listing the available support topics. A life raft icon indicates responses to frequently asked questions. You can get further support from clicking the Help and Support link on the bottom right side of the Dashboard. While the UI here is also a little clunky, BitDefender helpfully displays a link for contacting customer service directly if the built-in troubleshooter can't answer your question. You can also go directly to the BitDefender website and contact a representative by e-mail, live chat, or telephone. Telephone and live chat support are available to English-speaking customers 24/7. »Quick Support Links:      • BitDefender Consumer Support      • BitDefender Business Support      • Contact BitDefender      • BitDefender Support Forums      • BitDefender Personal Support Page (for customers) CONCLUSION: BitDefender AntiVirus Pro 2011 remains one of the best antivirus programs we've tested, although it has fallen down our rankings from #5 last year. The main reasons for BitDefender's slightly lower marks compared to last year are due to its overly-complex installation process, and several user-interface glitches. However, BitDefender continues to provide excellent virus protection, so if you can fumble your way through the installation process you'll like BitDefender 2011. Overall Rating: Good    (Total Score: 35.5 / 50 = 3.5 Stars) Misc Info:     • Version Tested: 14.0.23.312     • Release Date:     • Review Date:     • Last Updated: April 7, 2011     • Previous Versions: BitDefender AntiVirus 2010, BitDefender AntiVirus 2009     • Other BitDefender Software: BitDefender Internet Security, BitDefender Free AntiVirus Useful Articles:     • Summary of the Best Antivirus Software of 2011     • What is a Computer Virus?     • Antivirus vs. Internet Security software - Which is right for me?     • Differences between Viruses, Trojans, Worms & Spyware     • More Articles... Top 5 Antivirus Programs: 1) Norton AntiVirus 2012 Review 2) NOD32 AntiVirus 5 Review 3) Kaspersky AntiVirus 2012 Review 4) Avast! AntiVirus Pro 6 Review 5) Avira AntiVir Version 10 Review  - Rating:   Excellent  - Rating:   Excellent  - Rating:   Very Good  - Rating:   Very Good  - Rating:   Good << Top of Page

BitDefender AntiVirus 2011 Screenshots

BitDefender AntiVirus Pro 2011 System Requirements:

Supported Operating Systems:

    • Windows 7, Windows Vista (Service Pack 1), Windows XP (Service Pack 3 for 32-bit, SP2 for 64-bit)

Minimum Requirements:

    • 800 MHz processor (1.66 GHz recommended)
    • 512 MB RAM memory for Windows XP, 1 GB for Windows 7 & Vista (1 GB / 1.5 GB recommended)
    • 500 MB available hard-drive space for installation
    • Internet Explorer 6 (version 7+ recommended)

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