Bitdefender Internet Security User Manual [nl]
User's Guide
Copyright© 2013 Bitdefender
Bitdefender Internet Security
Bitdefender Internet Security
User's Guide
Publication date 08/12/2013
Copyright© 2013 Bitdefender
Legal Notice
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
written permission from an authorized representative of Bitdefender. The inclusion of brief quotations in reviews
may be possible only with the mention of the quoted source. The content can not be modified in any way.
Warning and Disclaimer. This product and its documentation are protected by copyright. The information in
this document is provided on an “as is” basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in the
preparation of this document, the authors will not have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any
loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this work.
This book contains links to third-party Websites that are not under the control of Bitdefender, therefore Bitdefender
is not responsible for the content of any linked site. If you access a third-party website listed in this document, you
will do so at your own risk. Bitdefender provides these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of the link
does not imply that Bitdefender endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content of the third-party site.
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document are the sole property of their respective owners, and are respectfully acknowledged.
Bitdefender Internet Security
Each man has his price Bob
And yours was pretty low
Bitdefender Internet Security
Table of Contents
Installation ................................................................. 1
1. Preparing for installation . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. System requirements . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. 3
2.1. Minimum system requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2. Recommended system requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3. Software requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Installing your Bitdefender product . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. . 5
Getting started ......................................................... 10
4. The basics .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. 11
4.1. Opening the Bitdefender window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2. Fixing issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2.1. Fix All Issues wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2.2. Configuring status alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3. Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.4. Autopilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.5. Game Mode and Laptop Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.5.1. Game Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.5.2. Laptop Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.6. Password-protecting Bitdefender settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.7. Anonymous usage reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5. Bitdefender interface .. . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . 20
5.1. System tray icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
5.2. Main window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.2.1. Upper toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5.2.2. Panels area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.3. Settings Overview window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.4. Security Widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.4.1. Scanning files and folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.4.2. Hide / show Security Widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.5. Security Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.5.1. Checking the Security Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.5.2. Turning on or off the Security Status notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
6. Registering Bitdefender . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . 31
6.1. Entering your license key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.2. Buying or renewing license keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
7. MyBitdefender account . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . 33
7.1. Linking your computer to MyBitdefender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
8. Keeping Bitdefender up-to-date . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 36
8.1. Checking if Bitdefender is up-to-date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
8.2. Performing an update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
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8.3. Turning on or off automatic update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
8.4. Adjusting update settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
How to ..................................................................... 39
9. Installation . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
9.1. How do I install Bitdefender on a second computer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
9.2. When should I reinstall Bitdefender? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
9.3. Where can I download my Bitdefender product from? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
9.4. How do I switch from one Bitdefender product to another? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
9.5. How do I use my Bitdefender license key after a Windows upgrade? . . . . . . . . . 42
9.6. How do I repair Bitdefender? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
10. Registration . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . 45
10.1. What Bitdefender product am I using? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
10.2. How do I register a trial version? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
10.3. When does my Bitdefender protection expire? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
10.4. How do I renew my Bitdefender protection? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
11. MyBitdefender .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . 47
11.1. How do I log in into MyBitdefender using another online account? . . . . . . . . . . 47
11.2. How do I change the e-mail address used for MyBitdefender account? . . . . . . 47
11.3. How do I reset the password for MyBitdefender account? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
12. Scanning with Bitdefender .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. 49
12.1. How do I scan a file or a folder? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
12.2. How do I scan my system? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
12.3. How do I create a custom scan task? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
12.4. How do I exclude a folder from being scanned? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
12.5. What to do when Bitdefender detected a clean file as infected? . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
12.6. How do I check what viruses Bitdefender detected? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
13. Parental Control . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . 53
13.1. How do I protect my children from online threats? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
13.2. How do I restrict the Internet access for my child? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
13.3. How do I block my child's access to a website? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
13.4. How do I prevent my child from playing a game? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
13.5. How do I create Windows user accounts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
13.6. How to remove a child profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
14. Privacy Control .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 58
14.1. How do I make sure my online transaction is secure? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
14.2. How do I protect my Facebook account? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
14.3. How do I remove a file permanently with Bitdefender? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
15. Useful Information .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . 60
15.1. How do I test my antivirus solution? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
15.2. How do I remove Bitdefender? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
15.3. How do I keep my system protected after uninstalling Bitdefender? . . . . . . . . 62
15.4. How do I automatically shut down the computer after the scan is over? . . . . . 62
15.5. How do I configure Bitdefender to use a proxy Internet connection? . . . . . . . . 63
15.6. Am I using a 32 bit or a 64 bit version of Windows? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
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15.7. How do I display hidden objects in Windows? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
15.8. How do I remove other security solutions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
15.9. How do I use System Restore in Windows? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
15.10. How do I restart in Safe Mode? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Managing your security .............................................. 68
16. Antivirus protection ... .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. 69
16.1. On-access scanning (real-time protection) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
16.1.1. Turning on or off real-time protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
16.1.2. Adjusting the real-time protection level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
16.1.3. Configuring the real time protection settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
16.1.4. Restoring the default settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
16.2. On-demand scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
16.2.1. Autoscan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
16.2.2. Scanning a file or folder for malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
16.2.3. Running a Quick Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
16.2.4. Running a System Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
16.2.5. Configuring a custom scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
16.2.6. Antivirus Scan Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
16.2.7. Checking scan logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
16.3. Automatic scan of removable media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
16.3.1. How does it work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
16.3.2. Managing removable media scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
16.4. Configuring scan exclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
16.4.1. Excluding files or folders from scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
16.4.2. Excluding file extensions from scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
16.4.3. Managing scan exclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
16.5. Managing quarantined files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
16.6. Active Virus Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
16.6.1. Checking detected applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
16.6.2. Turning on or off Active Virus Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
16.6.3. Adjusting the Active Virus Control protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
16.6.4. Managing excluded processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
16.7. Fixing system vulnerabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
16.7.1. Scanning your system for vulnerabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
16.7.2. Using automatic vulnerability monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
17. Antispam ... . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . 93
17.1. Antispam insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
17.1.1. Antispam filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
17.1.2. Antispam operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
17.1.3. Supported e-mail clients and protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
17.2. Turning on or off antispam protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
17.3. Using the antispam toolbar in your mail client window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
17.3.1. Indicating detection errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
17.3.2. Indicating undetected spam messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
17.3.3. Configuring toolbar settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
17.4. Configuring the Friends List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
17.5. Configuring the Spammers List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
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17.6. Configuring the local antispam filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
17.7. Configuring the cloud settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
18. Privacy Control .. . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. 101
18.1. Antiphishing protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
18.1.1. Bitdefender protection in the web browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
18.1.2. Bitdefender alerts in the browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
18.2. Chat encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
18.3. Data protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
18.3.1. About data protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
18.3.2. Configuring data protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
18.3.3. Managing rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
18.4. Deleting files permanently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
19. Firewall .. . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . 109
19.1. Turning on or off firewall protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
19.2. Managing connection settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
19.3. Managing firewall rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
19.3.1. General rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
19.3.2. Application rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
19.3.3. Adapter rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
19.4. Monitoring network activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
19.5. Configuring alert intensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
19.6. Configuring advanced settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
19.6.1. Intrusion Detection System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
19.6.2. Other settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
20. Safepay security for online transactions . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . 119
20.1. Using Bitdefender Safepay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
20.2. Configuring settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
20.3. Managing bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
20.4. Hotspot protection for unsecured networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
21. Wallet protection for your credentials .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . 123
21.1. Configuring the Wallet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
21.2. Turning on or off the Wallet protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
21.3. Managing the Wallet settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
22. Parental Control . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 128
22.1. Accessing Parental Control dashboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
22.2. Adding your child's profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
22.2.1. Installing Parental Control on the Android device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
22.2.2. Monitoring the child's activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
22.2.3. Configuring the General Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
22.3. Configuring Parental Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
22.3.1. Web Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
22.3.2. Applications Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
22.3.3. Facebook protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
22.3.4. Instant Messaging control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
22.3.5. Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
22.3.6. Text messages control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
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Bitdefender Internet Security
22.3.7. Phone numbers control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
23. Safego protection for Facebook . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . 138
24. USB Immunizer . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. . 140
25. Managing your computers remotely . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . 141
25.1. Accessing MyBitdefender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
25.2. Running tasks on the computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Troubleshooting ....................................................... 143
26. Solving common issues . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . 144
26.1. My system appears to be slow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
26.2. Scan doesn't start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
26.3. I can no longer use an application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
26.4. I cannot connect to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
26.5. I cannot access a device on my network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
26.6. My Internet is slow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
26.7. How to update Bitdefender on a slow Internet connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
26.8. My computer is not connected to the Internet. How do I update
Bitdefender? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
26.9. Bitdefender services are not responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
26.10. Antispam filter does not work properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
26.10.1. Legitimate messages are marked as [spam] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
26.10.2. Many spam messages are not detected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
26.10.3. Antispam filter does not detect any spam message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
26.11. The Autofill feature in my Wallet doesn't work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
26.12. Bitdefender removal failed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
26.13. My system doesn't boot up after installing Bitdefender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
27. Removing malware from your system . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . 163
27.1. Bitdefender Rescue Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
27.2. What to do when Bitdefender finds viruses on your computer? . . . . . . . . . . . 165
27.3. How do I clean a virus in an archive? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
27.4. How do I clean a virus in an e-mail archive? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
27.5. What to do if I suspect a file as being dangerous? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
27.6. How to clean the infected files from System Volume Information . . . . . . . . . . 168
27.7. What are the password-protected files in the scan log? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
27.8. What are the skipped items in the scan log? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
27.9. What are the over-compressed files in the scan log? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
27.10. Why did Bitdefender automatically delete an infected file? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Contact us .............................................................. 171
28. Asking for help . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. 172
29. Online resources . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. . 174
29.1. Bitdefender Support Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
29.2. Bitdefender Support Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
29.3. HOTforSecurity Portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
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30. Contact information . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 176
30.1. Web addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
30.2. Local distributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
30.3. Bitdefender offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Glossary . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . 179
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Bitdefender Internet Security
Installation
1
Bitdefender Internet Security
1. Preparing for installation
Before you install Bitdefender Internet Security, complete these preparations to
ensure the installation will go smoothly:
● Make sure that the computer where you plan to install Bitdefender meets the
minimum system requirements. If the computer does not meet all the minimum
system requirements, Bitdefender will not be installed or, if installed, it will not
work properly and it will cause system slowdowns and instability. For a complete
list of system requirements, please refer to “System requirements” (p. 3).
● Log on to the computer using an Administrator account.
● Remove any other similar software from the computer. Running two security
programs simultaneously may affect their operation and cause major problems
with the system. Windows Defender will be disabled during the installation.
● Disable or remove any firewall program that may be running on the computer.
Running two firewall programs simultaneously may affect their operation and
cause major problems with the system. Windows Firewall will be disabled during
the installation.
● It is recommended that your computer be connected to the Internet during the
installation, even when installing from a CD/DVD. If newer versions of the
application files included in the installation package are available, Bitdefender
can download and install them.
Preparing for installation
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Bitdefender Internet Security
2. System requirements
You may install Bitdefender Internet Security only on computers running the following
operating systems:
● Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit)
● Windows Vista with Service Pack 2
● Windows 7 with Service Pack 1
● Windows 8
Before installation, make sure that your computer meets the minimum system
requirements.
Note
To find out the Windows operating system your computer is running and hardware
information, follow these steps:
● In Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, right-click My Computer on
the desktop and then select Properties from the menu.
● In Windows 8, from the Windows Start screen, locate Computer (for example, you
can start typing "Computer" directly in the Start screen) and then right-click its
icon. Select Properties in the bottom menu. Look under System to see the system
type.
2.1. Minimum system requirements
● 1 GB available free hard disk space (at least 800 MB on the system drive)
● 1.6 GHz processor
● 1 GB of memory (RAM) for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows
8
2.2. Recommended system requirements
● 2 GB available free hard disk space (at least 800 MB on the system drive)
● Intel CORE Duo (2 GHz) or equivalent processor
● Memory (RAM):
▶ 1 GB for Windows XP
▶ 1.5 GB for Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8
2.3. Software requirements
To be able to use Bitdefender and all its features, your computer needs to meet the
following software requirements:
● Internet Explorer 8 or higher
● Mozilla Firefox 3.6 or higher
System requirements
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Bitdefender Internet Security
● Chrome 20 or higher
● Yahoo! Messenger 9 or higher
● Microsoft Outlook 2007 / 2010 / 2013
● Microsoft Outlook Express and Windows Mail (on 32-bit systems)
● Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0.4
● .NET Framework 3.5 (automatically installed with Bitdefender if missing)
System requirements
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Bitdefender Internet Security
3. Installing your Bitdefender product
You can install Bitdefender from the Bitdefender installation disc or using a web
installer downloaded on your computer from the Bitdefender website or from other
authorized websites (for example, the website of a Bitdefender partner or an online
shop). You can download the installation file from the Bitdefender website at the
following address: http://www.bitdefender.com/Downloads/.
If your purchase covers more than one computer (for example, you purchased
Bitdefender Internet Security for 3 PCs), repeat the installation process and register
your product with the license key on every computer.
● To install Bitdefender from the installation disc, insert the disc in the optical drive.
A welcome screen should be displayed in a few moments. Follow the instructions
to start installation.
Note
The welcome screen provides an option to copy the installation package from the
installation disc to a USB storage device. This is useful if you need to install
Bitdefender on a computer that does not have a disc drive (for example, on a
netbook). Insert the storage device into the USB drive and then click Copy to USB.
Afterwards, go to the computer without a disc drive, insert the storage device into
the USB drive and double-click runsetup.exe from the folder where you have
saved the installation package.
If the welcome screen does not appear, use Windows Explorer to browse to the
disc's root directory and double-click the file autorun.exe.
● To install Bitdefender using the web installer downloaded on your computer,
locate the file and double-click it.
Validating the installation
Bitdefender will first check your system to validate the installation.
If your system does not meet the minimum requirements for installing Bitdefender,
you will be informed of the areas that need improvement before you can proceed.
If an incompatible antivirus program or an older version of Bitdefender is detected,
you will be prompted to remove it from your system. Please follow the directions
to remove the software from your system, thus avoiding problems occurring later
on. You may need to reboot your computer to complete the removal of detected
antivirus programs.
The Bitdefender Internet Security installation package is constantly updated. If you
are installing from a CD/DVD, Bitdefender can download the newest versions of the
files during the installation. Click Yes when prompted in order to allow Bitdefender
Installing your Bitdefender product
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Bitdefender Internet Security
to download the files, ensuring you are installing the very latest version of the
software.
Note
Downloading the installation files can take a long time, especially over slower Internet
connections.
Once the installation is validated, the setup wizard will appear. Follow the steps to
install Bitdefender Internet Security.
Step 1 - Welcome
The welcome screen lets you choose what type of installation you want to perform.
For a completely hassle-free installation experience, just click the Install button.
Bitdefender will be installed in the default location with default settings and you
will skip directly to Step 3 of the wizard.
If you wish to configure the installation settings, select I want to customize my
installation and then click Install to move on to the next step.
Two additional tasks can be performed during this step:
● Please read the End User License Agreement before proceeding with the
installation. The License Agreement contains the terms and conditions under
which you may use Bitdefender Internet Security.
If you do not agree to these terms, close the window. The installation process will
be abandoned and you will exit setup.
● Enable sending Anonymous Usage Reports. By enabling this option, reports
containing information about how you use the product are sent to the Bitdefender
servers. This information is essential for improving the product and can help us
provide a better experience in the future. Please note that these reports contain
no confidential data, such as your name or IP address, and that they will not be
used for commercial purposes.
Step 2 - Customize installation settings
Note
This step appears only if you have chosen to customize the installation during the
previous step.
The following options are available:
Installation Path
By default, Bitdefender Internet Security will be installed in C:\Program
Files\Bitdefender\Bitdefender Internet Security. If you want to
Installing your Bitdefender product
6
Bitdefender Internet Security
change the installation path, click Change and select the folder in which you
would like Bitdefender to be installed.
Configure Proxy Settings
Bitdefender Internet Security requires access to the Internet for product
registration, downloading security and product updates, in-cloud detection
components, etc. If you use a proxy connection instead of a direct Internet
connection, you must select this option and configure the proxy settings.
The settings can be imported from the default browser or you can enter them
manually.
Click Install with custom settings to confirm your preferences and begin the
installation. If you change your mind, click the corresponding Nevermind, use
default settings button.
Step 3 - Installation in progress
Wait for the installation to complete. Detailed information about the progress is
displayed.
Critical areas on your system are scanned for viruses, the latest versions of the
application files are downloaded and installed, and the Bitdefender services are
started. This step can take a couple of minutes.
Step 4 - Installation completed
A summary of the installation is displayed. If any active malware was detected and
removed during the installation, a system reboot may be required.
You can either close the window, or continue with the initial setup of your software
by clicking Get started.
Step 5 - Register your product
Note
This step appears only if you have selected Get Started during the previous step.
To complete the registration of your product you need to enter a license key. An
active Internet connection is required.
Proceed according to your situation:
● I purchased the product
In this case, register the product by following these steps:
1. Select I purchased Bitdefender and I want to register now.
2. Type the license key in the corresponding field.
Installing your Bitdefender product
7
Bitdefender Internet Security
Note
You can find your license key:
▶ on the CD/DVD label.
▶ on the product registration card.
▶ in the online purchase e-mail.
3. Click Register Now.
● I don't have a key, I want to try the product for free
In this case, you can use the product for a 30 day period. To begin the trial period,
select I don't have a key, I want to try the product for free.
● Click Next.
Step 6 - Configure product behavior
Bitdefender can be configured to automatically manage your security permanently
or in certain situations. Use the switches to turn on or off Autopilot and Automatic
Game Mode.
Enable the Autopilot for completely silent security. While on Autopilot, Bitdefender
makes all security related decisions for you and you don't have to configure any
settings. For more information, please refer to “Autopilot” (p. 15).
If you play your fair share of games, enable Automatic Game Mode and Bitdefender
will detect when you launch a game and will enter Game Mode, modifying its settings
so as to keep its impact on your system's performance to a minimum. For more
information, please refer to “Game Mode” (p. 16).
Click Next.
Step 7 - Login to MyBitdefender
A MyBitdefender account is required in order to use the online features of your
product. For more information, please refer to “MyBitdefender account” (p. 33).
Proceed according to your situation.
I want to create a MyBitdefender account
To successfully create a MyBitdefender account, follow these steps:
1. Select Create new account.
A new window will appear.
2. Type the required information in the corresponding fields. The data you
provide here will remain confidential.
● E-mail - enter your e-mail address.
● User name - enter a user name for your account.
Installing your Bitdefender product
8
Bitdefender Internet Security
● Password - enter a password for your account. The password must be at
least 6 characters long.
● Confirm password - retype the password.
Note
Once the account is created, you can use the provided e-mail address and
password to log in to your account at https://my.bitdefender.com.
3. Click Create.
4. Before being able to use your account, you must complete the registration.
Check your e-mail and follow the instructions in the confirmation e-mail sent
by Bitdefender.
I want to log in using my Microsoft, Facebook or Google account
To log in with your Microsoft, Facebook or Google account, follow these steps:
1. Select the service you want to use. You will be redirected to the login page
of that service.
2. Follow the instructions provided by the selected service to link your account
to Bitdefender.
Note
Bitdefender does not get access to any confidential information such as the
password of the account you use to log in, or the personal information of your
friends and contacts.
I already have a MyBitdefender account
If you have logged in to an account from your product before, Bitdefender will
detect it and prompt you to enter the password to log in to that account.
If you already have an active account, but Bitdefender does not detect it, or
you simply want to log in with a different account, enter the e-mail address and
password and click Login to MyBitdefender.
Postpone for later
If you want to leave this task for another time, click Ask me later. Remember
that you must log in to an account to use the online features of the product.
Installing your Bitdefender product
9
Bitdefender Internet Security
Getting started
10
Bitdefender Internet Security
4. The basics
Once you have installed Bitdefender Internet Security, your computer is protected
against all kinds of malware (such as viruses, spyware and trojans) and Internet
threats (such as hackers, phishing and spam).
You can engage the Autopilot to enjoy completely silent security and you are not
required to configure any settings. However, you may want to take advantage of
the Bitdefender settings to fine-tune and improve your protection.
Bitdefender will make most security-related decisions for you and will rarely show
pop-up alerts. Details about actions taken and information about program operation
are available in the Events window. For more information, please refer to “Events”
(p. 13).
From time to time, you should open Bitdefender and fix the existing issues. You
may have to configure specific Bitdefender components or take preventive actions
to protect your computer and your data.
If you have not registered the product, remember to do so until the trial period ends.
For more information, please refer to “Registering Bitdefender” (p. 31).
To use the online features of Bitdefender Internet Security, make sure to link your
computer to a MyBitdefender account. For more information, please refer to
“MyBitdefender account” (p. 33).
The “How to” (p. 39) section is where you will find step-by-step instructions on how
to perform common tasks. If you experience issues while using Bitdefender, check
the “Solving common issues” (p. 144) section for possible solutions to the most
common problems.
4.1. Opening the Bitdefender window
To access the main interface of Bitdefender Internet Security, follow the steps below:
● In Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7:
1. Click Start and go to All Programs.
2. Click Bitdefender.
3. Click Bitdefender Internet Security or, quicker, double-click the Bitdefender
icon in the system tray.
● In Windows 8:
Locate Bitdefender Internet Security from the Windows Start screen (for example,
you can start typing "Bitdefender" directly in the Start screen) and then click its
icon. Alternatively, open the Desktop app and then double-click the Bitdefender
icon in the system tray.
The basics
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Bitdefender Internet Security
For more information about the Bitdefender window and icon in the system tray,
please refer to “Bitdefender interface” (p. 20).
4.2. Fixing issues
Bitdefender uses an issue tracking system to detect and inform you about the issues
that may affect the security of your computer and data. By default, it will monitor
only a series of issues that are considered to be very important. However, you can
configure it as needed, choosing which specific issues you want to be notified about.
Detected issues include important protection settings that are turned off and other
conditions that can represent a security risk. They are grouped into two categories:
● Critical issues - prevent Bitdefender from protecting you against malware or
represent a major security risk.
● Minor (non-critical) issues - can affect your protection in the near future.
The Bitdefender icon in the system tray indicates pending issues by changing its
color as follows:
Red color: Critical issues are affecting the security of your system. They require
your immediate attention and must be fixed as soon as possible.
Yellow color: Non-critical issues are affecting the security of your system. You
should check and fix them when you have the time.
Also, if you move the mouse cursor over the icon, a pop-up will confirm the existence
of pending issues.
When you open the Bitdefender window, the Security status area on the upper
toolbar will indicate the number and nature of issues affecting your system.
4.2.1. Fix All Issues wizard
To fix detected issues follow the Fix All Issues wizard.
1. To open the wizard, do any of the following:
● Right-click the Bitdefender icon in the system tray and choose View security
issues. Depending on the detected issues, the icon is either red (indicating
critical issues) or yellow (indicating non-critical issues).
● Open the Bitdefender window and click anywhere inside the Security status
area on the upper toolbar (for example, you can click the Fix All Issues
button).
2. You can see the issues affecting the security of your computer and data. All
current issues are selected to be fixed.
The basics
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Bitdefender Internet Security
If you do not want to fix a specific issue right away, clear the corresponding check
box. You will be prompted to specify for how long to postpone fixing the issue.
Choose the desired option from the menu and click OK. To stop monitoring the
respective issue category, choose Permanently.
The issue status will change to Postpone and no action will be taken to fix the
issue.
3. To fix the selected issues, click Start. Some issues are fixed immediately. For
others, a wizard helps you fix them.
The issues that this wizard helps you fix can be grouped into these main categories:
● Disabled security settings. Such issues are fixed immediately, by enabling
the respective security settings.
● Preventive security tasks you need to perform. When fixing such issues,
a wizard helps you successfully complete the task.
4.2.2. Configuring status alerts
Bitdefender can inform you when issues are detected in the operation of the following
program components:
● Firewall
● Antispam
● Antivirus
● Update
● Browser Security
You can configure the alert system to best serve your security needs by choosing
which specific issues to be informed about. Follow these steps:
1. Open the Bitdefender window.
2. Click the Settings button on the upper toolbar.
3. In the Settings Overview window, select General.
4. In the General Settings window, select the Advanced tab.
5. Click the Configure status alerts link.
6. Click the switches to turn on or off status alerts according to your preferences.
4.3. Events
Bitdefender keeps a detailed log of events concerning its activity on your computer.
Whenever something relevant to the security of your system or data happens, a
new message is added to the Bitdefender Events, in a similar way to a new e-mail
appearing in your Inbox.
The basics
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Bitdefender Internet Security
Events are a very important tool in monitoring and managing your Bitdefender
protection. For instance, you can easily check if the update was successfully
performed, if malware was found on your computer, etc. Additionally, you can take
further action if needed or change actions taken by Bitdefender.
To access the Events log, follow these steps:
1. Open the Bitdefender window.
2. Click the Events on the upper toolbar to open the Events Overview window.
Messages are grouped according to the Bitdefender module whose activity they are
related to:
● Antivirus
● Firewall
● Update
● Privacy Control
● Antispam
● Safego
Events counters are displayed in the Bitdefender interface to allow easy
identification of areas with outstanding events. These are icons appearing on specific
modules that indicate the number of unread critical events related to a module's
activity.
For example, if there is one unread critical event related to the activity of the Update
module, the icon appears on the Update panel.
A counter showing the total number of unread messages from all modules appears
on the Events button in the main window.
A list of events is available for each category. To find out information about a
particular event in the list, click it. Event details are displayed in the lower part of
the window. Each event comes with the following information: a short description,
the action Bitdefender took on it when it happened, and the date and time when it
occurred. Options may be provided to take further action if needed.
You can filter events by their importance and in the order they happened. There
are three types of events filtered by their importance, each type indicated by a
specific icon:
Information events indicate successful operations.
Warning events indicate non-critical issues. You should check and fix them when
you have the time.
Critical events indicate critical issues. You should check them immediately.
To view the events that occurred in a period of time, select the desired period from
the corresponding field.
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To help you easily manage logged events, each section of the Events window
provides options to delete or mark as read all events in that section.
4.4. Autopilot
For all the users who want nothing more from their security solution than to be
protected without being bothered, Bitdefender Internet Security has been designed
with a built-in Autopilot mode.
While on Autopilot, Bitdefender applies an optimal security configuration and takes
all security-related decisions for you. This means you will see no pop-ups, no alerts
and you will not have to configure any settings whatsoever.
In Autopilot mode, Bitdefender automatically fixes critical issues, enables and quietly
manages:
● Antivirus protection, provided by on-access scanning and continuous scanning.
● Firewall protection.
● Privacy protection, provided by antiphishing and antimalware filtering for your
web browsing.
● Automatic updates.
To turn the Autopilot on or off, follow these steps:
1. Open the Bitdefender window.
2. Click the User Mode / Autopilot switch on the upper toolbar. When the switch
is on the User Mode position, the Autopilot is off.
As long as the Autopilot is on, the Bitdefender icon in the system tray changes to
.
Important
While the Autopilot is on, modifying any of the settings it manages will result in it
being turned off.
To see a history of actions performed by Bitdefender while Autopilot was engaged,
open the Events window.
4.5. Game Mode and Laptop Mode
Some computer activities, such as games or presentations, require increased system
responsiveness and performance, and no interruptions. When your laptop is running
on battery power, it is best that unnecessary operations, which consume additional
power, be postponed until the laptop is connected back to A/C power.
To adapt to these particular situations, Bitdefender Internet Security includes two
special operation modes:
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Bitdefender Internet Security
● Game Mode
● Laptop Mode
4.5.1. Game Mode
Game Mode temporarily modifies protection settings so as to minimize their impact
on system performance. The following settings are applied when Game Mode is on:
● All Bitdefender alerts and pop-ups are disabled.
● On-access scanning is set to the Permissive protection level.
● Autoscan is turned off. Autoscan finds and uses time-slices when system resource
usage falls below a certain threshold to perform recurring scans of the entire
system.
● The Bitdefender firewall is set to normal mode (Paranoid mode is turned off). This
means that all new connections (both incoming and outgoing) are automatically
allowed, regardless of the port and protocol being used.
● Auto Update is turned off.
● The Bitdefender toolbar in your web browser is disabled when you play
browser-based online games.
While in Game Mode, the Bitdefender icon in the system tray changes to .
Using Game Mode
By default, Bitdefender automatically enters Game Mode when you start a game
from the Bitdefender's list of known games or when an application goes to full
screen. Bitdefender will automatically return to the normal operation mode when
you close the game or when the detected application exits full screen.
If you want to manually turn on Game Mode, use one of the following methods:
● Right-click the Bitdefender icon in the system tray and select Turn Game Mode
On.
● Enable using Game Mode keyboard shortcut. Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G (the
default hotkey).
Important
Do not forget to turn Game Mode off when you finish. To do this, use the same
methods you did when you turned it on.
Turning on or off automatic Game Mode
To turn on or off automatic game mode, follow these steps:
1. Open the Bitdefender window.
2. Click the Settings button on the upper toolbar.
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3. In the Settings Overview window, select General.
4. In the General Settings window, select the General tab.
5. Turn on or off automatic game mode by clicking the corresponding switch.
Manually adding games to the Game list
If Bitdefender does not automatically enter Game Mode when you launch a certain
game or application, you can manually add the application to the Game list. Once
an application is added to the list, Bitdefender will operate in Game Mode as long
as the application is in use.
To view and manage the Game list, follow these steps:
1. Open the Bitdefender window.
2. Click the Settings button on the upper toolbar.
3. In the Settings Overview window, select General.
4. In the General Settings window, select the General tab.
5. Click the Game list link.
Two buttons are available at the bottom of the list:
● Add game - add a new game or application to the Game list.
A new window will appear. Browse to the application's executable file, select it
and click OK to add it to the list.
● Remove game - remove a selected game or application from the list.
Game Mode keyboard shortcut
To set and use a keyboard shortcut for entering / leaving Game Mode, follow these
steps:
1. Open the Bitdefender window.
2. Click the Settings button on the upper toolbar.
3. In the Settings Overview window, select General.
4. In the General Settings window, select the General tab.
5. Make sure the Game Mode keyboard shortcut switch is on.
6. Set the desired combination:
a. The default combination is Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G.
Modify the keys you want to use by checking one of the following: Control key
(Ctrl), Shift key (Shift) or Alternate key (Alt).
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b. In the edit field, type the letter corresponding to the regular key you want to
use.
For example, if you want to use the Ctrl+Alt+D hotkey, you must check only
Ctrl and Alt and type D.
Note
To disable the shortcut, turn off the Game Mode keyboard shortcut switch.
4.5.2. Laptop Mode
Laptop Mode is especially designed for laptop and notebook users. Its purpose is to
minimize Bitdefender's impact on power consumption while these devices are
running on battery. When Bitdefender operates in Laptop Mode, the Autoscan and
Auto Update features are turned off, as they require more system resources and,
implicitly, increase power consumption.
Bitdefender detects when your laptop has switched to battery power and it
automatically enters Laptop Mode. Likewise, Bitdefender automatically exits Laptop
Mode, when it detects the laptop is no longer running on battery.
To turn on or off automatic laptop mode, follow these steps:
1. Open the Bitdefender window.
2. Click the Settings button on the upper toolbar.
3. In the Settings Overview window, select General.
4. In the General Settings window, select the General tab.
5. Turn on or off automatic laptop mode by clicking the corresponding switch.
If Bitdefender is not installed on a laptop, turn off automatic laptop mode.
4.6. Password-protecting Bitdefender settings
If you are not the only person with administrative rights using this computer, it is
recommended that you protect your Bitdefender settings with a password.
To configure password protection for the Bitdefender settings, follow these steps:
1. Open the Bitdefender window.
2. Click the Settings button on the upper toolbar.
3. In the Settings Overview window, select General.
4. In the General Settings window, select the General tab.
5. Turn on password protection by clicking the switch.
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6. Enter the password in the two fields and then click OK. The password must be
at least 8 characters long.
Once you have set a password, anyone trying to change the Bitdefender settings
will first have to provide the password.
Important
Be sure to remember your password or keep a record of it in a safe place. If you forget
the password, you will have to reinstall the program or to contact Bitdefender for
support.
To remove password protection, follow these steps:
1. Open the Bitdefender window.
2. Click the Settings button on the upper toolbar.
3. In the Settings Overview window, select General.
4. In the General Settings window, select the General tab.
5. Turn off password protection by clicking the switch. Enter the password and then
click OK.
Note
To modify the password for your product, click the Change password link.
4.7. Anonymous usage reports
By default, Bitdefender sends reports containing information about how you use it
to Bitdefender servers. This information is essential for improving the product and
can help us offer you a better experience in the future. Please note that these reports
will contain no confidential data, such as your name or IP address, and that they
will not be used for commercial purposes.
In case you want to stop sending Anonymous usage reports, follow these steps:
1. Open the Bitdefender window.
2. Click the Settings button on the upper toolbar.
3. In the Settings Overview window, select General.
4. In the General Settings window, select the Advanced tab.
5. Click the switch to turn off Anonymous usage reports.
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5. Bitdefender interface
Bitdefender Internet Security meets the needs of computer beginners and very
technical people alike. Its graphical user interface is designed to suit each and every
category of users.
To see the status of the product and perform essential tasks, the Bitdefender system
tray icon is available at any time.
The main window gives you access to important product information, the program
modules and lets you perform common tasks. From the main window you can access
the settings window for detailed configuration and advanced administrative tasks,
and the Events window for an in-depth log of Bitdefender activity.
If you want to keep a constant eye on essential security information and have quick
access to key settings, add the Security Widget to your desktop.
5.1. System tray icon
To manage the entire product more quickly, you can use the Bitdefender icon in
the system tray.
Note
If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, the Bitdefender icon may
not be visible at all times. To make the icon appear permanently, follow these steps:
1. Click the arrow in the lower-right corner of the screen.
2. Click Customize... to open the Notification Area Icons window.
3. Select the option Show icons and notifications for the Bitdefender Agent
icon.
If you double-click this icon, Bitdefender will open. Also, by right-clicking the icon,
a contextual menu will allow you to quickly manage the Bitdefender product.
● Show - opens the main window of Bitdefender.
● About - opens a window where you can see
information about Bitdefender and where to look for
help in case something unexpected appears.
● View security issues - helps you remove current
security vulnerabilities. If the option is unavailable,
there are no issues to be fixed. For detailed
information, please refer to “Fixing issues” (p. 12).
● Turn Game Mode On / Off - activates / deactivates
Game Mode.
Tray Icon
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Bitdefender Internet Security
● Hide / Show Security Widget - enables / disables Security Widget.
● Update Now - starts an immediate update. You can follow the update status in
the Update panel of the main Bitdefender window.
● Show Security Report - opens a window where you can see a weekly status
and recommendations for your system. You can follow the recommendations to
improve your system security.
The Bitdefender system tray icon informs you when issues affect your computer or
how the product operates, by displaying a special symbol, as follows:
Critical issues are affecting the security of your system. They require your
immediate attention and must be fixed as soon as possible.
Non-critical issues are affecting the security of your system. You should check
and fix them when you have the time.
The product operates in Game Mode.
Bitdefender Autopilot is engaged.
If Bitdefender is not working, the system tray icon appears on a gray background:
. This usually happens when the license key expires. It can also occur when the
Bitdefender services are not responding or when other errors affect the normal
operation of Bitdefender.
5.2. Main window
The main Bitdefender window allows you to perform common tasks, quickly fix
security issues, view information about events in product operation and configure
product settings. Everything is just a few clicks away.
The window is organized in two main areas:
Upper toolbar
This is where you can check your computer's security status and access
important tasks.
Panels area
This is where you can manage the main Bitdefender modules.
The MyBitdefender drop-down menu at the top of the window lets you manage your
account and access the online features of your product from the account dashboard.
You can find several useful links on the lower part of the window. These links are
also available in the Events and Settings windows.
Number of days
left
Bitdefender interface
DescriptionLink
The time remaining before your current license expires is
displayed. Click the link to open a window where you can see
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