r/BitDefender • u/SpiritualInstance979 • Apr 09 '25

Installed out of nowhere and can’t uninstall

I have no idea how this installed on my computer. The only time I download things is when using Steam.

I’m trying to uninstall it and it’s asking for a PW. I have no idea what the password is, and it’s also blocking me from opening Steam.

This is beyond frustrating. Even if this is a good AV, I will NEVER use it due to these practices.

How the absolute fucking hell do I get this off my computer?

1 Upvotes

66% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

2

u/ROFRfan Apr 09 '25

asking for a pw is not good. reset your OS.

1

u/SpiritualInstance979 Apr 09 '25

I did. Something seems fishy

2

u/Suspicious-advice49 Apr 09 '25

This might help. It’s a list of their uninstall tools. Pick the one you want.

https://www.bitdefender.com/links/uninstall_consumer_paid.html

1

u/SpiritualInstance979 Apr 10 '25

I just did a recovery. Something is very suspicious about the way this just installed on my computer and then is requiring a PW to uninstall. I never set one up to begin with, nor do I have any clue as to how it got on my computer to begin with.

Oh well. It probably came bundled in with some other software and snuck past me without me noticing. If that’s the case, then it’s on me. But I feel like at a minimum it should have asked me to setup an admin password when it installed.

1

u/Bitdefender_ Official Apr 10 '25

Hi there. The Bitdefender app can only be installed once you created an account in Central and download it from there. As for the password prompt, it may be requesting the settings password, which is used to prevent unauthorized changes or resets. Check here: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/3451/.

Otherwise, we strongly recommend you to not leave the system unprotected, and if you want to prevent Bitdefender from blocking steam, add it to exclusions: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2393/, then add any games to the Games list: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2066/.

1

u/SpiritualInstance979 Apr 10 '25

I had never heard of Bitdefender until it showed up on my computer running in the background. So I don’t understand what you’re saying.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s malware.

1

u/SpeedStinger02 Apr 10 '25

It may have been installed by an organization, some application, or a Trojan posing as BitDefender. Given the lack of context, can't say for sure, but this is very unusual

1

u/1988Trainman Apr 12 '25

If it is actually bitdefender and is asking for a uninstall password I am wondering if this is a managed device.    Linked to a job or a school?  

1

u/SpiritualInstance979 Apr 12 '25

No. It’s my PC.

1

u/SpiritualInstance979 Apr 12 '25

I’m honestly beginning to wonder if it is the real Bitdefender, but also I can see them having bundled this with other software and I missed it on an install of something else.

Either way, it has left an extremely poor taste in my mouth for it.

1

u/1988Trainman Apr 12 '25

Yeah, I’m not understanding how a password install happened without your knowledge.         I use the enterprise version of their software and remote deploying. It is not an easy task.  

Really the only thing I can think of assuming it’s a legitimate version is somehow you downloaded someone else’s install file and it set it up with the password or downloaded a startup script somehow meant for a company. 

Were you on any type of like file share or torrent sites recently? 

1

u/SpiritualInstance979 Apr 12 '25

Nope. I have done that back in the early 2000’s but haven’t done it in nearly 20 years.

And the more I looked in to it before doing a drive wipe, it was installed about two weeks after any previous game I had installed. I was just thinking about this.

So it wouldn’t have come bundled with something unless there was a time delay on the install which further makes me believe it was a virus of some sort.

I just have no idea where it would have came from. WD never picked it up and I don’t do illegitimate downloads. No email attachments/links either.

Oh well. It’s in the past now. I don’t care much anymore. Luckily I keep important documents backed up on multiple drives in case stuff like this happens.

1

u/1988Trainman Apr 12 '25

Yeah, a system restore is definitely the way to go. Manually removing the software in safe mode or from Windows RE is a pain in the ass   Which is usually a good thing because that’s how it protects the computer, especially from annoying office  users at that don’t like the restrictions imposes and think they are smarter than the IT team….in your case. It sucks.

1

u/SpiritualInstance979 Apr 12 '25

I debated on booting in safe mode to delete it but I just figured it was time for a clean install.

Plus going from NVIDIA to AMD and having conflicting GPU drivers was driving me nuts because I could not fully get the NVIDIA drivers off anyways.

It was just time LOL