BitDefender Total Security 2012 Review

Total Security is the most complete protection suite from Bitdefender. It encompasses all the components in the other bundles and also offers something on the side. As far as the layers of protection are concerned, there are no additional elements. 

The additional options compared with Internet Security edition refer to PC optimization tasks, offer secure erase possibilities and file encryption. Moreover, synchronization functionality has been added to the suite, so you can keep the same version of files on multiple computers.

Given the extra functionality of the package, it is the most expensive of all products targeting home users, and has $61.66 (45EUR) written on the price tag.

As all BitDefender security products now benefit from the same type of installer, Total Security 2012 downloads the necessary installation files and performs a system check at the same time. This is possible thanks to a light cloud scanner included in the installer.

In order to complete the installation procedure you need to close down Opera, Thunderbird and Mozilla Firefox.

The extra modules are the only things setting it apart from Internet Security version, so you won’t have to deal with a different interface. Also, you won’t benefit from better security since the exact same components are available in both products.

You can read our take on BitDefender Internet Security 2012 and its malware detection and removal capabilities on this page. Our tests showed a ratio of 95.1%, which is not shabby at all, as it is the second highest we recorded with the same sample database.

Most of the components included in the two suites require a bit more polishing in order to offer the user flexible management and ensure tight security on all fronts. We noticed the firewall was susceptible to more elaborate methods of penetration.

The anti-spam module won’t rid your inbox of all spam messages, but during our tests filtering managed to keep legitimate items in inbox and none of them got sent to the trash folder.

Parental controls are not as easy to maneuver as in other security suites; but the module manages to offer flexible configuration options for imposing restrictions of all sorts. You can blacklist websites or allow access only to some of them as well as cut off Internet access between specific time intervals.

Antivirus, firewall, anti-spam, Safego protection for social networking sites (Facebook and Twitter), prevent leakage of sensitive information, virtualized browser instances and web page scanning for malicious content make for the security feats of the suite.

The components specific to BitDefender Total Security include file encryptions and secure deletion of data. Safebox component is for backing up and synchronizing files between multiple computers and the Tune-Up module is designed for PC optimization purposes only.

The optimization module comprises tools for cleaning up the PC of junk files, defragmenting the disks, nailing duplicate data, and cleaning the registry. It is not a full package for boosting up the performance of the system, but the overall impact should be positive.

Cleaning the system of unnecessary items targets the folders that regularly gather temporary data. This category includes temporary Internet and system files, cookies and the list of recent documents.

However, web browsing remnants deleted in the process are only those created by Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. The PC Clean-Up wizard specifies clearly that in the case of temporary Internet files only data older than 10 days is purged.

We ran the tool several times during our tests and noticed that files older than 10 days were still available on the hard drive in the case of Internet Explorer. Cookies were also left behind in both browsers and Firefox cache remained unaffected.

Furthermore, users won’t be able to view the data selected for deletion as the three-step wizard automatically detects and cleans the folders, showing only the number of items that were eliminated.

Defragmentation with BitDefender Total Security 2012 is actually carried out by the built-in solution in Windows, Disk Defragmenter. To make things easier there is a wizard that guides you through the process of analyzing the drives and defragmenting them.

It is no secret that Windows does not offer the best solution as far as this optimization procedure is concerned, but it is not to be neglected either. There are no reports about the job and the improvements made, just a simple notification that everything completed successfully.

With the duplicate finder bundled in the module, BitDefender turns the page as far as system optimization procedures go. During our tests it showed great accuracy as it also compared the content of the file and it did not resume to checking the creation/modification dates, size and names of the items.

The registry cleaner is designed to get rid of entries left behind when uninstalling programs from the system. The end result of this operation is to improve boot time and system stability.

Due to the sensitive nature of the entries and the fact that deleting false positives could damage system stability, the registry cleaner lets you see the keys selected to be swept out. The list of results is accompanied by details that help you identify the software they refer to as well as the risk of deleting them, if they are false positives.

The tool marks for deletion only entries that point to a DLL file that no longer exists in their original location. Mind that in some cases the DLLs are shared by multiple applications in order to reduce memory and disk space requirements, so taking a look at the results might save you some later trouble.

As a failsafe procedure, before removing registry entries the cleaner backs them up and allows restoration in case the system or some applications fail to operate within normal parameters. This is the last option in the Tune-Up module and a very important one.

Deleting sensitive files beyond the possibility to recover them is another plus of BitDefender Total Security 2012 compared to Internet Security. The option is lodged under Privacy module, together with the file encryption tool.

There are no configuration options available, but you do not really need them, as the tool does the job it was intended for. Just like with any other tool in the suite, a wizard guides you through the shredding process.

During our tests, the shredder did a fine job and no information from the files could be recovered. It corrupted the content so badly that we were unable to extract any details. File names, on the other hand, were left untouched.

File encryption is achieved by creating password–protected vaults (very similar to archives) where you can safely store sensitive information without running the risk that someone might access it. All content is encrypted, so it cannot be intercepted without punching in the correct password.

The wizard gets you through every step, from selecting the files and folders you want to secure, creating a file vault and setting the countersign to locking it. You can create new vaults at any time and of any size the available free space permits you.

Everything sounds pretty simple, and it is, as all you have to do is follow the steps in the wizard. On the downside, you have to define a drive letter each time the vault is mounted.

Handling the vault (locking, unlocking, adding/removing files to/from vault or changing the password) can be done both from Total Security interface as well as from the vault options inserted in Explorer context menu.

Safebox is the file synchronization instrument of the suite. The developer puts 2GB of free online space at your disposal for your backups, for the purpose of the job, but the catch is that you can synchronize items only between computers equipped with BitDefender Total Security 2012.

Automatic synchronization is supported and you can also start the procedure manually. Adding new files to Safebox can be done from Windows Explorer context menu, but we noticed that the option is available only for folders.

Our tests encountered no hurdles during the synchronization process, and everything was transferred with no delay. Of course, the duration of the job depends on the amount of data that needs to be processed.

The Good

The Bad

The Truth