Can't get Bitdefender off my iMac

[dakota]

Bitdeender Antivirus for Mac is more like a virus itself, and parks little pieces of itself everywhere. Needless to say, the company's basic method of removing it does not work, and you can't trash individual parts of it- they just stay wherever they were put.  The company finally sent me a very convoluted way of eliminating it which involves going into the terminal, having to back up the computer because they want you to practically wipe your entire drive. NOT doing it.  Does anyone know of a way to eliminate it without putting everything I have on it in peril?

[Xairbusdriver]

What has your search of the web shown?

Actually, backing up the computer (making a clone) and wiping it will be rather pointless if you simply use that backup (clone) to restore it. You will simply restore the files you are trying to remove.

Perhaps you can provide us with a copy of the instructions they sent?

Perhaps more importantly is how to prevent letting Bitdefender be installed!

[jchuzi]

There are lots of suggestions in this Google search page Scroll down to the ones that don't link to the Bitdefender website.

[dakota]

Tried them all.  Where they give you instructions on what to remove, you soon find those things are not removable.

[dakota]

Unfortunately I installed it willingly.  These are the instructions they sent me, and frankly, they make me nervous! https://www.bitdefender.com/support/-1722.html

[Xairbusdriver]

Where they give you instructions on what to remove, you soon find those things are not removable.

Again, the instructions you are following would be nice to see. Likewise, even a screenshot of the dialog saying you cannot complete a deletion would be most helpful. "All we want are the facts, ma’am."

Frankly, my web search found at least five sites claiming to provide instructions for removing Bitdefender that had grammar and other problems (no author name, lack of publishing date, lack of site info, etc.) that lead me to believe they may be nothing more than sites created by folks hoping to entice you to download some malware. But the shear number of 'hits' concerning problems with Bitdefender should be a huge red flag warning about installing it.

What, exactly, does Bitdefender do that is dangerous or causing problems for your or your Mac?

BTW, I see nothing 'wrong' with the instructions at the link you provided. Using Terminal should make you 'nervous' in the sense that you should be aware of the dangers a typing mistake can make. Fortunately, most of the commands they suggest are on the page and can be copied and pasted into Terminal. That is the safest way to use most commands... assuming you trust the author(s).

My only concern is that there may be many other kernel extensions and launch agents that you will also need to delete. That page makes no mention of any of those other files.

Secondarily, did you actually use one of the two different Uninstaller apps they provide?

[dakota]

I tried everything they recommended, including the uninstaller that is installed along with the software, the link they gave me to an uninstaller on their site, and more. Nothing worked.  My computer is running way too warm, things are just not normal ( hard to explain). I have not subscribed so supposedly I am not covered by them for virus removal anyway.   In searching for a way to get rid of it I have read way too many posts about issues with the program which have only made me more anxious to get rid of it.

Question, though.  If I follow through on their instructions, how do I handle the fact that I have a clone of my HD on an external drive?  That has to be done as well, I assume?

[jchuzi]

If you succeed in removing Bitdefender, either update the clone (which will automatically remove anything that isn't on your internal) or, if you are truly paranoid (probably justified), erase the clone and redo it from scratch. That will take longer than an incremental update, but you will be assured of a clean drive.

[Dreambird]

Just my 2 cents... I just finished cleaning all the old files and apps off my MBP. I did make a few mistakes and it was a bit of a rough ride, however that is totally my own fault... 

I read the instructions the company sent for uninstalling and I'm not impressed right from the get-go for one thing because they tell you to boot into recovery mode and give SelfProtect.kext the "boot." That's the OS's System Integrity Protection (SIP) and you can easily just disable it from the same location where you were. Then you can reboot, do what you need to do, boot back into recovery mode and enable it again.

What do you use to search your drive for bits and pieces of apps like that left behind after a drag and drop of the app's icon into the trash? If Spotlight... it just doesn't "hunt." I use EasyFind and it will definitely show you every single bit of something still hanging around and from there you can decide what to do. You do have to be careful as there are often a few things that shouldn't be removed and that's where I... (Ms. Clean It 'Til It Shines), has a tendency to mess up. But there's often plenty left that's easy to get rid of, sometimes SIP will prevent it and can be disabled temporarily as I mentioned.

You can get EasyFind on the App Store... it's a free download...
I generally run a search on the machine with the App name and also the name of the software developer who created it, in this case it looks like that would be Bitdefender. See what it turns up and if you're nervous about what to remove if it turns up something... I'd come back here and ask.

[dakota]

I did locate a good number of the pieces and tried the drag and drop into the trash.  They remain where they were and will not go into the trash.  Today bitdefender sent me an email suggesting I contact them and give them remote access to my computer.  NOT happening.

[Dreambird]

Uuhhh... I don't think I'd give them remote access to your computer if I were you either... on the "do not trust" list I'm afraid...

If you find the pieces in Finder, where are they? If they are outside your home directory you may have to try highlighting the folder/file and clicking the delete icon in the menubar. "IF" you can delete them it should prompt you for your Admin password and then it would let you. However if it's something needed by OS X it would state so and you can't delete it. I was surprised by the number of things left over from stuff I installed were suddenly needed by OS X. It isn't a huge number of items, I was just a bit surprised that something I downloaded would be adopted by OS X.

There are some things that just shouldn't be messed with either... mostly in hidden folders/files though. That's another reason I like EasyFind, it shows you "everything" no matter where, hidden or not. And also a Ctrl + click on a file will give you the option to reveal in Finder. I'm a bit confused by the drag and drop into the trash doesn't work though... I tried it on an empty trash bin so in case it went it, I could easily put it back... and it still worked in that it asked for my Admin password.

[dakota]

The parts I find can not be dragged to the trash.  I tried everything, I do not get asked for an administrator password, they just stay exactly where they are before I tried to remove them.  This alone makes me very anxious to get rid of this thing.

[Dreambird]

That's odd... the parts must be system files. Do they give you a message something like "BLA BLA is part of OS X and cannot be modified or deleted." ?
Are they in the System Library?

It's not unheard of for 3rd party apps to just "become" needed by the OS... I found that with some Adobe software.

Do you mind posting the names of a couple of the files? Maybe someone could at least assure you not to worry about it. 

[dakota]

No, I get no message. The pieces of it simply stay where they are and can not be moved.  In addition, it is active in activity monitor, and I can't get rid of it there either.  I filed a complaint with BBB, and apparently there are loads of complaints there and all over the internet. I got an email from Bitdefender suggesting I allow them remote access and I don't think I need to tell you what my answer was.  Then yesterday I got this:
Hello Leslie,

Thank you for your email.

Please note that we would like to further assist you by proving a refund for your order 57228252 - 59.95 USD

In order to process the refund, we require the following information.

- the beneficiary name [your name]
- your bank name
- your account number
- IBAN account, for EU residents
- the swift [BIC] code of your bank
- ABA code of your bank [for domestic ACH], for US residents

We look forward to your reply.

Best regards,
Alina Bizga
Bitdefender Support Team

They have got to be kidding!  This is a very scary company. 

[Xairbusdriver]

First, exactly what version of BitDefender is installed?
Second, you will have to be logged in to your Mac as an Admin.
Third, even then, if you try to delete/move/rename an item in the System or main Library, you will be asked for your Admin password. If the item is actually a part of the OS, you may have to resort to Terminal.
Fourth, you must be absolutely positive you know what you are trying to delete.

Please tell us exactly the path you are using, ie; HD/System/Library/Extensions/ABadItem.kext or
HD/Library/Application Support/ClamXAV/Quarantine/
You don't need to even try removing anything just give us a list of items (and the directory they are in, the whole path would be even better) that you think should be moved.

As for Activity Monitor, it does not delete things. It can only stop it from running, for a time. How long the item remains stopped depends on several things.

• It may be controlled by a daemon or launch agent that monitors whether or not that item is running. If that agent detects that the item has stopped, it will simply restart it.
• If the item automatically starts whenever the Mac Starts or Restarts, then that item will be running again, the next time you start up.
• The item may be monitored by another part of the main program (BitDefender, for example). Therefore, the main program will simply restart the item. That might not be immediately, it could be several minutes or longer.

The point is deleting stuff is not the job of Activity Monitor. Nor does AM even show you every single item/app/agent/kernel/etc. that is operating/running.

Persistent apps like BD require slow, purposeful, detailed, calculated steps to remove. If you don't have the patience to find all the pertinent files/items before starting the job of removing them, don't even think about doing that task yourself. It will be well worth the cost to have someone else do it.