Bitdefender causing Zoom to start slow and become unresponsive.

[JetCanada]

I was running Bitdefender Total Security on my Windows PC and the Zoom client would take minutes to launch and starting or joining meetings would also take 1 to 2 minutes (the first time). The Zoom client would indicate "not connected", or "connecting", or "not responding". Sometimes during a meeting, my video would freeze or starting to share would freeze for 1 to 2 minutes. We have multiple Zoom Pro licenses for business presentations, Webinars, and meetings and this was obviously not acceptable.

I tried disabling all Bitdefender services from the Bitdefender dashboard, but this had no effect. It was only after I totally uninstalled Bitdefender and reverted back to the Windows Defender did the problem instantly go away.

Anybody having issues with Zoom and Bitdefender? Any ideas how to fix this?

[Bac007]

Same issue here. I had to uninstall the program to get it to work. 

[JWLSC]

Same issue - after installing bitdefender the use of zoom became unstable and the program takes 3-5 minutes to launch

[JetCanada · Accepted solution]

Solved!

Bitdefender support examined the debug logs and pinpointed Acronis Active Protection as causing a conflict with Bitdefender, which could result in slowdowns and incompatibility issues. We've been a user of Acronis True Image for many years to provide reliable backup services, but it seems they created issues when they added Cyber Security functions to their product.

Bitdefender support recommended disabling Acronis Active Protection. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.

The following does not work:

• Turning off Active Protection permanently in the Acronis dashboard does not actually disable the service. The Active Protection service continues to run and Zoom performance issues remain.
• services.msc is unable to stop Acronis Active Protection, even running it as Administrator.

The solution: Assuming you want to continue to use Acronis for backups and Bitedefender for security. You need to remove the Active Protection components from Acronis using the following steps:

• Open "Add or Remove Programs" in Control Panel
• Click on "…" beside the Acronis Cyber Protect application
• Select “Modify” and deselect “Anti-ransomware protection…” and “Real-time protection…” components, leaving only “Backup and Core Protection” selected.
• Click “Modify” and Acronis will remove the security components.
• Reboot the computer and Zoom runs with normal performance.

I will provide additional commentary if problems arise in the future, but my system appears to be working now.