Customer Reviews

Vipre AntiVirus + AntiSpyware

5 star:		(118)
4 star:		(65)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

When I first installed Vipre, I was very impressed. It installed smoothly and ran with low memory. It did an excellent job with automatic updates and scans.

About a week after I installed it, Vipre prompted me that it had found a deep threat virus and needed me to reboot in order to completely clean the computer. I followed the instructions and could not get the system to reboot. I kept getitng the "blue screen of death."

I went through several diaganostics, bios checks, etc. Bottom line was that I could access the hard drive and it's files (and was able to rescue them), but I could not get it to boot to Windows. Even when I reordered the BIOS to boot from the CD ROM (to use the Windows XP Install disk), it gave me a "Windows cannot locate a hard drive."

I called Vipre (Sunbelt) and spoke with a very nice technician who told me that this is a "known problem" and that Vipre sometimes attacks a system file that is valid but acting in an abnormal way. He sent me some file links that would/should help in getting the hard drive and CPU to communicate.

I then spoke with the Geek Squad (since I couldn't even get on email at that point) and had several diagnostics run. Bottom line - I had to replace the hard drive.

I have since spoke with Sunbelt and the same technician who originally helped me. He was very nice, but explained that they do not reimburse for damage caused by their software. This did not make me happy as I have now spent $300 to replace the hard drive, not to mention the time wasted on a large consulting project I was working on as it took about a week to get it all worked out.

8/3/09 - EDITED REVIEW: I have spoken with the CEO of Sunbelt and they have fully reimbursed the cost of the repairs and have commented, both here and to me directly, that the problem that I encountered has been fixed in the current release of the software.

I am SUPER impressed with this company and, with their excellent customer service, have revised my review. It really is an excellent product and this company truly stands behind their products.

I used to think this was a great company and anti-virus software. Recently company got swallowed up by bigger company and they said all would be the same. And then the big change came, the eliminated what was great support for Vipre and merged it with GFI who bought Vipre. Now support really is difficult and painful. I have called and have over 20 emails to them without resolution on issues on two computers. They keep saying to run their diagnostics and send to them. There own computers reject the attachment of their own diagnostic file saying its too big. They keep asking me to resend and round and round we go. I am getting over 100 scan erros on both a desktop and laptop and when found a virus a few ago its own clean action said cancelled. No explanation from them on why the cancllation and so far no resolution on scan errors.

I must say I loved the company before the buy out. A shame so many companies support goes down hill and with virus software its critical for my business.

Finally, protection that doesn't consume my computer. VIPRE (Virus Intrusion Protection Remediation Engine) is simply a high octane performance software that does not clutter my system with outdated product and nor does it slow down operations like the brand name competition. It simply delivers.

VIPRE combines anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, anti malware, key logger and more into a viable, working product. It requires only a minimum of 512 MB. It supports various email applications including; Outlook, Outlook Express, Vista Windows Mail, and SMTP. POP3 including Thunderbird, IncrediMail, Eudora, etc. are also supported. SSL will only operate in Outlook and Outlook Express.

Some of the main reasons for me switching to Vipre are;

1) Reduced product update & download times
2) Control over annoying pop up notifications
3) Low impact on my primary operating systems
4) Free 24 Hour US based technical phone support (BOT-FREE)
5) Easy to read Windows core level monitoring and protection
6) When deep scanning, real time display actually lets me know how much time is remaining before the scan is complete.

Unfortunately Macintosh & Linux users will not find this product acceptable. It simply does not work with these operating systems. Nor can it be tailored for early editions of Windows 95, 98, or ME. According to a representative at tech support, a new version for Windows 7 users will be available in early 2010.

This Vipre version features the Home Site License which offers unlimited protection for all computers under one roof for one, low annual fee. This subscription includes threat definition updates, software upgrades, and free US based, phone support. The telephone support is simply outstanding.

Firewall software is not included in the current package. A product called Sunbelt Personal Firewall is a separate purchase. An outstanding working tool, it can be easily downloaded via the Sunbelt Software website.

In the six months that I have been a Vipre subscriber, protection has been outstanding and my computers have operated faster. Obviously missing from this package and keeping me from rating this version five stars is the lack of firewall protection. Perhaps later versions will include it.

Even so Vipre Antivirus/Antispy software is easily the hands down winner over the competition. This vital protection package is a worthy product for these times.

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UPDATE:10.31.09
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Vipre is now compatible with Windows 7. Vipre Premium which is a combination of Vipre and Sunbelt Personal Firewall, will be hitting the streets in March 2010. I've been in contact with Vipre customer support on several occasions via telephone, email and live chat. Only one word describes their customer service. OUTSTANDING! Competitors Norton and McAffee could take lessons from this customer first team.

When it comes to AV (anti-virus) and 'internet' protection software, I'm not normally willing to try new things. I've used Kaspersky for a few years and been very happy. Prior to that, I'd used Norton and McAfee, but both seem to have gone the way of bloatware. So, when Vine offered me this product, I wasn't really interested at first. I realized a bit later that my subscription was about to expire and that the newest version of my tried-and-true was getting panned in the reviews. (An altogether familiar tune after Norton and McAfee.) So I took the plunge.

It is fast, it seems to use fewer resources than even K2009 - and I thought that was a fast, light program. I've not had problems with it at all, though I've seen from other reviewers that the company seems to go above and beyond when users do experience issues.

One of the things about AV software is that it should make you forget it's working. It shouldn't make its presence known unless something has gone very wrong. It should be unobtrusive. Because of that, the best thing you should be able to say about a product in this category is that it works.

Vipre WORKS.

Nuff said.

I had heard great things about Vipre, but when I enabled email protect and clicked send/receive, I lost everything in my inbox, everything in my draft folder disappeared, my sent folder has all of my deleted and junk files, and my inbox has been replaced with all of my sent emails. It has been a disaster and no one can figure out how to repair it. No more Vipre for me.

I am one of those people who spends a lot of time online....and these days with viruses, you need serious protection.

In the past, I've used AVG Free software, and several paid products but for some reason, even the best ones end up over-complicating their products. After buying Norton AGAIN, and the other big boy and finding they slowed down my computers, I tried this product.

This software is surprisingly fast and effective. It will not slow down your computer or cause crashes wbich is the least you should expect from anti-virus software. In addition, you can use one license on all your computers.

I really like this product and recommend it highly.

I've had this installed on a Windows 7 laptop for over a year now, and I like it. The laptop came with a 60 day trial of McAfee. I have McAfee on the other household computers, mostly because the computers came with it already, and it perpetually irritates me what with the bloat and the slow. So I decided to give Vipre a try on the newest computer.

PROS:
+ Easy to install
+ No bloatware
+ Very little updates / time wasters
+ Efficient, controllable, viewable deep scans
+ Good anti-malware

CON:
- No firewall protection

BOTTOM LINE: Won't bog you down.

I first installed Vipre Antivirus Premium on an outdated, on-its-way-to-the-grave computer. It performed flawlessly. I just installed it on my brand new computer, after a few days of Norton Internet Security 2010 (a 60-day trial was included with my computer. I was never a Norton fan. Norton doesn't always play well with other programs, and it really did slow down my computer....bootup time was too ridiculous. So, off with it.

Vipre, on the other hand, is just...wonderful. A deep scan takes about an hour, and that's fine. The free US-based tech support was a major selling point for me, and as long as they keep producing a top-notch antivirus software, I can't imagine using anything else.

As far as the hard drive mishap mentioned earlier, stuff happens. It's how the stuff gets handled that matters. I promise the "major players" would NEVER have gone as far to satisfy a customer. I also agree that the Geek Squad can rip you off, like you've never been ripped off before. Nuff said on that.

Anyhow, Vipre offers a 30-day trial of their software. Try it and see for yourself.

As recommended by Vipre, I uninstalled my current anti-virus software (TrendMicro) first and, unlike trying to uninstall Norton product, uninstalling TrendMicro was fast and easy. The Vipre install wizard makes installation easy but things slow down when the "update" step starts and the download meter is displayed. I suspect that's because the Vipre CD is so out-of-date that you're essentially downloading a whole new version. I say this because after that first download finished I was instructed to re-boot and once that was done Vipre went back into "install" mode. That made me really nervous but once that second install process was completed (including a much faster second download, presumably of up-to-date virus definitions) Vipre was installed. The first thing I chose to do was to have Vipre do a deep scan of my entire system and although that took a long time (70 minutes to scan 90,000 files, 37 processes and 28,000 registry items) it found two high-risk Trojan threats that my TrendMicro software had completely missed. It's also worth pointing out that even though the deep scan takes a long time and consumes a healthy chunk of my system, it doesn't seem to slow down any other processes, including game playing and browsing the internet. (TrendMicro slowed down both and was the main reason why I decided to try another product.) The Vipre "console" is also a little more robust than TrendMicro's and a lot more intuitive. I also like the option of scheduling both deep scans and quick scans or you can develop customized scans where you control what is or isn't scanned. I've opted for a deep scan every Saturday at 6 p.m. and "quick scans" at 8 p.m. on every other day. (The quick scan takes less than 3 minutes and scans all of my registry items and processes but only 3800 files.) After doing numerous speed tests with TrendMicro installed and now Vipre installed, I'm happy to report that I'm seeing a 30-40% increase in my internet download speeds and a 10-15% increase in my upload speeds. More proof that Vipre runs much more efficiently than TrendMicro. I'm also getting clean shutdowns now for the first time in years. (What is it about Norton and TrendMicro that there's always one little thingy that won't stop running when you try to shut down your system and you have to click "end now" ??) One last note if you're used to having a firewall included in your internet security software: the Vipre Anti-Virus software does NOT include firewall protection. You'll either have to rely on your Windows firewall (not a great choice) or find another option. I've decided to take advantage of Sunbelt's 30-day Personal Firewall free trial. If it's as good as their Vipre software I'll be buying it after my free trial ends.

My PC is a 3 year-old Dell Optiflex 740 with a dual processor, 250GB hard drive, running Windows XP.

I ordered/received this, but it was a single PC license. Customer feedback said the website was incorrect and told me to send it back for a refund. Too expensive for a single PC license and as of today, this page is still misleading.