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Sunbelt’s Vipre – My Closing Opinion – Part 1

Vipre performed really well at detecting and removing malware, but only in safemode (remember, strictly speaking on removal abilities here).  Basically there were too many infections and not enough RAM (512MB).

When using Vipre in normal bootmode it was unable to remove about 80% of the active threats and once those threats were marked for deletion upon reboot they still were not deleted.

Like most other Anti-Malware solutions Vipre leaves some adware intact and active (BHO’s)

Would I personally use Vipre?  Yes, but I would have to install SAS and MBAM as well (to help aid in the adware detection and removal).

Is it a 5 star program???…I’m still deciding on that.  Only being able to remove threats in safemode is sort of a bummer.



  • AV-Guy

    I’ve really enjoyed your reviews. They’ve been very, very informative. One question I have relates to the testing of Avast. I noticed, during your review that you performed a boot-time scan and did no other scans when you entered back into Windows. On your VIPRE review you performed a boot-time scan, then performed a deep scan within safe mode. In my experience with working/cleaning PCs using Avast, the thorough scan seems to find additional malware that may not be found and/or removed by just the boot-time scan. None of the machines I have cleaned are nearly as infected as your sample and I am curious as to how Avast would have done given a full (thorough) scan with archive checking enabled? If I missed something in your reviews, or I am mistaken please let me know.

    I also recommend Avira as well as Avast, as I believe these to be the best freebies around. Generally, I recommend Avast to people more diligent with the care of their PC because of the inability to schedule scans in the Home version, and some people find the Avira nag screen less than desirable. Both are great in my opinion, given the price! Have you thought about reviewing the free version of Spyware Doctor with Antivirus? I hear that its database is abbreviated. I wonder what would be the difference in detection of the malware sample you have with the free vs. paid version.

    Keep up the good work and looking forward to your next review. (Hint: Malwarebytes, perhaps?)

  • Honeyb

    For me, Vipre running on Windows XP: 3 Stars.

  • dany

    3 stars for Vipre.I don’t trust it for cleaning or protection!Great job!!!!

  • Ex0

    I enjoyed your review(s) very much, very informative!
    As for Vipre, I’d say it deserves a 3/5 grade (or maybe 4, but it’s a bit overboard IMO). I’ve performed a similar test in my VM (the samples were different, I used Trojans/Rootkits/Worms for testing, so without rouge apps and annoying popups :P ), and its main service/process would crash often when blocking malware, and generally slows down the machine while blocking in real-time.
    I noticed in your Vipre review that you received the “Server busy” error… It’s not originating from rouge apps or VM, it’s from Vipre :P Sometimes it generates that error under heavy load when navigating through the GUI (notice how the error happened right after you clicked on the “Scan” tab?)… very annoying. :P And it’s probably not related with resource/RAM usage, just the GUI behavior under some heavier load.
    A small suggestion: you can use Process Explorer instead of the standard Task Manager, it’s very informative an more detailed than TM; it would aid you when reviewing if all suspicious processes were terminated (and much more: loaded modules, etc.). If you’re testing if the AV removed the “Disable Taskmanager” registry modification after cleaning, don’t use the “Replace taskmanager” option in Process Explorer, only start it from the desktop. :)
    Looking forward to your next review, Norton 2009 maybe? :P

  • malwarekilla

    @AV-Guy – Yeah, if I get some extra time I may retest Avast and do a thorough scan (I owe them that :) )

  • malwarekilla

    Yeah, 3 stars seems to be the consensus. Basically the Vipre scan engine was crashing in normal boot mode…this forced a safemode scan.

  • MikeW

    I am using Vipre and so far like its progress. I have even recommended it to others as an alternative to other choices. My consensus on its current performance is about the same as the others who have offered an opinion but when dealing with a new install on a clean system I have to say that it is on par with others in this space and has a very active development schedule with the bonus that the support has been outstanding.

    As far as I am concerned, Vipre is a keeper…


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