V-Com Systemsuite 5.0

Rating:
Summary: A lot of exellent programs for the money
Review: I purchased this program after using fix it five which is also a very good program but I should have just got this one instead. This program offers so much more for the money it's basicly fix it five with much more features and options. It comes with three additional products and six software trail versions of v-com software. This program works as promise, it has just about everything you could need to keep your computer in optium condition. It has a really good anti virus program by pc-cillian,firewall, clock sink etc, too much to list, over 50. It gives you the option to install what you want and you can install the rest later. Had norton this program is faster and a lot better. Highly recommend especially if you are going to by fix it five.

Rating:
Summary: Good Value
Review: I purchased two copies for personal use and three for friends. I installed SystemSuite 5 on Win2K and Windows Me. The others were installed on 98, Me, and XP. I'm not hearing any complaints.

I have used this software in a rather intuitive way, preferring to avoid reading the manual for those esoteric benefits I have surely missed. (I actually enjoy learning the fine points of a product--time permitting.) The negative comments I've read here will probably cause me to take a closer look at this product. Some installations of Windows are sufficiently "broken" to cause any number of problems. The possible causes are many, but reinstalling Windows may be the best course of action.

I am giving this product four stars instead of five, since I have been a rather intuitive and passive user, and may chose to return later to refine these comments. Based on a price performance ratio, I would recommend the product. I also chose to install PowerDesk, which comes with SystemSuite 5. The functionality of PowerDesk makes it a nice alternative to Windows Explorer.

In somewhat different areas, I have used SystemSuite 5 to replace Norton Systemworks and ZoneAlarm Pro 5.0.


Rating:
Summary: Customer support great, I wish the virus scanner worked...
Review: I read the great reviews, and decided to dump Norton Systemworks. Unfortunately on my XP Home Edition, I just couldn't get SystemSuite to work on my machine. I tried installing multiple times, but the virus scanner never worked properly and the SystemSuite app wouldn't run in the background. Each time I reinstalled the program, my TCP/IP stack seemed to get corrupted -- causing AOL 9.0 to hang up during connection. The only way I could get AOL to connect was through dial-up instead of broadband.

I would give tech support 5 stars though - they answered all of my emails within 24 hours, and often within an hour or two. They suggested various options, but unfortunately none of them worked.

The registry editor/optimizer worked fantastic! It found over 1000 problems that Norton Utilities missed.

As much as I wanted to try the little guy, I ultimately had to go back to Norton. I wanted to give this product 5 stars, but for my machine -- it just wasn't meant to be...

Rating:
Summary: Excellent addition to your PC mantenance arsonal
Review: I work on pc's for a living.

First of all, NO ONE product does everything well.
I own and use this product, Norton systemwork's and a couple other product packages that cost well into the 100's of dollars.
The only product bundle I don't ever use much is Iolo's system mechanic.

Second, this product has a decent registry defragger and registry optimizer/cleaner that Norton seems to be lacking.

Third, this product privides a decent firewall that would have to be bought separately from norton.

Fourth, how much can a product possibly provide, for under $50?

Fifth, for some problems, a specific product is sometimes the best way to go [instead of a "suite" or "bundle"]
Example: DEFRAGMENTATION products.
From basic to best is probably:
-builtin defragger
-norton's or V-com's
-disk keeper
-Raxco - best "pc novice" product, with high end results that I have found [that I recommend to novices]
- O&O defrag - a german company, I believe. Probably just beats out Raxco as the best in class, only because it's reported to provide more manual "tweaking" of your defragging.

Sixth,
In some areas of repair [mal-ware removal comes immediately to mind] you are currently forced to use more than one product, to get things cleaned up fully.
I use 5 different anti-spyware, anti-malware products. That is because no one product I have used [despite any manufacturer's claims] can clean every mal-ware product I've seen in my workday.
I have Spy sweeper, Xcleaner, Spy subtract, mcafee anti-spy and pest patrol.

Finally, since I fix pc's everyday, I have bought a lot of pc utilities.

Sometimes I buy a "suite" just for one exotic tool that no one else offers.

For what this package does, or offers to do, it has always worked well for me.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't Work
Review: I've bought the two previous versions of this software (going back to when it was called Fix-It Utilities) and never had a problem. But now a new company, V-Com, has taken over the product, and their first revamp, version 5.0, doesn't work. At least, it would not install itself on my Windows XP system - I kept getting error messages saying that the program could not be activated. I had to uninstall it and return to v. 4.0. It's a typical example of a software product that worked fine until someone decided to "improve" it by adding so many bells and whistles that it ends up being incompatible with most people's PCs. Stick to v. 4.0 and save yourself money and headaches.

Rating:
Summary: Catches Viruses, Works as Advertised
Review: In short, this suite does everything that it says it will do and does it all very well. In contrast to other reviewers, I have had absolutely no problem with the Virus Scanner. The scanner has caught about 5-6 viruses and has cleaned them without any problem. Plus, you get free updates from V-Com without having to renew a subscription. V-Com states that it may eventually move to an annual subscription system, but until they do, updates are FREE. The firewall has prevented a few attacks on my system also. Plus, it works with XP service pack 2 without any problem. The company offers good support through the website. I am extremely happy with this product and am thrilled to be done with Norton and McAfee forever.

Rating:
Summary: compatibility
Review: Systemsuite5 is NOT compatable with AOL,Thers are no patches, corrupts windows xp, its generally useless. For aol, you have to uninstall the firewall and the mail virus scanner. The system defragment tool looks like something out the stone age. To cut a long story short, spend the extra money and get Nortons.

Rating:
Summary: Good all around suite.
Review: The only reason I give systemsuite 4 stars instead of 5 is because of so much extra juck being packaged with it. The installer gives the option of installing powerdesk, ghostsurf, and others. Do yourself a favor when installing it and choose the option for a custom install, then don't add the extras, just systemsuite. If you wish to add ghostsurf or something else later, just run the installer again.

I believe the negative reviews here are due to people installing every program the suite allows you to install. Vcom made a mistake by packageing so many extras, the average user doesn't know what to install and just grabs everything. Just get what you need, the main systemsuite program, antivirus, and firewall.

Rating:
Summary: Virus Definition Downloads a pain
Review: The program itself is not bad. The problem I have is with the virus definitions. You cannot just download the new virus definitions, you must download the entire virus definition file.
This has meant that 2-3 times a week I have needed to download a 4 mb plus file. This is a pain! I contacted the company and they currently do not have incremental updates.

Rating:
Summary: Beware! This product will corrupt a Windows 2000/XP Server
Review: There is nothing in VCom's documentation that indicates the corruption effects when this product is installed on a Windows 2000/XP Server systems. The product corrupts the master boot record and, so far, I have found nothing short of a reformat and re-install of the system to correct the problem. Symantec, with Norton AntiVirus, does provide a software tool to uninstall thier product but I can find no such tool from VCOM. I have no idea as to the merits of this product on other than Windows Server but I am disinclined to have any association with their products.