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VIPRE vs. Kaspersky
Our goal in helping you compare antivirus software is to guide you through the decision-making process to select the best antivirus software for your home or business.
We regularly hear from our visitors about how difficult it can be to choose antivirus software with so many different opinions floating around about AV software.
So, we turned our attention to solving this problem and added a section to our site to compare antivirus software head-to-head so you can rate one antivirus software vs another for yourself.
Here, we compare VIPRE Antivirus + Antispware vs. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009. See for yourself which one will be best for your needs at home or the office.
$29.95*
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Vs. |
$59.95*
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Which Has the Best Real-time Protection?
| VIPRE |
Kaspersky |
Real-time antivirus monitoring for all files, web activity, and email are automatic with Active Protection from VIPRE antivirus.
Testing shows VIPRE to be successful in defeating two thirds of malware on the spot and correctly labeling the remaining third for inspection.
Other real-time threats can also be monitored via a handy process monitor.
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Also has good real-time antivirus monitoring by default.
Independent testing shows Kaspersky antivirus to be one of the top players when it comes to catching in-coming virus and malware threats.
A high percentage were captured or blocked while only a few threats escaped.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE.
VIPRE and Kaspersky will do an excellent job of keeping your computer safe from viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, and other malware.
VIPRE does so for about 1/2 the price and takes fewer system resources.
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Which is Most Effective Against Spyware?
| VIPRE |
Kaspersky |
VIPRE integrates antispyware seamlessly with their antivirus software.
Both act in unison to defeat spyware and malware threats with ease.
Spyware definitions are updated quickly after the initial update is complete.
Independent testing shows VIPRE to be just as effective against spyware as it is against viruses and other malware.
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Threats from spyware, viruses, or other malware are treated with equal rigor.
The latest spyware definitions are updated quickly without any trouble.
Independent testing shows Kaspersky to be a formidable antispyware application.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE.
As with fighting viruses, VIPRE and Kaspersky will do well at keeping your computer safe from viruses and malware.
VIPRE gets the nod because it pulls it off for roughly 1/2 the price and with lower system load.
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Which Has the Lowest Resource Usage?
| VIPRE |
Kaspersky |
Low resource usage is a trademark of VIPRE antivirus.
During manual scanning, VIPRE's resource usage is only half that of Kaspersky's.
CPU used while scanning was almost a third less than Kaspersky.
Memory used during real-time protection was well under 1%.
Overall, VIPRE was one of the lightest antivirus software programs tested.
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While Kaspersky takes fewer system resources to run than most other top antivirus software, it still fell far short of VIPRE where memory used during a scan was twice that of VIPRE.
Additionally, CPU use was roughly one third more than VIPRE with memory use running around 4% during real-time protection.
This still makes Kaspersky a solid contender against just about all other antivirus software, just not VIRPE.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE.
Sunbelt Software engineers are significantly ahead of other antivirus makers with VIPRE, having created the lightest, speediest
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Which Has the Best User Interface?
| VIPRE |
Kaspersky |
The interface on VIPRE is very simple and clean.
One screen shows all the vital information, including
- features
- options
- last scan
- last updates
- current risk level
The scanning results page is easy to understand and clearly labeled as well.
Really, the entire interface is easy to navigate and presents things in a rational layout.
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The Kaspersky interface is clearly labeled in an expandable left-hand navigation.
Features, risks, and scan results are all easily found within the expandable style navigation panes making actions and results easy to see.
Everything is clearly labeled and easy to find.
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RESULT: Tie.
Both companies have done a great job with their interfaces. Others would be well-served to take a page from their respective playbooks.
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Which Has the Best Customer Support?
| VIPRE |
Kaspersky |
The makers of VIPRE antivirus (Sunbelt Software) offer extensive support including phone, email, knowledge base, and user guide all free.
The technical support and customer service reps are all based in the US and respond promptly.
The knowledge base and user guide are easy to use.
Support numbers and contact info is easy to find (one click off the home page to be exact).
It seems Sunbelt is eager to give good customer support.
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Kaspersky offers a good knowledge base, customer forums, and live chat.
Unlike Sunbelt, phone support is not toll-free, but Kaspersky does offer phone support on their website with respectable US hours of 8AM-9PM M-F.
Kaspersky makes getting support easy.
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RESULT: Tie.
Both companies offer support in the ways most consumers want it: phone, email, chat, and knowledge base.
Kaspersky gets the nod because of their 13 hours/day of support; Sunbelt/VIPRE gets the nod because of their toll-free phone support and super-easy-to-find support phone number.
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Which is Easiest to Install?
| VIPRE |
Kaspersky |
VIPRE antivirus installs very fast and easily.
There are only a few setup steps, and then the installation is done.
There is, however, a longer period to download the initial virus definitions used to protect your computer.
VIPRE needs to connect to its database to download definitions and other antivirus updates. This can take 10-15 min.
After that, future virus definitions are downloaded much faster.
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The install is fast and compact.
Everything installs without too many steps or hang-ups.
However, the initial install doesn't automatically remove current viruses on the system.
You'll want to run a full system scan right after a reboot.
Overall, the install is easy with no major flaws.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE.
Both installs went smoothly. It's hard to find fault with either, but we like VIPRE being on patrol from the initial reboot.
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Which Has the Best Email Virus Protection?
| VIPRE |
Kaspersky |
For an antivirus program, VIPRE does a great job with email protection.
All major email clients are supported including Outlook Express, Outlook, Windows Mail, as are others that use SMTP or POP3 (Eudora, Thunderbird, IncrediMail, etc).
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Kaspersky's email scanning is thorough but ran more slowly than VIPRE.
Emails are fully scanned before hitting your inbox.
All major email clients are supported including those using SMTP or POP3.
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RESULT: VIPRE.
While both provide complete coverage, VIPRE is faster at protecting you from viruses in your inbox.
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What's the Best Antivirus Software?
| VIPRE |
Kaspersky |
All major comparisons point to VIPRE as being the "best antivirus software" this year.
VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware installs easily, is very light on resources, and powerful against all malware including viruses and spyware alike.
The customer support is excellent, and the low price makes VIPRE very, very tough to beat.
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In comparison to all major brands of antivirus software, Kaspersky remains firmly in place as a potent antivirus.
But faced against VIPRE directly, Kaspersky doesn't quite match up.
Kaspersky's sticker-price is just about the highest around, and the resource usage is still higher than VIPRE's.
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WINNER: VIPRE.
It's hard to argue with a product that offers excellent antivirus protection, costs 1/2 as much, has U.S. based support, and runs faster and lighter, as VIPRE does.
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VIPRE vs BitDefender Antivirus
