Customer Reviews
Effective with a bit of practice, espec on older machines 
2006-02-08
After reading all the 19 reviews as of 2 7 06, it seems people either love SS5 or hate it. Maybe it depends on what kind of OS they're running, and how much they expect a complex and somwhoat sophisticated program to work perfectly on all the different systems out there, without doing any setup to tailor the program to their specific system and needs.
My experience with this program over the past couple years has been mostly good. But it hasn't all been peaches and cream.
It took quite a while to scan my system the first time before some of the special features would work. And until I got used to it, I had insufficient notice from the program, when it was hung up versus, just taking a long time to set something up initially. Subsequent scans went much faster. And most features worked well and fast, after I got familiar enough to know what to expect. The learning curve wasn't real hard, but a delay to learn, seemed to be present initially at least briefly, for most but not all features. A few of them just take off and run intuitively with no further input required from the operator until the function is finished.
The first scan I ran for bugs found maybe a half dozen, mostly low danger ones. It removed or fixed about 2/3 of those quickly. Dealing with some of the other ones manually was okay, but dealing with the last few was quirky and confusing. I wound up resolving them by methods outside SS5. So removing bugs is probably not it's strongest tool.
After I got it set up, it ran pretty well in most features.
I especially have enjoyed and benefitted from the registry cleaner. I think that was rated the best registry cleaner in reviews by mags including PC Mag. Again, the first time I ran that feature, it found so many things needing attention I was overwhelmed by the volume, and had to cancel and return to it later when I had more time. With regular use (maybe once or twice a month), that feature is a piece of cake to use and takes a relatively short time.
The firewall works well. I can turn it off and on when needed, but it took me a while to figure out where the controls for that were. It seems to find about the same number of viruses etc that Norton Antivirus does.
The virus scanner is vastly faster, both for large scans and individual files, than Norton Antivirus, which I've used for about 5 yrs. I think Norton's program may be a bit more powerful, and better supported with it's terrific advice pages on how to manually remove each major virus if their auto fix program won't do the job. But the forced upgrade (not update) for Norton a couple yrs ago, was a real headache. And Norton's instructions once you get off track are horribly inscrutible. I found SS5's antivirus instructions far easier. However the updates I do weekly or more often for Norton's definitions etc, come in almost flawlessly and fairly fast. While SS5's updates seem much slower. I think NAV has an incremental update, rather than a full antivirus program update like SS5 seems to be downloading each time.
I won't use either of them for antivirus next time around. I'll probably go with Zone Alarm's antivirus or suite.
But for several other features, I've had pretty good luck with Vcom's system suite 5. Registry Editor, defragger, disk fixer, antivirus function and some of the others. There are many functions, some of which I've only needed to use recently. And they seem to have a decent batting average, compared to most software products that are out there.
I do not have windows XP, which has been suggested is a problem for SS5. I have Windows ME, on a system that was near top of the line 5 yrs ago, and with many peripherals, quite a large number of files, rather large storage, and innumerable utilities, both PD and commercial. It's possible a System Suite like Vcom's is more useful for older systems, than for relatively new ones.
Best on the market 
2005-08-02
Background, I've worked in the computer field since 1988. I'm currently a network administrator. I've built my own computers since I switch to PCs from the Commodore64.
I've used this product for well over 5 years with upgrades along the way. It is the first software I install on any computer I build for myself after the OS installation. Where these folks are complaining about the AV update I'm not sure. I've had it update 2 and 3 times during a one (1) week period on a regular basis. The AV component is an OEM of Trend Micro, the firewall is and OEM of Sysgate Personal Firewall Pro and it is a connect and deny firewall.
I cannot give this utility suite a more resounding endorsement.
I have used the registry fixer literally hundreds of times and just accepted its default, and never experienced a single problem.
Buy it, you won't regret it.
No problems here with System Suite 5 2005-07-22
After reading all the current reviews I must weigh in. I've had no problems with System Suite 5 on Win XP SP1 or SP2, or Win 98 SE. I've installed this for customers Home PC's and they love it. I've simply never had any problems with it except for a brief problem getting antivirus definitions for about 2 weeks, while their server had problems. But that was resolved within 2 weeks and have had no problems since. I agree that the defrag and the registry fixer is better than any of Norton's. And on my Win 98 system I had to use the system recovery tool to get me back up & running and it did the trick, saving me going back to some old Ghost restore and then updating programs and loading data back on the HDD.
As for System Suite 5 not being better than System Suite 4, I agree. But then, is any of the Symantec products better than the prior versions? I've not found them to be better. Are we being churned for $, you bet. But the question is whether or not you are getting you moneys worth and I and my clients certainly have. Best of luck to all us consumers.
False sense of security. 
2004-07-31
I bought this suite mainly because I was looking for an alternative to Symantec and McAfee anti virus, and I liked the idea it came with a firewall too.
I had nothing but problems with the anti virus. When it found viruses, it couldn't remove them (4 out of 4), and instead pointed me to trend micro's web site for information on how to manually delete the affected files and fix the registry. Not a huge deal, because I'm pretty comfortable with this kind of stuff, but many wouldn't be. Also, as someone else mentioned whenever there is an update in virus definitions, you have to reload the whole set. Over dial up this usually meant in excess of 20 minutes. Lastly, I was infected by a keylogging trojan which was trying to send my data to a computer in St Petersburg Russia! The scanner didn't recognize it and all tech support repeatedly told me was not to worry, even though I had unmistakable signs of a break-in. When I asked for a manager, including a copy of the trojan along with the name/description Mcafee had for the trojan (used free online scan), the manager's reply was that they really weren't an anti virus company (they just package it), and I should buy anti virus software from someone else to solve my problem (I wish I was kidding)! I asked again for help, but they just closed my case without responding.
In fairness, the firewall in the suite is very good. In fact, this is what first alerted me to the keylogger. However, I recently learned that it is a tuned down version of what Sygate gives away for free on their web site (non business use). I tried the free Sygate version, and found I like it just a little better (more features). I also learned that you can get a better version of the trend anti virus sw for free from trend's site (The free version actually cleans viruses).
After my fiasco with VCOM and the keylogger, I rebuilt the system and tried the Symantec and McAfee anti virus packages. Symantec froze my system forcing me to reinstall windows (common complaint), and McAfee made me lower my internet security settings in order for it to run. I ended up buying Panda Titanium Antivirus, and couldn't be happier. After all of this, my advice is to download the free Sygate (or if you prefer Zone Alarm) firewall software and back it up with Panda AV. If you aren't comfortable with a free firewall, both will sell you a pro version (I'd try both free ones before buying one). Also, I switched browsers from IE to Mozilla Firefox, and that stopped the viruses and spyware/adware very nicely. The great thing is, it was free, painless to install and start using, and has features I didn't realize IE was missing until I used it.
Who could ask for anything more! 2004-02-22
Great product, I had fix it 5 which is also a great product but why play with the little boys. This system offers so much for the money like ghost surf, Pc-cillin anti virus, Time sync a good fire wall compatible with zone alarm which I gave up for this system. It keeps track of all your last operations. It has too much to list, over 50. It detects viruses quickly compared to nortons which I was running at the same time. Save your money on indivisual products when you can get it all in one for a bargin price. I highly recommend this product.
I Know What I'm Talking About 2004-02-21
I've read all the reviews for this, and I have come to the conclusion that some people are either clueless or have some seriously screwed up systems. I have used Norton Systemworks and System Mechanic Pro(w/Panda Plantinum)and both either caused problems with my system(XP Pro), did not function correctly (Panda),or did not install or uninstall correctly(Norton's especially difficult). Systemsuite has been excellent! I have installed and uninstalled it several times without ever having any problems, the antivirus updates frequently, usually no longer than 2-3 days (Mcaffee and Norton usually update only once a week)and all the utilities work perfectly. The program comes with several extra utilities (Ghost Surf, PowerDesk, Recovery Commander, and MailWash) but you DON"T HAVE TO install these if you do not want to. You also can choose to install either the antivirus or firewall, both, or neither, and the utilities work with other firewalls and antivirus programs if you already have other favorites.(Just remember to have ONLY 1 antivirus and 1 firewall running, whatever you choose!)As I said, I don't know why some people had such problems with this, but after using several similar products, I feel this is the best currently available.
System Suite 5.0 2004-02-07
After reviewung some of the posts on this product and after seeing PC World's review of it in this month's edition, I decided to get this for my home computer. After the automatic install of all the other freebies and the regular install of the actual program, I couldn't open the appliction. Every time I clicked on the icon for the System Suite program, the little flashlight would pop up and search for the exe.file. Well, after about the 3rd install, and absolutely no help from the website, I'm taking the garbage back.
Highly recommended 2004-01-20
I've been using Fix-it utilities since ver. 3 and have always enjoyed the product and have never had a problem. I evaluated the Norton Internet suite and I got upset when I found out I had to purchase a subscription to it. My Fix-it utilities anti-virus software from year 2000 still receives updates free of charge. I run WinXP and I haven't had any problems with the firewall software. All the software included in this suite is high quality and best of all; no subscriptions, no activation, and software that does it's job. This product didn't win PC magazine's choice 2002, 2003 for nothing, it certainly won my choice.
Don't Bother. Cheap for a Reason! 2004-01-19
I got this based on reviews in PC Magazine and PC World. VCOM must have paid quite a bit to these magazines to get such good reviews!
So what is the problem?
Well, to start the firewall fails to load upon startup. After manually starting the firewall (which I had to do everytime I started Windows) the firewall constantly asks if IE can connect to the web. It keeps asking even after you check the box and select Yes to stop the popup. Another popup is shown EVERYTIME you go to a new URL!
The anti-spam and anonymous web surfing are not full versions and you are hounded to upgrade them for even more $!
And last but not least, After installation Windows XP lags while shut down. The lag is around 15 to 30 extra seconds. It may not seem like a long time but it gets old quick.
Don't bother getting this suite. Your computer will run better without it and there are better products on the market.
SystemSuite is best overall for Windows 2000 and Windows xp 2004-01-13
If you are using Windows xp keep in mind, Windows xp has it's own built in, though one way, firewall. Before installing a software product that contains a firewall, such as SystemSuite, you must first disable Windows xp's firewall. Failure to disable Windows xp's firewall can result in the inablilty to access the internet. This is due to conflicts resulting from having two firewalls running on your system at the same time. That said, SystemSuite remains a great value and provides features for Windows 2000 and Windows xp that Norton SystemWorks provides only for Windows 98 and ME. Norton was once my hands down favorite, but now I think SystemSuite has the overall edge when you consider features and price. SystemSuite is the most well organized Utilities suite I have tried and I have not found a real 'dud' in any of it's features. Norton has a great Anti-Virus and Firewall, but Norton's Utilities need to be updated to keep up with the competition.
