Warning about lifetime licenses.

Discussion in 'other anti-malware software' started by Bodhitree, Dec 15, 2012.

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  1. Bodhitree

    Bodhitree Registered Member

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    I think it relevant to start warning folks about lifetime licenses. It's getting to the point where consumers are being abused by them, and they aren't worth it. Companies doing them are taking advantage of people. In terms of security solutions, I like buying lifetime licenses, but NONE have paid off thus far.

    1) Spyshelter, after 2-3 years using it my key 'magically' stopped working. Numerous emails to support/sales have resulted in zero responses. I am assuming the lifetime claim isn't valid with them - and they won't back it up, and quite possibly turn off keys after awhile.

    2) SuperAntispyware(garbage software imo), my lifetime unlimited PC license magically expired in a couple of years after I got it, and thus far they've refused to help me with it. Fantastic company.

    3) DesktopArmor - it was an awesome early HIPS/exploit prevention. They sold lifetime licenses, then magically stopped updating the product right after offering lifetime licenses. The version number has not changed in 3 years, and they offer no support beyond WindowsXP.. BURNED.

    4) StickyPassword - these guys.. I buy a lifetime guy and then they 'obsolete' the key 2 months later in the new version and try to charge me $19 to upgrade to the new 'lifetime' license.. Really? Nevermind I don't trust their product, it requires a constant internet connection, dials home, and suspiciously 'checks' your passwords for effectiveness.. NO THANKS. Nevertheless lifetime = joke for them.

    Probably a few more.. MBAM has honored theres thus far, but I hate the product so I transfered my license to a new owner. I found it dragged my systems a bit, and wasn't being updated as much as it should. Nevertheless, I give them credit for honoring their license.

    I got a lifetime membership to a health club chain, guess what? They closed down. What do I have now? 2 years access to 'another' club that got the equipment from the closed down one as part of the deal. So my 100 year membership is relegated to a 2 year one.. Fantastic.

    I am not falling for this lifetime nonsense ever again. I recommend folks be very very careful with them. Vipre is known to scam people as seen on another thread, where even if your hard drive fails - you are done.. Your lifetime is for THAT INSTALLATION... Good luck with what!!
     
  2. Atul88

    Atul88 Registered Member

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    Looks like someone is having a bad day :doubt:
    Yes!! Lifetime licenses are never worth it!!
    Generally i get bored using the same product for 2 years, then i decide what to do.!! :D :D
     
  3. sg09

    sg09 Registered Member

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    2 Years is too much bro. o_O ;)
     
  4. Firecat

    Firecat Registered Member

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    Dude I have used products for 6 years straight :D

    I don't really get bored with a decent product :)
     
  5. Bodhitree

    Bodhitree Registered Member

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    Seriously. I used Avira for 5 years, Emsisoft for 2, Boclean for 6-7? Norton for nearly 10 years prior to that because it was the main game in town back in those days.

    I am perfectly happy with a good product for half a decade or more. But if they start to annoy, start to have performance issues, or lose their detection ratings, I make them go away. Emsisoft got a lot of FP's and slowdowns with Ikarus, so I left them. Avira went down really fast, detections suffered, product improvements were slow in coming, so they got the axe. Boclean went away, I'd still be using that if it was updated. A few products I dumped fast, and got refunds when possible. Panda, NOD32, etc.

    Anyone remember eXtendia AVK? That product was amazing, RAV Antivirus+Kaspersky in one product, fast, light, and cheap. I ran that for a couple of years and it was fantastic until the RAV engine was bought by MS, and Kaspersky didn't renew their license, the product died.
     
  6. snerd

    snerd Registered Member

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    I've had good luck with my 2, Outpost Firewall Pro and Easy CD Audio Converter. The Outpost was way back in 2000-2003 probably. And the other was formerly named Easy CD-DA Extractor in an earlier time. Both my keys still work on any new version released.
     
  7. Duradel

    Duradel Registered Member

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    Outpost Firewall Pro has paid me back several fold too. Haven't had a single issue with licensing whenever I decide to throw it back into the mix :p
     
  8. sukarof

    sukarof Registered Member

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    Well, I have been using Totalcommander (one time fee) since 1994 and it is still going strong. Terabyte´s Image for Windows is another one I´ve been using long time (2006) and if they stopped developing them today I would definitely had my moneys worth.

    So, "NONE" is not the right word.
     
  9. pegr

    pegr Registered Member

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    The lifetime licenses on Sandboxie, Shadow Defender, and AppGuard have paid off for me so far.
     
  10. emmjay

    emmjay Registered Member

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    There is also the new software licensing structure that MS is supposedly introducing in 2013. If 'Blue' actually happens, then all MS software will be a lifetime license. For example MS Office will not come as trial software on a preload, but rather as a pre-activated product key for that version. You would have to purchase an upgrade every year if you wanted the use of new features and tweaks.

    Today I noticed that a Gateway Touch Screen Desktop was on the shopping channel and the merchant was touting that MS Office is preloaded ... and it will never go away! I am not familiar with Gateway packaging, so maybe this is something they have always done, but if it is new, then it pretty much says it all.

    If MS does do this across all their platforms, then I would assume others will follow their lead. It will look good on surveys as the product will be seen as a long term use product (and therefore preferred by the user). It will also provide software vendors with the equivalent of a one year license touted as a lifetime license. Brilliant marketing for the not so savvy.
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2012
  11. twl845

    twl845 Registered Member

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    Hi Bodhitree,
    I haven't used most of the apps you mentioned, but until I finally uninstalled SAS I had their life time license since 2004 and still ticking. My MBAM lifetime is about as long and updates constantly during the day and actually blocks bad stuff. My Outpost is lifetime as well for about 5 years and I'm waiting for V8 to be released. :)
     
  12. whitedragon551

    whitedragon551 Registered Member

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    Ive never had any issue with lifetime licenses or communication with Spyshelter. WinPatrol, Sandboxie, Spyshelter, Keriver, are all lifetime licenses that have never had any issues at all.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 16, 2012
  13. Rules

    Rules Registered Member

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    +1

    I 've Outpost pro, SAS, Mbam and Spyshelter in lifetime and never have problem with my licence even if i 've re-format and change my computer several times.

    Just for SAS sometime i've just to reactivate my licence because of limit times activation, but after reset the count it's ok.

    rules.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 16, 2012
  14. arsenaloyal

    arsenaloyal Registered Member

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    well sorry to hear about the lifetime licenses for you.

    but the products that I have bought with lifetime licenses are still working. (touchwood!).

    as you can see from my signature all licenses are lifetime, except Emsisoft Antimalware which is free on demand.
     
  15. jo3blac1

    jo3blac1 Registered Member

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    First of all you really have to find reputable company and you have to be smart from whom you buy "lifetime" license. For example I have 3 criteria:
    1) Does the company respond to emails?
    2) Is their software being updated
    3) How long has the company been around and how big it is

    Spyshelter
    1) They failed to respond to my email sent 5 months ago. This automatically disqualifies them from being an honorable company in my eyes. Therefore I would NEVER buy a lifetime license from them.
    2) They very rarely update their software, also another reason to think twice before you buy a lifetime license
    3) Spyshelter is such a small company that it doesn't even have a wikipedia entry. Another warning sign to be careful about. Never buy lifetime license from an amateur 1 person developer or a small company.

    MBAM
    1) Didn't email them but they have very active forum
    2) Software is being regularly updated. I also get definitions updates 3-4 times per day.
    3) Company has been around since 2008 - that's 5 years. They are unlikely to go under in the next 2 years so the $20 lifetime license is well worth it. And who knows maybe they will keep on going for another 5-10 years.

    Outpost FW
    1) Respond to emails promptly
    2) Software regularly updated
    3) Company has been started and active for 12 years. Again for $44 and 3 lifetime licenses, the deal is well worth it. They are unlikely to close down anytime soon. They also have multiple licensing deals from which they get their money.

    Appguard
    Don't own this one so I havent done much research but it seems like the company has been around since 1980s. Their lifetime license is similar to that of Windows. You get to use one major release for your lifetime. When they go from version 2.xx to 3.xx that's when you pay again.


    So this really sums down to doing your own research. Figuring out who is a reputable company and who is not. Who is big enough to last long enough for your lifetime license to be worth getting. I own both MBAM Pro and Outpost FW lifetime licenses. I know both companies won't go down anytime soon. I know they will regularly update their products and I know their products are top notch.
    This is America, 8/10 guys on the internet will try to get advantage of the consumer and make as much money they can in short period of time. Then you got those 2/10 that are actually honorable and are worth paying for.
     
  16. Frank the Perv

    Frank the Perv Banned

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    Ewido (for those who have been around here long enough) was my first major disappointment in "lifetime license."

    It's just the nature of the beast. Most lifetime licenses will be measured on their lifetime -- which may not be very long.

    OP mentioned health clubs... yep, that is a longstanding industry where lifetime licenses are sold and clubs close. Hopefully people start getting that..

    For the 4 lifetime licenses I've purchased, one (Ewido) was taken away when AVG bought the company, one (SAS) turned into useless garbage, and MBAM and WinPatrol have worked out nicely.
     
  17. Cudni

    Cudni Global Moderator

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    ot posts removed
     
  18. justenough

    justenough Registered Member

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    I don't like software that is like a health club.
     
  19. arsenaloyal

    arsenaloyal Registered Member

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    @ jo3blac1 just one thing about Outpost Firewall Pro, Unfortunately they no longer offer lifetime licenses.
     
  20. jo3blac1

    jo3blac1 Registered Member

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    They had a 72 hour deal not too long ago. Im sure they gonna have another one on xmass or 4th of July.
     
  21. PJC

    PJC Very Frequent Poster

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    Sorry to hear that...:(
    I have Life-Time Licenses for both SpyShelter and SuperAntispyware.
    Let's see what will happen in two (2) years...:doubt:
     
  22. The Hammer

    The Hammer Registered Member

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    When an option I try to avoid lifetime licences.
     
  23. puff-m-d

    puff-m-d Registered Member

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    Hello,

    I think what to take in consideration is the price of the license over the "lifetime" part. Say for example back when I purchased my "lifetime" license for SpyShelter, the price was what I would expect of an equivalent "normal subscription" based license for a time period of about one to two years. So even Though I "theoretically" thought, one payment, use forever, if I got close to two years or more of use of the product, IMHO I got my monies worth.

    Sure the software was not used as long as I hoped or planned, I at least got a fair usage for my money. On the other hand if I had only got a few months of usage out of the software, I would definitely feel cheated.

    So when I look at one of these "lifetime" licenses, My question to myself is this: Do I comfortably feel that I will get the usage of the software for what I pay for it? When I bought SpyShelter's "lifetime" license I paid somewhere around US$35 and I have ended up with a little over two years usage of the software. Do I hate the fact that I do not have a working license that works as advertised on my system? Of course I do. But I did get about 2 years usage for US$35, so IMHO I at least got reasonable usage for my money, not what I thought when I purchased, but fair to me.

    I guess the main thing I am saying is when I look at a "lifetime" license, I have to decide for myself whether I believe I can get the usage out of it for the price I will pay (keeping in mind that "lifetime" is NOT "lifetime"). Nowadays it is very hard to believe a software will be around and always updated to work for whatever OS or system that you have forever. You just have to make the call as to whether or not to take the chance. Ultimately it is your choice as I have both purchased "lifetime" licenses that have not been "lifetime" that I have been satisfied with and others where I have felt cheated.
     
  24. Kyle1420

    Kyle1420 Registered Member

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    I have lifetime licenses of;
    MBAM,Sandboxie,Winpatrol. Very happy with them :)
     
  25. jmonge

    jmonge Registered Member

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