RCL's dashboard

I currently cannot get a new VIPRE virus definition to download successfully and install without failing. It's been 2 days of trying. Unfortunately, once the install fails, I have no definitions and no active protection. Seems like a bad design to leave the PC unprotected because an data update could not be installed. I'm running Win XP SP 3 and have had this problem a couple of times in the past couple of months.