D]4 PD PERUSALS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY By R. G. Tambash ] The ]60good]10 news is, we haven't heard much about viruses lately. ] The ]60bad]10 news is, it doesn't mean they're no longer a problem. ] The ]60ugly]10 question is, are you willing to put your software in jeopardy to find out? Me neither! Unless you've got more dollars than sense, you'll take some reasonable precautions to protect your investment. More good news! Those reasonable precautions need not be expensive or difficult to implement. You're not really surprised now, are you? ] ]40A WARNING .......]10 There is no such thing as a benevolent virus. Even those that are supposed to be benign can be dangerous or even deadly to commercial programs with custom boot-blocks. sources of infection are numerous. They have been downloaded from more than one unsuspecting BBS. Commercial software has been known to become the unwitting carriers, and it's possible to contract them by running your disks on someone else' system. All newly acquired disks, whatever the source, must be considered suspect. Any disk that's been exposed to another computer, directly or via a modem, is also a potential source. When you do not assume the worst, you increase the risk. ] The ]60ONLY]10 insurance against virus contaminations is a clean system, and to maintain a clean system you must take an active interest. ] ]40A ROUTINE .......]10 The best defense against an infection is prevention. The simple plan, strictly followed, is generally a successful plan. If you can follow the following routine, you will virtually eliminated the possibility of an infection taking hold: ] ]901 ... Check all incoming disks! ] ]902 ... Add ]80"VirusX"]90 and ]80"KV"]90 to your Workbench disk. ] ]903 ... Check all incoming disks! ] ]904 ... Install ]80"Bootune"]90 on standard bootable disks. ] ]905 ... Check all incoming disks! ] ]906 ... Save a copy of all non-standard boot-blocks. ] ]907 ... Check all incoming disks! ] ]40VIRUS SLAYER ....]10 The acknowledged king of anti-virus programs, ]80"VirusX"]10 by Steve Tibbett, will identify 16 different virus types. In addition to eradicating a dozen of the "boot-block" types, it also finds and flags four "non-boot-block" types. ] Where it resides depends on how ]80"VirusX"]10 is employed. Steve Tibbett's recommendation is to run it as a background task. I prefer to "iconify" it and run it as needed out of the root directory. Either way you'll need the room for 11980 bytes plus overhead (12688 bytes, total). There are two reasons for the second technique. When run in the back- ] ground, ]80"VirusX"]10 continuously uses more than 39 kilobytes of RAM. Second, ] I really like a program called ]80"Bootune"]10! ] ]80"KV"]10 by Dan James is used to seek and destroy a "non-boot-block" virus ] that's detected by ]80"VirusX"]10. Actually, it seeks and you destroy. It ] makes you feel like Rambo, doesn't it? Placed in your "C" directory, ]80"KV" requires room for 8584 bytes plus overhead (9272 bytes, total). When it is executed through a CLI or Shell, it examines a disk full of files to find the infestation. Installation of these two weapons is quite simple. Enter the Shell or CLI and type the following: ] ]90COPY SourceDisk:SourceDir/VirusX TO YourDisk:VirusX ] ]90COPY SourceDisk:SourceDir/VirusX.info TO YourDisk:VirusX.info ] ]90COPY SourceDisk:SourceDir/KV TO YourDisk:C/KV ] ]40LOONEY TUNES ]10 Another effective approach to the prevention of ] boot-block viruses is ]80"Bootune"]10 by JHH Lowengard and Carl W. Stalling. The light-hearted execution of this highly imaginative and entertaining program sometimes overshadows its serious intent. Rest assured, the program works! When a cold-boot is executed, a famous cartoon theme song is heard. A soft-boot also causes the screen to flash red, white and blue. If you hear the song the disk's boot-block is virus-free. Simple, straight-forward and fool-proof! ] Installation of ]80"Bootune"]10 is as neat as everything else about the program. You enter the Shell or CLI and type the following: ] ]90CD SourceDisk:SourceDir ] ]90Bootune df: ] ]60NOTE:]10 You now have a custom boot-block and ]80"VirusX"]10 will remind you of that ] fact. Never panic and always click on ]60"Ignore It"]10. ] Once installed, ]80"Bootune"]10 does its job automatically and, best of all, requires absolutely none of your disk's valuable space. That's right, zero room needed! How can it exist and yet not require any room? It resides in an unoccupied portion of the boot-block. In fact, it's the same area where ] the virus attaches itself, so when ]80"Bootune"]10 exists a virus can't! ] ]40SAVE COPIES .....]10 As a further protection for your commercial software, and any program that employs a custom boot-block, it's a good idea to a back up those boot-blocks. Numerous public domain and commercial utilities provide the necessary capabilities. While not this month's topic, I can suggest an excellent sector editor. ] ]80"DiskX"]10 by Steve Tibbett can save and restore boot-blocks. ] ]40CAVEATS .........]10 These are ]60NOT COMPETITIVE]10 programs. Their real strengths are most effectively exploited when they complement each other. ] ]80"VirusX"]10 warns you when it encounters any of the 16 known viruses or any non-standard boot-block code. It eliminates any of the boot-block types, in most circumstances. It can't locate the actual files infected by any of the four known non-boot-block types. ] While ]80"KV"]10 will seek out the contaminated files for removal, it is ]60NOT ] ]60CAPABLE]10 of providing advance warnings. ] ]80"Bootune"]10 is absolute protection against all boot-block viruses, known ] or future, but is ]60LIMITED]10 to the boot disk in operation, only. It can't be ] used as a virus detector on other disks and it must ]60NEVER BE USED]10 on a disk that contains a custom boot-block, whatever the application. ] ]40WHERE IT'S AT .....]10 These programs are "freely distributable" and should be available through most public domain sources. My copies were acquired from the following: ] ]90Bootune ...(ver 1.2)... JUMPDISK Shareware Extravaganza ] ]90DiskX .....(ver 2.0)... TBAG.016 ] ]90KV ........(ver 2.1)... FISH.287 ...bundled with VirusX ] ]90VirusX ....(ver 4.0)... FISH.287 (JUMPDISK NOTE: All four programs are included on this month's PDQ disk, which is sent with this issue to all subscribers who have chosen the PDQ option, and which is available to all others. See PDQ in AD drawer) ] ]40BOTTOM LINE .......]10 There is a great deal of interesting information in the "VirusX" documentation file. If you're interested in how viruses function, read it. If you're not interested, remember forewarned is forearmed. These programs can be an effective deterrent to the spread of software viruses. Get them, use them, and you won't be sorry.