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{subhead} Hints And Tips{def}{p}
Article by Mark A. Tierno
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Viruses have been on the increase of late, nearly all of which are
spread via Internet. As such, a common sense precaution or two is in
order.
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Assuming you have a good virus checker running as Commodity in the
background (Virus Checker II comes to mind), it should have a
directory/file watch option, to keep an eye on any changes to a
directory. Designate a single directory where your software (FTP or
WWW) downloades new files, and then point your virus checker to this
directory. Anytime a files is downloaded there it will automatically be
checked (assuming it has an available option for checking into
archives).
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If your checker doesn't check into archives (if an unregistered
version of one that normally would), or if this just cuts into disk
access too much, then alternatively point the directory watch to where
such archives are de-archived into. RAM: is usually the best bet; Then
whenever you unarchive one of your new files the virus checker will
examine everything there. If it's in RAM: it will be faster as well.
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Another precaution: when installing new versions of older files, always
keep a backed up version of the older version around until you're sure
the newer version works as expected- especially for libraries. This will
not only allow you to reinstall the old version should the newer one
turn out to be a virus, but makes for a good precaution in case the
newer program is more bugged out then the older one (which has happened
to me more times then I care to count).