Media Share 9/MEDIASHARE_09.ISO/ra/thdpro_6.zip/NEWINV6.TXT

Text File | 1993-05-06 | 6KB | 94 lines

     THD ProScan Version 6 is being released for the same reason
that Version 5 was released. "PKZIP" (ring any bells?). Anyway, with the
release of PKZ204G the last (hopefully, sort of, yeah right) for a while, I
have had to redo the code for self extracting ZIP files (yet again) so that
it will recognize all of the SFX zip files.
     Therefore THD ProScan now recognizes all PKZIP files from 1.10 to
2.04g.
     Since I was preparing another release anyway, I thought maybe I ought
to add a few new toys.
     Support for the SQZ archive format has been added. It has a few
differences from the other archive types. First the "stripping" of archive
comments does not work (as this archive type will only take a file as
input). But this is not a concern as it also does direct screen writes and
therefore ansi bombs are not possible in it's comments. The adding of your
own comment is operational as it is with the other archivers (although it
may require a little more memory).
     Another quirk about SQZ is that it's use of memory is extravagant. When
adding files to an archive, SQZ can require quite a lot of memory.(On my
system, 525k). So, unless you have memory to spare SQZ may choke when
attempting to add loaders to the archives. IF this operation fails due to
lack of memory, THD ProScan will NOT fail the file, it will simply not add
the loaders.
     SQZ can also erase the original archive under certain circumstances
when attempting to add files or comments. To the best of my ability, I have
disabled these functions when such a danger exists. If you encounter an
instance where this happens please inform me so that I may take corrective
action. The Author of SQZ.EXE has been informed of the problem.
     An RA user commented in regards to where and why THD moved and/or
renamed files. He tells me that some BBS programs handle failures in a more
intelligent manner than Telegard and asked if this option could be disabled.
Therefore beginning with Version 6, a parameter of "/NOMOVE" when running
THDINSTL.EXE will insert code into THDPRO.EXE telling it NOT to move or
rename files. This code is reset every time the installation is run and must
be repeated each time the software is re-installed or it will default back
to moving the files. I recommend against using this option unless your BBS
program saves failed files (remember files can fail for more than one
reason).
     A potential problem was brought to my attention. Someone queried as
to what might happen if THDPRO.EXE were run on two nodes of a BBS at the
same time. Basically, prior to version 6, both would write files to the same
directory and make log entries at the same time. The premature deletion of
the files to be tested would undoubtedly cause one of the tests to fail.
Therefore THD ProScan will no longer use a directory called THDTEMP.$$$.
Instead it will use THDTEMP.$$#, where "#" is the comport number running
the test. This will keep the files separated for testing purposes. The
logs will be written to temporary files which will be appended to THDPRO.LOG
at the completion of their running.
     That same user noted a problem whereby he uses a node 3 on his bbs for
local logons and was unable to have the BBS pass a "0" for node 3 to suppress
the remote output. An option has been added to the installation which allows
THDPRO.EXE to treat a specific comport as "0". Therefore, if you have node 3
as a local only node, during the install you can enter a "Local Comport" of
"3" (when asked) and all requests to THDPRO.EXE for processing to comport 3
would then be diverted to comport "0". (Note that the "3" in this discussion
is only an example and that any number from 0 to 8 is valid).

     The most noteable addition to this version, is the inclusion of
"heuristic" testing. Heuristic testing is the testing of files for
"suspicious" code. While some of these types of code are present in many
programs, it aids greatly in the identification of unknown viruses.
     This version will support one of two testers for this purpose. Either
TBSCAN.EXE or F-PROT.EXE. Since suspicious code is present in many
legitimate files, THD ProScan will not fail any file due to this form of
testing but will keep a log and inform you if suspicious code is indeed
found.
     A log called "HEURIST.LOG" will contain the log output from these
testers and should be deleted occassionally to avoid having them become
unreasonably large. Entries will only be made when suspicious code is found.
This log will be in the same directory as your THDPRO.LOG. The main virus
scanning will still be done by McAfee's SCAN.EXE and these two testers will
be used ONLY for heuristic testing.
     Of the two testers, I personally would recommend TBSCAN.EXE for 2
reasons. First, it is MUCH faster than F-PROT.EXE and it gives considerably
more information (although this also results in more "suspicious" files).
Also F-PROT.EXE seems to require a lot of memory ( I get a memory shortage
running from a dos prompt with a few TSR's loaded). So unless you have a LOT
of spare memory in your shell from your BBS program, F-PROT.EXE may not even
run for you.
     Memory reductions during those tasks which require a lot of memory has
been achieved through the use of TurboPower Software's EXECPATH. This
function is active during the running of all "SQZ, SCAN, and F-PROT"
activity, which results in a memory savings of approximately 48k during
these tests/functions.

     The introduction of encryption into the THDPRO.EXE file makes the file
much smaller and means that the executable file cannot be compressed. Any
successful attempt at reducing the file will result in the program not
working. Also some virus scanners may attempt to add a CRC to the end of the
file, If yours does this, be sure to stop it from affecting THDPRO.EXE as
such a change to the file will render it inoperable.
     Therefore it is no longer recommended that the executable be shrunk by
any such compressor.
     That's all Folks...