Mac-Source 1994 July/Mac-Source_July_1994.iso/C and C++/System/Sample 2.4 Think C distribution/Sample.π.rsrc/Sample.π.rsrc.rsrc/STR#_205.txt

Text File | 1990-08-29 | 5.6 KB | 261 lines







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åProtection





The Disinfectant application by itself will not protect your system against

infection. It will only locate and repair previously infected files and disks.

To protect your system against infection, you must install a protection

startup document (protection INIT).



Disinfectant includes such a protection INIT. When properly installed, it

will protect your system against all of the known Macintosh viruses.



WARNING: The Disinfectant protection INIT will not protect your system

against unknown viruses! If a new virus appears, we will have to release

a new version of Disinfectant to recognize it.



Use the “Install Protection INIT” command in the “Protect” menu to

install the Disinfectant INIT in your currently active System folder. You

must restart your Macintosh to activate the INIT.



Use the “Save Protection INIT” command in the “Protect” menu to save

a copy of the Disinfectant INIT to any file of your choosing.



The Disinfectant INIT is simple, small, efficient, and unobtrusive. It does

not need to be configured. In fact, it has no control panel interface at all,

so it cannot be configured. The INIT will never ask you to make a decision.

It should have no noticeable effect on the performance of your Mac. It is

very small, and can easily be used on floppy startup disks (e.g., in

University labs with floppy-only Macs). The INIT does not interfere with

the normal operation of Disinfectant or other anti-viral applications, or

with programming environments, installer applications, or other system

software.



An alternative to the Disinfectant INIT is Chris Johnson’s excellent

GateKeeper protection INIT. GateKeeper is a “general purpose suspicious

activity monitor.” Unlike the Disinfectant INIT, GateKeeper checks not

only for the known viruses, but also for suspicious activity characteristic

of viruses in general. Thus it can often provide protection against even

unknown viruses. GateKeeper requires some configuration and it will

sometimes ask you to make complicated decisions. It is much more

powerful than the Disinfectant INIT, but it is also larger, more

complicated, more obtrusive, and harder to use than the Disinfectant INIT.



It is important that you understand this difference between the

Disinfectant INIT and GateKeeper. There is an unavoidable tradeoff

between simplicity and power. Each individual must decide which kind of

protection is best for his or her particular situation.





If you run an application which is infected by one of the known Mac

viruses, the Disinfectant INIT beeps ten times, quits the application, and

presents an alert. For example, if the application “MacWrite” is infected

by the nVIR virus, the following alert appears when you try to run the

application:







The Disinfectant INIT only detects and blocks viruses; it does not remove

them. To remove a virus, you must use the Disinfectant application.



If you use a disk which is infected by the WDEF virus, the Disinfectant

INIT beeps ten times, presents an alert, and temporarily neutralizes the

virus. You can safely use the disk; the virus will not spread. To remove

the virus from the disk, you can either rebuild the Desktop file or use the

Disinfectant application. Rebuilding the Desktop file is usually easier. See

the section on the WDEF virus for more information.



If you use a HyperCard stack which is infected by the MacMag virus, the

Disinfectant INIT beeps ten times, presents an alert, and temporarily

neutralizes the virus. You can safely use the stack; the virus will not

spread. You should use the Disinfectant application to remove the virus

from the stack.



The Disinfectant INIT also checks your System file at startup time to see

if it is infected by any of the known viruses. If it discovers one of the

known viruses at startup time, it beeps ten times and presents an alert.



The Disinfectant INIT uses the Notification Manager to present its alerts.

The Notification Manager is not available on systems older than System

6.0. With these old systems, the INIT only beeps ten times and it does not

present an alert.



The name of the Disinfectant protection INIT begins with the special

symbol “◊”:



      ◊ Disinfectant INIT



The special “◊” symbol is present to force the Disinfectant INIT to be the

last INIT loaded when you start up your Macintosh. This is important: the

Disinfectant INIT must be loaded last! If you rename the INIT, make certain

that you rename it so that it comes last in alphabetical order in your

System folder.





The Disinfectant INIT icon should appear at the bottom of your screen

every time you restart your Macintosh. If an error occurs and the INIT

cannot load properly, the INIT will beep ten times and it will draw a

special error version of the icon (the normal icon with a large “X”

superimposed.)




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The Disinfectant INIT requires the hierarchical file system (HFS). If you

try to use the INIT on a very old system which does not support HFS, it

will not load properly and it will display the error icon.





If you wish to remove the Disinfectant INIT for some reason, open your

System folder and drag the INIT icon to the trash (or anywhere else

outside of the System folder). Then restart your Macintosh.



It is very important that you use either the Disinfectant INIT or

GateKeeper to protect your system.



You can use both GateKeeper and the Disinfectant INIT if you wish. Just

make certain that the Disinfectant INIT loads last at startup time.