Antivirus software

Home Office Computing, July, 1998 by Philip Albinus

First, you log onto www.kumile.com/myths and see if you've been had. Rob Rosenberger's Computer Virus Myths page, like many antivirus software vendors' sites, debunks dozens of virus-and e-mail-related hoaxes, chain letters, and false alarms that spread like chicken pox among the clueless each year. After reading Rosenberger's no-nonsense tutorials and tales of panic attacks, you'll go from trembling in fear to laughing out loud.

Unfortunately, other virus threats are all too real. While there's no substitute for an always-on-guard protector like those tested here, Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator users can get a free on-demand, online checkup from Trend Micro's HouseCall (housecall.antivirus.com). Using an ActiveX or Java cousin of PC-cillin, HouseCall scans your system, offers to fix or delete sick files, and can give you (at least temporarily) a clean bill of health.

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After working these five virus fighters for several weeks, we couldn't find a lazy performer in the bunch. In fact, each program would make a strong and trustworthy shield from hazardous viruses. So how did we select the best of the bunch, you ask? We looked at price, technical support, bundled rescue disks, and such features as scheduling, reporting, and right-mouse button support.

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These days, using a computer without antivirus; software is like walking a tightrope without a net. Even then, don't be lulled into a false sense of security if you have one. In tact. we almost gal socked with a sneaky AOL Trojan Horse in the office a few months ago, even though we had Norton AntiVirus 4.0 on call. While it slipped past NAV, CyberMedia's Guard Dog Deluxe (www.cybermedia.com; free 30-day trial download) stopped it cold. You see, you can teach an old edi[or new tricks. Without it, we would've been, well, in the dog. house. Now, whenever Guard Dog barks, we listen.

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There are thousands of different viruses, but why are they so bad and what can they do to your computer? Here's a quick list of the baddies that could infect your system and ruin your workday.

BOOT SECTOR VIRUSES--These bugaboos sabotage the boot sector of a floppy disk in order to spread viruses to a user's hard disk and infect the master boot record (MBR). Once the MBR or boot sector is infected, the virus then latches onto every floppy disk that's inserted into the computer.

Despite their heavy damage, boot-sector viruses are easy to cure. Simply start the PC from an uninfected floppy system disk rather than from the hard drive, and follow the directions in your antivirus package.

FILE-INFECTING VIRUSES--This group of viruses operates in the system memory and usually infects files with the following extensions: *.COM, *.EXE, *.DRV, *.DLL, *.BIN, *.OVL, *.SYS. They activate every time the infected file is launched by copying themselves into other executable files, and these parasites can remain in memory long after the virus has activated.