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By Hervey Allen (hervey@oregon.uoregon.edu)
Over the past few months, Microcomputer Services has seen a large increase in the number of computers damaged by computer viruses. In particular, the Chernobyl virus, which struck on April 26th and will activate again on June 26th, damaged the hard drives of over 30 University of Oregon students, faculty and staff--and these are just the people who contacted us directly.
In each case, victims either lost all data on their hard drives or had to spend several hundred dollars recovering data if they didn't have a good backup. On some machines, virus damage required replacing the on-board BIOS chip.
In addition to Chernobyl, we've also received numerous reports of Happy99 and Melissa virus outbreaks. While not as destructive as Chernobyl, these viruses did cause headaches for those involved. Many people received the Happy99 virus from trusted acquaintances who didn't know they were transmitting the virus via their email.
Unless you use your machine in complete isolation (i.e., you don't use disks from anyone else, receive email, or download files), installing an antiviral program is absolutely essential to protect your data.
These cases reflect the prevalence of viruses in the computing community at this time. Fortunately, there's a remedy: because the UO has a site license for Norton AntiVirus ("NAV") software that runs through June 2000, NAV software is available free of charge on the Fall 1998 Duckware CD-ROM or via Computing Center public domain file servers. This software includes NAV for Macintosh, Windows 95/98/NT, Windows 3.1/DOS, and Netware File Servers.
Generally, we do not unequivocally recommend installing a package as intrusive as antiviral software, but in this case the benefits outweigh the possible risks. Finally, remember that if you have a backup of--at the very least--your critical data files, then even if a virus does cause damage you will likely be able to get back up and running in a reasonable amount of time.
Here are some answers to common questions about installing and using the Norton AntiVirus programs:
Q. - If I install Norton AntiVirus during the upcoming year, what happens after June 2000?
A. - At this time, the Computing Center is investigating whether a site license will be possible after June 2000. If pricing increases dramatically, as is possible, we may not renew our license. However, even if this happens, you'll still have the right to run the last version of NAV we made available.
Q - I've heard that installing antiviral software can sometimes cause problems. Is this true?
A - This is true. In order to function properly, antiviral software must install itself in the "guts" of your machine. This means it makes modifications to your operating system files (your underlying file system), and runs in the background at all times. Once it's installed, you can specify how intrusive the antiviral software should be, but generally we've found that the defaults chosen by the NAV installer are the best.
When installing NAV or any other antiviral software, be sure to have any previously-installed virus software turned off. As the NAV ReadMe files describe, installing NAV 5.0 on top of a previous version of NAV in Windows 95/98 can cause problems if the software is active during installation.
Before you install antiviral software, we recommend that you back up your data files. Microcomputer Services has installed NAV 5.0 on dozens of PCs and Macs internally without encountering serious problems, but we have seen instances where an additional restart of Windows machines was necessary.
We feel that, on balance, not running antiviral software is much riskier than installing the software.
Q - What if I already have a virus on my machine? Can I install NAV and then remove it?
A - The answer to this is, "It depends." Some viruses only affect files. If that's the case, you can often install antiviral software to eradicate the virus (this is particularly true of the many thousands of Microsoft Macro viruses). The NAV installer will scan your machine's memory while it installs. If it detects a virus, it may ask you to remove it before continuing.
On the other hand, if you're infected with a boot sector virus, you'll need to remove it before installing antiviral software. Boot sector viruses infect the initial few sectors of your hard drive and load into your machine's memory each time you start your machine. Removing these viruses often requires first running a special utility that targets the particular virus.
If you're installing NAV from floppy disks, remember to lock your floppies before inserting them in your machine. To do this, slide the tab located on the back of each floppy's upper left corner until you can see through the square notch that's normally covered by the tab.
Q - Since so many new viruses are being created, how can I protect myself from all of them?
A - After installing NAV, you can run a program called LiveUpdate, which is built into the NAV product. LiveUpdate connects to the Symantec file server and downloads the latest antiviral definition files to your machine, updates your installed software, and scans (or offers to scan) your drives. You must either have a full-time Internet connection, as do most on-campus machines, or dial in and connect to the Internet before running this program.
You can schedule LiveUpdate to run automatically at selected intervals, or remember to run it once a month. Below are instructions for running LiveUpdate on both Windows and Mac machines, as well as a tip for downloading antiviral software from the web:
Windows 95. Activate LiveUpdate by going to the Start menu, choosing "Programs," selecting "Norton AntiVirus," and then opening either the Norton AntiVirus or LiveUpdate programs. If you run Norton AntiVirus, just click the LiveUpdate button to start the LiveUpdate program.
Macintosh. Go to the Apple Menu, choose Control Panels, and open Norton AntiVirus. Click the LiveUpdate button to start updating your NAV software. Note that on a Mac the LiveUpdate process is quite slow, even on fast Internet (i.e., on-campus) connections.
Dowloading from the Web. You can always download the latest PC and Mac antiviral definition files manually and run an update program from Symantec at http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/download.html
Q - What about older systems like DOS, Windows 3.1, and Macs running a System version prior to 7.5?
A - Currently, Symantec does not have a new version of NAV for Windows 3.1/DOS. The last version released was 4.0 in July 1997. Symantec continues to make antiviral definition files available for this product, but it may discontinue this service in the future. DOS users should note that no supported version of NAV is available. Instead, the Windows 3.1 version has a rescue disk set that you can create and run in DOS if you need to remove a virus.
If you're using an older Mac with a System version earlier than 7.5, you should use Symantec Antivirus for Macintosh (SAM) version 4.5.3. This product has been discontinued, but for the time being Symantec continues to make antiviral definition files available for this product. NAV 5.0 on the Mac requires 8MB of free memory, 10MB of hard drive space and System 7.5 or above.
Q - OK, so I'm ready to install NAV on my machine.Where do I get it? Back to Top
A - Below is a list of each available NAV product with instructions for obtaining it:
1. NAV for Windows 3.1/95/98/NT
This software is available from the Fall 1998 Duckware CD-ROM. To run the installer, insert the CD, start the Duckware interface (this happens automatically on most machines), and click on the following links:
- Install "Other Software" (it's the big purple button to the left)
- Antiviral Software
Then choose the appropriate version to install.
On-campus users: If you're on campus, you can obtain NAV from our public domain file server, Public. To do this, go to the "Network Neighborhood" under Windows 95/98/NT, double-click the "Entire Network" icon, then double-click the "Public" icon. Log in as "Guest" (no password is necessary) if you're prompted for a username and password; then open the following folders:
- Software
- Antivirus
- -Norton AntiVirus
Select the appropriate version to install. Be sure to read the ReadMe.txt and Install.txt files before installing. If you don't, you may not get the installer to work correctly. Note that full documentation for each product is available in the Docs folder in PDF (Acrobat Reader) format.
Windows 3.1: On-campus Windows 3.1 users with access to Novell Netware can get NAV 4.0 for Windows from the Public server by following these steps:
- Go to the DOS prompt (i.e., exit Windows, but don't shut down)
- Type "login public/guest" - Go to the "S" drive, where Public is mapped, by typing S: and hitting ENTER.
- Type cd win31/antvirus
Be sure to read the file Readme.txt to get detailed instructions for installation.
Note: In most cases, using the installer on the Duckware CD-ROM will be easier than copying it from public domain servers.
2. NAV for Macintosh This software is available from the Fall 1998 Duckware CD-ROM. To run the installer, insert the CD, start the Duckware interface (this happens automatically on most machines), and click on the following links:
- Install "Other Software" (the big purple button to the left)
- AntiViral Software
Then choose to install Norton AntiVirus 5.0 (for System 7.5 and above) or Symantec Antivirus for Macintosh 4.5.3 (for older Macs).
On campus: On-campus users can obtain NAV and SAM from our public domain file server called CC Public Domain. To do this,
- Go to the Apple menu; select Chooser
- Select the AppleShare icon
- Select the UOnet AppleTalk zone
- Double-click on CC Public Domain
- Log in as Guest
- Choose to mount the CC Public Domain volume
Open the Virus Software folder to find the NAV and SAM software installers and full documentation. Back to Top
Q - Where can I go for more information about Norton AntiVirus, viruses in general, and the latest virus outbreaks?
A - There are numerous web sites that provide general virus information. The Symantec AntiVirus Research Center site provides good information on Norton AntiVirus at http://www.symantec.com/avcenter Another good resource is the Data Fellows Virus Information Centre (located in England) at http://www.datafellows.com/vir-info/
If you have further questions about obtaining or using Norton AntiVirus at
the UO, you can contact Microcomputer Services from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through
Friday. Call a consultant at 346-4412, stop by Computing Center Room
202, or send an email message to microhelp@oregon.uoregon.edu
You might also want to check out our web site at http://micro.uoregon.edu
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