Virus Central v2.50 * The following files are on the Virus Central distribution disk: CENTRAL.EXE - Virus Central executable program CENTRAL.CFG - configuration file CENTRAL.DOC - Virus Central user's manual UPDATE.EXE - Virus List Update Utility UPDATE.DOC - documentation for UPDATE.EXE REGISTER.DOC - registration information form (share-ware version only) README.1ST - late breaking news! (this file) * Some portions of the Virus Central user's manual use the IBM extended characters. Be aware of this if the printout of the manual looks funny. * The virus list contains the viruses that apply to CleanUp 77. If a newer version of the CleanUp program is released, you may add on the newer viruses to this list. Whenever new versions of Virus Central will be released, the virus list will be amended to reflect the most current version of CleanUp. * You may use the VALIDATE.COM program (included with your copy of ViruScan and/or CleanUp) to test the integrity of Virus Central. Take note that the share-ware and registered user's versions of the program yield different results, because of the share-ware notice on the latter. Here are the validation results of the share-ware and registered user's versions of Virus Central: CGA version Share-ware Registered ================================================ File Name..........: CENTRAL.EXE CENTRAL.EXE Size...............: 89,644 87,743 Date...............: 4-26-1991 4-26-1991 File Authentication Check Method 1: BE5F E22A Check Method 2: 1343 01D8 ================================================ EGA version Share-ware Registered ================================================ File Name..........: CENTRAL.EXE CENTRAL.EXE Size...............: 105,970 104,069 Date...............: 4-26-1991 4-26-1991 File Authentication Check Method 1: 27DE DC98 Check Method 2: 0CCA 0DA1 ================================================ LITE version Share-ware Registered ================================================ File Name..........: CENTRAL.EXE CENTRAL.EXE Size...............: 76,345 74,506 Date...............: 4-26-1991 4-26-1991 File Authentication Check Method 1: 3B71 57B8 Check Method 2: 17FD 0DF5 ================================================ ** Release Notes / Bug Fixes ** As can be expected with ANY program, particularly the first releases, there will ALWAYS be bugs. Virus Central is no exception. MANY bugs have been reported since Virus Central 1.00, and I have found a few, myself. As the program is further developed and bugs are ironed out, the version numbers will increase. I have decided to do away with my earlier practice of attaching letters to the version numbers of new releases since it causes confusion. I will, instead, adjust the version number to reflect the magnitude of modification. Virus Central Release Notes: (Release notes are from the most recent - backwards. Outdated notes have been shortened or removed) v2.50 (04/26/91) << MODIFIED CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT >> Whew! Those of you who are veteran users of Virus Central may not notice it, but I have never before had as much trouble modifying the program as I had with this release. Over 60% of the source code has been modified, although Virus Central will appear to have changed very little. The most noticable difference is the change in the configuration file. Veterans will remember that Central's configuration file was a simple text file, modifiable using a number of available text editors. Although this made updating the configuration file easy, it also imposed the requirement that the virus list be resident in memory, using much precious RAM. It also made "unwanted" tampering of the configuration file that much easier and limited the virus list to 300 viruses. Well, the number of known viruses IS approaching 300 (it may very well have exceeded this number by the time you read this), so this problem had to be addressed. The solution was simple: leave the virus list on the hard disk and read/write to it when necessary. Since random access to text files is a slow and sloppy proposition, the configuration file has evolved into a random access file, and disk accesses are fast and fancy. Indeed, when you run the program you'll miss the "Reading Configuration File..." message if you blink. The end result is that Virus Central can now accomodate up to 16,000 viruses (I, sincerely, hope it never reaches that number). Although you probably will not be able to edit the configuration file using a text editor (you shouldn't even try), this should not present a problem since you can always change the configuration from the menu options in Virus Central. About the UPDATE utility: Yes, I became aware of the problems it had with the VIRLIST.TXT file of Scan and Clean 76, and No, this was not a bug. You see, when the UPDATE utility extracts the virus information from the text file, it assumes that this data will be presented in the text in a specific format, and assumes that this format is standard thoughout the text. The usual format for virus names in the VIRLIST.TXT file is the virus name, followed by a number in parenthese indicating the number of strains for this particular virus (if any), followed by the virus ID in brackets (eg. "Holocaust (3) [Holo]"). If you look at the VIRLIST.TXT for ViruScan and CleanUp 76, you'll see that the entry for the 1575/1591 virus did not follow this format; the number of strains followed the virus ID ("1575/1591 [15xx] (2)"). The resulting effect was an infinite loop as the UPDATE utility could not "understand" the pattern, and the computer just locks up. Of course, the problem was easily solved by editting that particular entry in the VIRLIST.TXT file. But don't worry about this. The UPDATE utility for this release has been modified to handle this type of format variation. I cannot guarantee that it will be able to catch all format changes, but it should be able to work with most of them. Okay, now for the real news. With this release of Virus Central CGA/EGA, Virus Central I comes out of retirement under the new name "Virus Central LITE." For those of you who did not know, Virus Central was once a text-based interface, until graphic user interfaces became vogue and Central evolved into one. Do not let the catch word "lite" mislead you: Virus Central Lite is the functional equal of its graphics based brothers. By using the text-screen, the program uses less memory, updates the screen faster, and works with any video configuration, including monochrome. Central Lite fills less memory and has great text! ---------------------------------------------------------------- v2.00 (02/10/91) << MODIFIED CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT >> -Initiated the use of overlays in program code to maximize the use of available memory. -Added a provision to allow the program to work if users arbitrarily changed the file names of ViruScan, CleanUp, and Virus Central itself. -Added the "Information" option in the main menu, which displays specific details about a selected virus. -Added a feature to "lock" main menu options that may be used to tamper with the program's configuration. -Overhauled program's text output routines, as many users called in with compatibility problems. -Modified the UPDATE utility to accomodate the newer configuration file format. ---------------------------------------------------------------- v1.40 (12/01/90) << MODIFIED CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT >> -Added support for ViruScan and CleanUp 71's newer command line parameters. -Improved, as in speeded-up, Virus Central EGA's screen output. v1.30 (11/25/90) -The debut of Virus Central EGA and the Virus List Update Utility! -The command line switches, /EGARAM, /EMSRAM, and /SWAPFILE, were added. -The minimum number of required viruses in the configuration file was increased from 20 to 30. ---------------------------------------------------------------- v1.24 (11/05/90) -Corrected bug that messed up string input on the "File path to scan" field of the Virus Scan menu. -Changed program title in the upper left corner of the black box from "Virus Central ][" to "Virus Central CGA" (an omen of the Virus Central to come). ---------------------------------------------------------------- v1.23 (10/07/90) << MODIFIED CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT >> -Fixed bug (well, sort of a bug) that caused DOS clock to slowdown. -Modified program and configuration file format to support new features of ViruScan 67, and updated virus list. -Added option that would disable the screen saver from automatically kicking in. -Corrected misspellings of "VirusScan." -Added openning screen, displaying Virus Central trade mark. ---------------------------------------------------------------- v1.03 (08/17/90) -Fixed bug in string input routine -Virus list updated for ViruScan/CleanUp 66. ---------------------------------------------------------------- v1.00B (08/08/90) -Incorporated "/IGNORE" switch to get around Virus Central's problems detecting DOS 4.01 and VGA graphics. ---------------------------------------------------------------- v1.00A (08/02/90) -Unsuccessfully tried to correct detection of DOS 4.01.