MacWorld 1997 November/Macworld (1997-11).dmg/System Utilities/Disinfectant/Disinfectant.rsrc/STR#_202.txt

Text File | 1997-07-09 | 8.6 KB | 407 lines







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åQuick Start





This section describes how to use Disinfectant for the first time to check

your system for viruses, remove any viruses which you may have on

your system, and protect your system against future infections. We also

discuss a few very important rules and restrictions which you should

follow when using Disinfectant.



The first step below is different depending on whether you use System 7

or later or System 6. This first step is very important. Do not skip it!



• Step 1 (for System 7 or later users). Make a backup copy of

Disinfectant on a floppy disk. Lock the floppy disk and label it

“Disinfectant Backup.” To lock the floppy, slide the plastic tab on the

back of the floppy up so that you can see through the hole.



The backup copy of Disinfectant is very important. During normal

operations, you will run Disinfectant from your hard drive. However, if

Disinfectant becomes damaged in any way, or if it becomes infected by a

virus, it will refuse to run! In this case, you will need the backup copy.



It is impossible for a virus to infect a file on a locked floppy disk,

provided the disk is always kept locked. Never unlock your backup

Disinfectant floppy.



Also identify and locate your Apple emergency startup disk. This might be

a bootable floppy disk named “Disk Tools” or some other name, or it

might be a bootable CD-ROM disk. This disk is part of the standard Apple

System release. Some kind of bootable emergency startup disk is included

with every Macintosh sold. Keep this disk locked (if it is a floppy) and in a

safe place. You may need to start up from this disk to remove viruses

from some kinds of files.



Keep both your Disinfectant backup floppy and your emergency startup

disk in a safe place.



• Step 1 (for System 6 users). Make a “Virus Tools” floppy containing a

copy of the System file and a copy of Disinfectant.



Use an original locked System 6 Apple “System Tools” disk for your copy

of the System file. Do not use the System file from your hard drive or

some other System file because it may be too big to fit on the floppy along

with Disinfectant.



After copying the two files to the floppy, click the Disinfectant icon in the

floppy’s window to select it, then use the “Set Startup” command in the

System 6 “Special” menu to set Disinfectant as the startup program.



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Eject the Virus Tools floppy. Lock it and label it “Virus Tools.” To lock

the floppy, slide the plastic tab on the back of the floppy up so that you

can see through the hole.



Test your Virus Tools disk. Restart your Macintosh from the Virus Tools

disk (shut down your Mac, insert your Virus Tools disk in the floppy

drive, and then start up your Mac again). Disinfectant should run

automatically. When the main Disinfectant window appears, click the Quit

button to quit the program. An alert should appear telling you that the

Finder is “busy or damaged.” This is normal. The alert appears because

there is no Finder on the Virus Tools disk. Click the Restart button in this

alert to restart your Mac.



The Virus Tools disk is very important. During normal operations, you

will run Disinfectant from your hard drive (if you have one). However, if

Disinfectant becomes damaged in any way, or if it becomes infected by a

virus, it will refuse to run! In this case, you will need your Virus Tools

disk. You may also need to start up from your Virus Tools disk to remove

viruses from some kinds of files.



It is impossible for a virus to infect a file on a locked floppy disk,

provided the disk is always kept locked. Never unlock your Virus Tools

floppy.



Keep your Virus Tools floppy in a safe place.



If you wish, you may try to put a copy of the Finder on your Virus Tools

disk. This is not necessary, however, if you follow the instructions

above. In some cases there is not even enough room on the floppy to add

the Finder. (For example, there is not enough room on an 800K floppy for

the System 6.0.7 System and Finder files and Disinfectant.)



• Step 2. Run Disinfectant from your hard drive, if you have one. If you

do not have a hard drive, start up your Mac using your Virus Tools disk.

Disinfectant will run automatically.



• Step 3. Disinfect all of your hard disks. (Skip this step if you do not

have a hard disk.) Select the “All Local Unlocked Disks” command from

the “Disinfect” menu. Disinfectant will scan all of your hard disks and

will remove any viruses which it discovers.



• Step 4. Disinfect all of your floppy disks. Select the “Floppies”

command from the “Disinfect” menu. Disinfectant will prompt you to

insert floppies one at a time to be scanned and repaired. Unlock each disk

before inserting it. (Disinfectant cannot repair a disk if it is locked.) You

can lock the disk again after Disinfectant has ejected it.





• Step 5. Install the protection INIT on your hard drive. (Skip this step if

you do not have a hard drive.) Select the “Install Protection INIT”

command from the “Protect” menu. Disinfectant will place a copy of the

protection INIT inside the currently active System folder on your hard

drive. (On System 7 or later, the INIT is placed inside the Extensions

folder.) An alert will appear asking if you want to restart your Macintosh

to activate the INIT. Click the Restart button. You should see the

protection INIT icon appear at the bottom of your screen during startup.



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• Step 6. Install the protection INIT on each of your startup floppy disks.

Run any copy of Disinfectant. Select the “Save Protection INIT” command

from the “Protect” menu. A standard file dialog will appear. Use the

standard file dialog to save a copy of the protection INIT. Quit

Disinfectant. Drag copies of the protection INIT into the System folder on

each of your startup floppy disks.



There are only a few rules and restrictions when running Disinfectant, but

they are important.



Disinfectant requires System 6.0 or later.



Disinfect all your disks at one time. Do not do some of them, then run

some other programs, and finally disinfect the rest of your disks. If you

run other programs before making certain that you have completely

eradicated the virus, you run the risk of reinfecting your system.



You can and should run Disinfectant from your hard drive using your

normal system. It is not necessary to run it from your backup locked

floppy disk or Virus Tools disk for everyday use. If you encounter

problems running it using your normal system, however, we suggest that

you try restarting your Mac using either your emergency startup disk

(for System 7 or later) or your Virus Tools disk (for System 6). Try

running Disinfectant again. This avoids INIT conflicts and other possible

causes of problems.



When repairing (disinfecting) files, Disinfectant may be unable to repair a

file or files because they are “busy.” In this case, an error message is

issued advising you what to do. In many cases, the solution recommended

by the error message is to restart using either your emergency startup

disk (for System 7 or later) or your Virus Tools disk (for System 6), as

described above.



Disinfectant runs much faster if you set your monitor to black and white

and use a RAM cache. (A 32K RAM cache seems to work well.) Some virus

protection INITs can make Disinfectant run slower than normal. (The

Disinfectant INIT, however, has no noticeable effect on the performance

of Disinfectant.)



For even greater safety, if you have locked original copies of applications

and system files, you can delete the files that Disinfectant says are

infected and reinstall uninfected copies from the original floppies. If you

do this, use Disinfectant to rescan the replaced files to make certain your

originals were not infected.



Disinfectant creates a file named “Disinfectant Prefs” in your

Preferences folder (System 7 or later) or in your System folder (System

6). This file is used to save preferences, window positions, and page

setup information between Disinfectant sessions.



You should now be ready to use Disinfectant for the first time. The

remainder of this manual gives more information about Macintosh viruses

and Disinfectant. You may read it now if you wish, or return to read it

later.