F-PROT for DOS

Courtesy of the alt.comp.virus newsgroup participants.
(These "anti-malware" pages are the result of a continuing cooperative effort.)

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Introduction
DOS scanners are not obsolete. They are still quite useful and even absolutely necessary in some cases.

The F-PROT for DOS anti-virus program is highly recommended for its well known quality, ease of use and small size. Instructions for download, installation and basic usage are included here to assist novice users and victims of malware.

The F-PROT for DOS anti-virus program is "shareware" and free of charge for private use (that is, free for any individual or family using it on a personally owned computer).

System requirements:

• IBM PC compatible computer
• Version 3.x requires DOS 3.3 or better
• 80386 processor
• 4 MB of memory

If you are unsure whether your computer matches these specifications, don't worry: it very probably does.

F-PROT will run under all versions of Windows from 3.x to the recent XP-based systems, but it is not recommended on partitions that use the NTFS file system. It will also work under OS/2, UNIX, Linux or Macintosh workstation with a DOS or Windows emulator, as well as on most network systems.

Obtaining F-Prot
The current version is 3.16f. Options:

• ... download F-Prot manually, either from Claymania.com or from Frisk Software, the manufacturer of F-Prot. More information about F-Prot is available on Frisk Software's home page.
  
  
• ... check out Fp-Check - an F-Prot for DOS free update utility.
  
  
• ... check out AV Defs Updater - another F-Prot for DOS free update utility.

Updating
Once you have downloaded F-Prot, it must be updated.

Private users may obtain free updates from BBSes, via email or via FTP (for further details read this).

The latest virus definition files are available here:
http://updates.f-prot.com/cgi-bin/get_randomly?fp-def

Normal installation to the hard disk:
Using a .ZIP archive extractor, unzip the files into an empty folder of your choice. As as an example we will use C:\FSI.

Suggested uses for F-Prot
F-Prot for DOS can be used as follows:

1. To get rid of a Windows-based malicious program.
2. In an emergency situation that requires the use of a boot disk.

(Note: of course it can also be used for routine scans of new files just like any other virus scanner, but this won't be discussed here.)

Offsite article: Living with F-Prot for DOS Antivirus (Author: Uzi Paz)

Getting rid of a Windows-based malicious program.
If you are using Windows ME, NT, 2000, XP, or later, you can

• take a look at http://www.avdisk.org.
• read the Virus Removal - NTFS Partitions page for Windows 2000 and XP.
• try the Generic Trojan / Adware Removal Procedure.
• General cleaning method from common viruses (Netz Computing) also provides useful information.