Central Point Anti-Virus

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Central Point Anti-Virus ( CPAV ) was an antivirus program . CPAV was developed by Central Point Software Inc. The software was sold both individually and as part of the PC Tools . Versions for DOS , Windows 3.x , Novell NetWare , Mac OS and OS / 2 were available .

CPAV 1

In version 1.0, CPAV was based on licensed technology from Turbo Anti-Virus from Carmel Software . The first Windows version was still integrated into CP Backup as a purely manual scanner - a virus check had to be selected instead of a backup. One of the innovations was BootSafe - a program for monitoring the boot sector , which was loaded via CONFIG.SYS when the system was started and could also check for boot sector viruses.

Microsoft Anti-Virus

A functionally significantly simplified variant of CPAV 1.4 was the Microsoft Anti-Virus DOS and Windows (MSAV and MWAV) supplied with MS-DOS 6.x. The Realtime VDefend was at MSAV VSafe called (not identical to VSafe of CPAV). The online scanner used the old vulnerable checksums , which added to the program's bad reputation. In addition, new signatures were only made available after a longer period of time and only from Central Point.

CPAV 2

The significantly revised version 2.0 of CPAV, which worked with heuristics for the first time, appeared practically at the same time as MS-DOS 6.0 and the integrated OEM variant MSAV. In addition, the checksum files have been restructured and renamed in order to neutralize a virus attack specifically targeting these files. The old VDefend was replaced by VWatch . The Express interface was supplemented by a file manager-like GUI , the main memory requirement of which was drastically lower.

The Windows version contains a revised GUI, better integration in the PC Tools (scan from PC Tools - file manager) and the option of scanning individual files instead of entire drives under Windows - even across multiple drives. The last version was 2.2, which had some small improvements and a slightly higher scan speed.

After the takeover

Symantec offered the subscribers of CPAV for the paid period still signature updates and after completion a switch to Norton AntiVirus at the update price.

Some of CPAV's technologies were incorporated into Norton AntiVirus after the acquisition of Central Point. However, there are no visually recognizable similarities.

literature

  • CENTRAL POINT PC TOOLS Version 8 FOR DOS (Volume 2, Section Central Point Anti-Virus), Central Point Software 1992, manual
  • PC Tools PRO for DOS (virus protection section), Central Point Software 1993, manual
  • PC Tools for Windows (Virus Protection Section), Central Point Software 1993, Manual
  • Quick overview PC Tools 7.1, Markt & Technik 1992, ISBN 3-87791-233-8
  • Quick Overview PC Tools PRO, Markt & Technik 1994, ISBN 3-87791-600-7
  • MS-DOS 6.0 manual