PCIBMAV.RVW 950606 Comparison Review Company and product: IBM Corporation Old Orchard Road Armonk, NY 10504 IBM High Integrity Computing Lab Thomas J. Watson Research Center P. O. Box 704 Yorktown Heights, New York USA 10598 David Chess CHESS@WATSON.IBM.COM, CHESS@YKTVMV.BITNET http://www.brs.ibm.com/ibmav.html Note - customers should contact IBM rep, not HICL directly 800-551-3579 (US only) 800-465-7999 fax: 800-267-5185 IBM Antivirus/DOS 2.1 (also IBM Antivirus/2) Summary: scanner and change detector Cost U$29.95/C$37.95 Rating (1-4, 1 = poor, 4 = very good) "Friendliness" Installation 3 Ease of use 3 Help systems 3 Compatibility 3 Company Stability 4 Support 2 Documentation 2 Hardware required 4 Performance 3 Availability 2 Local Support 2 General Description: An integrated change detection and scanning system with a GUI (graphical user interface) for manual operation. Provision for operation under either DOS or Windows (OS/2 version available separately.) Recommended as a basic protection system for most users. Now bundled with PC-DOS, and a definite reason to prefer PC-DOS to the MS-DOS versions. This is the retail version: a "site license" version is also available with additional features and information. Comparison of features and specifications User Friendliness Installation IBM Antivirus/DOS is shipped on three 720K or six 360K writable but protected diskettes. Two install programs are provided (for DOS and for Windows), with no provision for manual installation. The Windows installation program is a bit odd in places, giving an impression of completing a few times before it actually does. If a previous version of the program is detected, it will be updated. The user is in charge of the operation at every point, but not always given much information. There is, for example, the option to install for either DOS only or DOS and Windows operation. It is not clear from the documentation whether the Windows installation also installs the DOS files (it does). The earlier VIRSCAN did not suggest installation on the hard drive at all. In opposition, Antivirus/DOS must be installed on a hard disk, and only one operation is stated to work in the absence of a hard disk. This does allow for "offline" signature scanning. There is also a set of files for a "stand alone" scanner. Ease of use The user interface is generally clearly laid out. Using the DOS program with a monochrome monitor, though, the menu item selected is almost impossible to distinguish. While the documentation talks of "fuzzy" and "heuristic" systems, details of operation and options are not given. This does prevent "false alarms" being presented to the user, but may allow viral changes as well. This is good in that is does not require much in the way of knowledge from the user, but there is no option to provide the information for those more capable. Help systems Help is available via the F1 key. The Windows version has a version of the manual online, and a fairly abbreviated set of virus descriptions. Compatibility The structure of the signature file is no longer outlined in the manual. Company Stability These guys are Warped. Really Warped. Company Support Those on the Internet and Usenet who receive VIRUS-L/comp.virus will have access to David Chess' postings and email address. IBM also sells a support package which includes a variety of antiviral assistance. Whether from faulty diskettes or damage in shipping, my own copy had defective gates on two of the three 720K disks. This was not evident until I tried to remove the diskettes from the drive, when they jammed. This could cause a trip to the shop to get the diskette removed, or, at worst, damage to the disk drive. Documentation The level of the documentation is uneven. At some points, such as installation, it seems to be written with the novice as the primary audience, and the experienced user may find it frustrating. At other points, in regard to some of the options which can increase the level of protection the reader had better be used to fighting with technical manuals and lists of switch settings. The program is definitely easy enough to use without the manual, but customization is not explained as well as in other products. The material provided is generally accurate, and very well written. New contents provide better general background to the virus situation, but still show some minor errors, such as the date of the first known virus. System Requirements DOS 3.3+, Windows 3.1+ (for the Windows portion), memory required is variously stated as 640K, 450K, 400K and 480K, disk space of 1.6 or 2.6 megabytes (for DOS and Windows respectively). Performance Speed and general detection and protection capabilities are still neither the best nor the worst tested, but should be acceptable in most situations. The basic "system" check that is performed deals with change detection first. Only if a change is detected is scanning brought to bear. (This is obviously not the case with diskette scanning, and the system can be made to scan everything by default if desired by the user.) The package will now scan PKZip and LZEXE format compressed files. Local Support Local support from IBM staff is, in my experience, becoming more dependable. Support Requirements The program should be suitable for any user. General Notes This product is a basic antiviral tool, but one that will offer substantial protection to the normal user. Users in a "high risk" environment may want slightly more protection than the package has to offer. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995 PCIBMAV.RVW 950606 ============== Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca | "If you do buy a Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca | computer, don't Research into Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/ | turn it on." User .fidonet.org | Richards' 2nd Law Security Canada V7K 2G6 | of Data Security