PCVRSNET.RVW   950804
 
                               Comparison Review
 
Company and product:
 
Company: Safetynet, Inc.
Address: 140 Mountain Ave, Springfield, NJ 07081
Phone:   +1-201-467-1024, 1-800-OS2-SAFE
Fax:     +1-201-467-1611
Email:   support@safe.net, safety@gti.net
Other:   BBS: +1-201-467-1581, http://www.safe.net/safety/,
         ftp://ftp.safe.net/pub/safetynet/
Product: VirusNet PC (contains F-Prot, cf Frisk)
 
 
Summary: Manual and resident scanning, plus change detection.
 
 
Cost U$75
 
Rating (1-4, 1 = poor, 4 = very good)
      "Friendliness"
            Installation      3
            Ease of use       3
            Help systems      2
      Compatibility           3
      Company
            Stability         3
            Support           3
      Documentation           3
      Hardware required       3
      Performance             4
      Availability            2
      Local Support           3
 
General Description:
 
A repackaging of the F-PROT scanner with a Windows interface.  Change detection
and event scheduling has been added, as well as boot sector recovery.  LAN
version available.
 
 
                  Comparison of features and specifications
 
 
User Friendliness
 
Installation
 
The program is shipped on 2 unwriteable 1.44M disks.  Setup programs are
provided for both DOS and Windows.  The Windows installation establishes both
versions.
 
The Windows programs uses, and installs, VBRUN300.DLL.  This is the dynamic
link library used by "runtime" compiled programs produced with Visual Basic.  A
number of Windows programs may try to install and use this file, and conflicts
may result as successive versions of the file are replaced.  VirusNet PC uses
version checking and will not replace a newer version of this file.
 
Ease of use
 
The interface is reasonably clear.  Not all options are available from the menu
system, some must be invoked from the command line.
 
Help systems
 
Online help is available.
 
Compatibility
 
The LAN version is said to work with all DOS based networks.
 
Company Stability
 
SafetyNet has been around for some time, and Frisk Software is a leader in
antiviral technology.
 
Company Support
 
Nothing is mentioned in the manual, but the registration card has a tear-off
portion listing a separate support line, plus fax, BBS and email. 
Correspondence with the company states that toll-free help is now available in
North America.
 
Documentation
 
The documentation is quite clear, and has a simple but sound virus overview.
 
System Requirements
 
DOS 3.0 and higher, Windows 3.0 and higher, 400K memory.
 
Performance
 
As per the various versions of F-Prot.
 
Local Support
 
Toll free (800 number) support in North America and Internet email.
 
Support Requirements
 
The package is recommended for unsupported environments.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   PCVRSNET.RVW   950804
======================
ROBERTS@decus.ca      rslade@vanisl.decus.ca      Rob_Slade@mindlink.bc.ca
    The client interface is the boundary of trustworthiness - T. Buckland
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0