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Command AntiVirus ™with F-PROT Professional for Windows NT Frequently Asked Questions

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Downloadable File Formats

Below is an example of the available download types:
FNT-##C#.EXE (self-extracting file)
FNT-current.exe (self-extracting file, same as FNT##C#.EXE)
FNTX##C#.EXE (self-installing version)
FNTXcurrent.exe (self-installing version, same as FNTX##C#.EXE)

In the above examples, ## represents the release number and # represents the revision of that release. The release number doesn't actually reflect the version number. For example, version 4.0 of Command AntiVirus for Windows NT download filename is FNT-00C0.EXE.

Self-extracting files should be used if you wish to make a disk set, or modify the installation options. For default installations which will be done from the same computer the file has been downloaded to, use the self-installing version.

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How to Extract the Downloaded File

Using Explorer, double-click on the downloaded file. This will execute the file and extract it to the directory where it is located. An MS-DOS window will open and you will be requested to confirm extraction of the file (answer yes). Seven files are created including:
ONEDISK.BAT batch file used to create a single directory from which to run SETUP.EXE
4DISK.BAT batch file used to create 4 installation disks (1.44Mb)
FPDISK-1.EXE disk 1 image file, self-extracting PKzip format
FPDISK-2.EXE disk 2 image file, self-extracting PKzip format
FPDISK-3.EXE disk 3 image file, self-extracting PKzip format
FPDISK-4.EXE disk 4 image file, self-extracting PKzip format
INSTALL.DOC small ASCII file with instructions on creating disks

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How to Create an Install Directory

ONEDISK.BAT will extract each of the disk image files to a single directory from which you can run the installation program SETUP.EXE. ONEDISK.BAT requires a parameter value which will be the destination drive and directory where the files will be extracted:

ONEDISK.BAT S:\INSTALL\CSAVNT,

The example above will extract the file set to S:\INSTALL\CSAVNT. If the directory does not exist, it will be created.

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How to Create Installation Disks for Command AntiVirus with
F-PROT Professional for Windows NT

4DISK.BAT will create an installable set of floppy disks. 4DISK.BAT requires a parameter value which will be the destination drive where the files will be extracted. You will need 4 formatted, empty 1.44Mb floppy disks. To make a set of installable floppies using Drive A, simply run:

4DISK.BAT A:

You will be prompted to insert Disk #1 in Drive A. When the files necessary for the first disk have been copied, you will be prompted to enter Disk 2, etc. until the disk set is completed. The SETUP.EXE file necessary for installation will be found on Disk 1 of this newly created disk set.

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How to install Command AntiVirus with F-PROT Professional for Windows NT

Installation of If you downloaded the self-installing version, simply double-clicking the file will launch setup. If you did not download the self-installing version, you will need to run SETUP.EXE. The SETUP.EXE file is located in the install directory or on Disk 1 of the floppy disk set. Using Explorer, browse to the drive or directory containing the installable files and double-click on SETUP.EXE.

Note: If you are a system administrator and wish to modify installation options or scan rights, please refer to Configuring the installation by editing the setup.ini and How to prevent scanning of network drives.

During the setup process, you will be prompted for the type of setup you wish performed - Default or Custom. A Default installation will place all the files on the local drive. The Custom installation option allows the user to

  • choose a different installation drive and/or directory
  • specify the quarantine directory
  • choose to install the Readme and Help files

Installation of Command AntiVirus for Windows NT requires to be logged on as a member of local administrators group.

  1. Insert disk 1 and click on the "Start" button (NT 4.0) or pull down the "File" menu of Program Manager(NT 3.51).
  2. Select "Run", and type A:\SETUP (assuming that you are using your A: floppy drive).
  3. Choose either "Default" or "Custom" configuration. The "Default" installation allows workstation users to set up Command AntiVirus for Windows NT on their local computers. "Custom" lets you select the components that you want installed.
  4. If your computer is connected to a network, the next dialog box that appears is the "Service Account for Network Scans". There is a check box at the bottom that says "I'd like to be able to schedule scans of network drives". By default, the box is selected. If you clear this checkbox, scanning of network drives will be limited to manual scans. If you clear the check box, and click "Next", the installation begins. If you do not clear the check box, a "Command Software AV Scheduling Service" dialog box opens.
  5. In the "AV Scheduling Service" dialog box, the current user information is displayed by default. If you are using your current account, enter your current password. If you wish to change the information please use an account that meets the following criteria:
    1. The Username must reflect an existing account.
    2. The account must have rights to access network drives.
    3. Scanning requires that the user has Read access. To disinfect, quarantine or delete the user must have Write access.

    NOTE: If possible use a password that does not expire. If you change the password for this account, you must change it in Command AntiVirus for Windows NT. (Preferences|Advanced|Service Account) If your password expires, scheduled scans will not function on network drives.

    Manual scans of local and network drives are allowed and DVP is active by default.

  6. You are asked if you wish to make a rescue disk. If so, insert a clean diskette into the floppy drive. Command AntiVirus for Windows NT will format the diskette and add the necessary files. (NOTE: Select NO when asked to format another diskette.)
  7. When SETUP is complete, the Setup Complete dialog box displays. Select finish and you are done!

    *The rescue disk that can be created during installation contains a copy of the computer's MBR (master boot record) and a copy of its boot sector. The rescue disk does not contain boot files. Should you need to use the rescue disk, you will need to boot the computer with a separate boot disk. Then you can use our Fixdisk program to restore your hard drive .

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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Configuration Options Prior to Installing Command AntiVirus with F-PROT Professional for Windows NT

Modifications can be easily and efficiently made prior to installation. This is of particular value to administrators wishing to deploy the product already configured to multiple workstations. Locate the SETUP.INI file which will be either in the installation directory, or on DISK 1 of the disk set depending on the method used. The SETUP.INI file can be read and edited using any standard text editor such as Notepad, Wordpad, Dos Edit, etc. Practically every item in the GUI can be pre-configured. Descriptions and available switches for the settings precede each section. If you plan to administer this product using SETUP NETADMIN , please make your adjustments to the SETUP.INI before running this procedure.

Using Explorer, double-click on SETUP.INI and browse the file to view the current settings; if desired modify the default operations and save the changes. When SETUP.EXE is launched, it will install the program based on the settings contained in the SETUP.INI file.

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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Restricting Users Access

SETUP NETADMIN can be used to modify installations and effectively:

  • disable scanning of the network drives
  • prevent users from modifying the on-access scan settings
  • disable the on-access scanning.

This is done via running SETUP.EXE with the parameter NETADMIN.

color="#0000FF" Running SETUP NETADMIN will establish two locations on a network drive. The first location is a UNC path specification of where you would prefer to place files in a shared location which will allow "LAN" installations, and the second location is a UNC path location where SETUP.EXE can be run from to install.

To use this capability, follow these steps:

  1. Insert setup disk #1 and select "Start" (NT 4.0) or pull down the "File" menu of Program Manager (NT 3.51).
  2. Select "Run" and type A:\SETUP NETADMIN (assuming that you are using your A: floppy drive).
  3. After the Welcome screen, the Network Setup Configuration dialog box will open. Enter the location on the network where the shared components of Command AntiVirus are to be copied, as these files must be in a central location. Please use a UNC path that does not include spaces. This is necessary because InstallShield's SETUP.EXE is 16-bit application, and spaces included in a path will cause an error.

    For example: \\SERVER\SHARED\INSTALL\SHARE

    These files include F-PROT.EXE, the .FPT files (F-PROT Task), Help files, the Readme file, and assorted .DLL's.

  4. Enter the location for the SETUP components. This is the area on the network that users will access so that they can install Command AntiVirus. Please use a UNC path that does not include spaces. This is necessary because InstallShield's SETUP.EXE is 16-bit application, and spaces included in a path will cause an error.

    For example: \\SERVER\SHARED\INSTALL\SETUP

  5. There is a check box that controls whether you want users to be able to scan network drives. Decide which is best for you. If you clear the checkbox, go to step 8.
  6. Select "Next".
  7. The following screen lets you enter information about the account that users will use for scheduled scans of network drives. Please use an account that meets the following criteria:
    1. The Username must reflect an existing account.
    2. The account must have rights to access network drives.
    3. Scanning requires that the user has Read access. To disinfect, quarantine or delete the user must have Write access.
    4. The account should be accessible for all users.

    NOTE: If possible, use a password that does not expire. If you change the password for this account, you must also update it in Command's F-PROT Professional. (Preferences|Advanced|Service Account). If the password expires, scheduled scans will not function on network drives.

  8. Choose "Next". Setup will begin and you will be requested to insert the additional diskettes.
  9. The F-PROT Config dialog box will open. Fill in your name and company information.
  10. Select "Options" to view or modify the scanner options. Select or clear the choices and then either "Save" your settings or choose "Cancel".
  11. Setup will continue and a final dialog box opens to confirm that the installation was successful.

In the setup components location that you selected, there are four batch files.

LSILENT.BAT
(silent) local installation, files stored on local hdd

SILENT.BAT
(silent) lan installation, files stored on lan

LCLIENT.BAT
(interactive) local installation, files stored on local hdd

CLIENT.BAT
(interactive) lan installation, files stored on lan

By running CLIENT.BAT from the workstation, all the components necessary to run Command AntiVirus for Windows NT are automatically installed with a minimum of user intervention. SILENT.BAT does the same installation, however, NO user intervention is needed. The result of this installation is to have DVP (real-time protection) installed on the local workstation as well as having CSS AV Scheduler installed so that scheduled scans can occur. These components (CSS AVS and other files) are located in %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\ and similarly, CSS DVP is located in %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS. (%SYSTEMROOT% indicates where Windows NT is installed.)

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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Viewing Scan Results

Command AntiVirus for Windows NT logs the results of the three scan methods to different areas. If Command AntiVirus for Windows NT finds a virus during a scheduled scan or in real-time (using DVP), it logs the occurrence to the Windows NT Event Viewer. Viruses found by DVP are logged to Event Viewer's System log and viruses found during manual scans are logged to the Application log. Displaying scan results in real-time:

The Real-time and Scheduled Scan Statistics dialog box lets you see the results and number of files scanned during scheduled scans and real-time (DVP) scans. If you would like to view scanning statistics, position your cursor over the F-Agent icon (the yellow "C") in the Windows NT task tray and perform a right mouse click. A pop-up menu appears. Choose Get Statistics from that pop-up menu and a statistics box displays on your screen. Viewing results of manual scans:

Statistics for manual scans (scan tasks initiated directly from the Command AntiVirus) appear in the Scan Results window that appears when the scan completes.

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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Distributing Scan Tasks or Other Files During Installation

The SETUP.EXE executable uses settings in the configuration file SETUP.INI to control the installation of Command AntiVirus for Windows NT. The end section has a specification area for distributing files. The section is called [UserFiles].

For each file used in distribution, adjust the value UserFile01= with the exact filename. Copy the file(s) you require to be installed into the directory where the install files are. If the install files are on diskette, copy the file(s) to the fourth diskette. The values are incremental, for instance:

UserFile01=filename.exe
UserFile02=filename.exe
UserFile03=filename.exe

The [UserFiles] section makes an easy method for distributing files during installation such as scan task files. If your server supports long filenames, you can specify long file names for distribution using the following syntax:

UserFile01="scan hard drives.fpt"

In this example, a scan task called "scan hard drives.fpt" will overwrite the default task during installation. This is a good method of distributing configured tasks with an option such as disinfect/query versus report only.

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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Deploying Command AntiVirus with F-PROT Professional for Windows NT using SMS

The best method to deploy this product is to first establish a single directory from which the installation can be performed from. This can be handled by running the procedure
SETUP NETADMIN
In the installation directory, edit the FPROTNT.PDF file with the following syntax: [Batch Setup]

CommandLine=setup.exe silent DoNotShare -fClient.ins -SMS

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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Changes Made To Your System After Installation (default)

After a default installation of Command AntiVirus with F-PROT Professional for Windows NT, there are a few modifications that occur:

  • The installation directory is created, default is c:\program files\command software\f-protnt
  • Files are stored in this directory
  • An application folder is created, default is "Command AntiVirus" under START � PROGRAMS
  • The registry is modified to load real-time protection at Windows startup in addition to other configuration settings of the program
  • A file is stored in the root directory of the boot drive called F-PROT.SYS with attributes of hidden, system and read-only; it is a copy of the master boot record partition table and dos boot record. In the event of a MBR infection, this file can serve as a recovery file and is read by a supplied utility called FIXDISK.EXE.

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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Changes Made To Your System During Use and Configuration of Command AntiVirus with F-PROT Professional for Windows NT

During the use of Command AntiVirus with F-PROT Professional for Windows NT, there are a few modifications that occur:

  • If any of the scan tasks are modified or a new one is created, they are written and saved to the task path directory, default of C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMAND SOFTWARE\F-PROTNT
  • Additional settings are also stored in the registry, such as memory scan settings and reporting functionality
  • CSS-AVScheduler logs data into Event Viewer during scheduled scans
  • CSS-DVP logs data into Event Viewer during virus scanning

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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CSS-AVS.EXE - CSS AVScheduler Service CSS-AVS.EXE is a scheduler utility to initiate scheduled scans using F-PROT32.EXE. It can be used in command line mode also to scan the local hard drive or other mediums.

Example of usage of this utility:

CSS-AVS.EXE /hard /mbr /dir

Running this syntax from the installed location will initiate a commandline scan of the hard drive, MBR area and also subdirectories from the root directory. Additionally a short-cut with this syntax can be added to the startup group and it will run a scan of the hard drive during Windows NT startup.

A complete listing of the parameters are available in Chapter 3 of the user's manual.

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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CSS-AMGR.EXE - CSS Account Manager CSS-AMGR.EXE is a utility used to modify a user account's ability to install Command AntiVirus with F-PROT Professional for Windows NT. To install the product, the account requires specific security rights in order to register the real-time device drivers, namely "act as part of the operating system" advanced rights. CSS-AMGR can facilitate this request.

CSS-AMGR is a Windows application that can:

  • modify an existing account on all user's stations
  • modify user accounts in a specific domain
  • create a "special" account on user's machines in a specific domain

CSS-AMGR.EXE is a GUI application and is fairly intuitive.

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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Providing NetWare Awareness Using F-NET.EXE

F-NET.EXE is a utility that facilitates awarness between Command AntiVirus for Windows NT and a serving running Command AntiVirus for NetWare. F-Net's interaction allows the following events to occur if desired:

  • skip compressed files
  • skip migrated files
  • preserve last access date

In addition to these features, it will also facilitate the logging of infections to the log files of a Novell NetWare server running Command AntiVirus for Novell NetWare.

F-NET.EXE is not installed by default. To install F-NET and also adjust other related settings, modify the following lines in the SETUP.INI file:
InstallFNET=YES Installs F-NET.EXE component
SkipMigrated=YES Skip scanning migrated files
SkipCompressed=YES Skip scanning compressed files
PreserveLastAccessDate=YES Preserve access date of file if scanned
LogInfections=NO Write infection reports to Command AntiVirus for NetWare log file on Novell server
FPN_Server= Server name where Command AntiVirus for NetWare is running
InfectionMessage= Infection notification message (i.e. "contact system administrator")

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FIXDSKNT.EXE / FIXDISK.EXE FIXDSKNT.EXE is a utility that can capture the first track of your hard drive to an image file. During the installation of Command AntiVirus with F-PROT Professional for Windows NT, this utility is executed and an image file is saved to the hard drive. This image file can later be used by a secondary utility FIXDISK.EXE. Both utility files are provided with the software installation files.

FIXDSKNT.EXE can be run manually to write an image file (containing the MBR and boot sector of all physical hard drives). Here is the general syntax:

FIXDSKNT.EXE A:

This will write an image file to a floppy disk in drive A: called RESCUE.DAT.

FIXDISK.EXE can write the image file back to the hard drive in the event of an accidental MBR or boot sector infection. The standard procedure for this is the following:

  • boot to a DOS system disk
  • insert the disk containing FIXDISK.EXE and run the syntax
    FIXDISK
            FIND
  • this will search the hard drive for the image file written at time of installation of Command AntiVirus with F-PROT Professional for Windows NT

If you have a question that is not answered on this page, contact Technical Support

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