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Microsoft Anti-Virus (MSAV) is an antivirus program introduced by Microsoft for its MS-DOS operating system. The program first appeared in MS-DOS version 6.0 (1993)
and last appeared in MS-DOS 6.22. The first version of the antivirus program was basic, had no inbuilt update facility (updates had to be obtained from a BBS and manually installed by the user) and could scan for 1,234 different viruses. Microsoft Anti-Virus for Windows (MWAV), included as part of the package, was a front end that allowed MSAV to run properly on Windows 3.1x.
In 2009, Microsoft launched an in-house antivirus solution named Microsoft Security Essentials, which later was phased out in favor of
VSafe is a terminate and stay resident component of MSAV that provided real-time virus protection.
By default, VSafe does the following:
* Checks executable files for viruses (on execution).
* Checks all disks (hard drive and floppy) for boot sector viruses.
* Warns of attempts to write to the boot sector or partition table of the hard disk
* Warns of formatting that could erase the hard disk.
There are more features that can be enabled, VSafe can:
* Warn of attempts of executable files to terminate and stay resident (by normal methods).
* Prevent programs from writing to disk.
* Warn of attempts to write to the boot sector of a floppy disk.
* Warn of attempts to modify executable files.
VSafe had a number of virus definitions embedded within its executable and was capable of loading additional signatures (updates) from an external definition file.
Microsoft Defender
Microsoft Defender Antivirus (formerly Windows Defender) is an anti-malware component of Microsoft Windows. It was first released as a downloadable free anti-spyware program for Windows XP and was shipped with Windows Vista and Windows 7. It ha ...
.
History
Microsoft Anti-Virus was supplied by Central Point Software Inc. (later acquired bySymantec Symantec may refer to:
*An American consumer software company now known as Gen Digital Inc.
*A brand of enterprise security software purchased by Broadcom Inc.
Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier ...
in 1994 and integrated into Symantec's Norton AntiVirus product) and was a stripped-down version of the Central Point Anti-Virus (CPAV) product which Central Point Software Inc., had licensed from Carmel Software Engineering
Carmel may refer to:
* Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea
* Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea
* Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order
Carmel may also ...
in Haifa, Israel. Carmel Software sold the product as Turbo Anti-Virus
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
both domestically and abroad.
Microsoft Anti-Virus for Windows was also provided by Central Point Software.
Features
MSAV featured the "Detect and Clean" strategy and the detection of boot sector and Trojan horse-type viruses (which were typical virus problems at that time). The program also had an anti-stealth andcheck sum
A checksum is a small-sized block of data derived from another block of digital data for the purpose of detecting errors that may have been introduced during its transmission or storage. By themselves, checksums are often used to verify dat ...
feature that could be used to detect any changes in normal files. This technology was intended to make up for the unavailability of regular update packages. The final update of MSAV was released in June 1996 by Symantec. The update added the ability to detect polymorphic viruses and the virus definitions were updated to scan for a total of 2,371 viruses.
VSafe TSR
VSafe is a terminate and stay resident component of MSAV that provided real-time virus protection.
By default, VSafe does the following:
* Checks executable files for viruses (on execution).
* Checks all disks (hard drive and floppy) for boot sector viruses.
* Warns of attempts to write to the boot sector or partition table of the hard disk
* Warns of formatting that could erase the hard disk.
There are more features that can be enabled, VSafe can:
* Warn of attempts of executable files to terminate and stay resident (by normal methods).
* Prevent programs from writing to disk.
* Warn of attempts to write to the boot sector of a floppy disk.
* Warn of attempts to modify executable files.
VSafe had a number of virus definitions embedded within its executable and was capable of loading additional signatures (updates) from an external definition file.
See also
* Internet Security * Comparison of antivirus software * Comparison of firewallsReferences
{{Microsoft Security Products Anti-Virus Antivirus software 1993 software DOS software de:Central Point Anti-Virus#Microsoft Anti-Virus