IT Support McAfee Anti-Virus Page

Windows 95/98 Dell PC's and Laptops are loaded with McAfee Anti-Virus software for protection against all types of viruses. Periodically, the IT Support Team updates user McAfee software. Nonetheless, the IT Support Team is stepping up virus updates in an effort to avoid potentially serious virus attacks. McAfee updates virus ".dat" files frequently. Please keep in mind that the following update information refers to both the scanning engine as well as the actual virus 'fixes'.

Some ccompany employees update their McAfee software via the McAfee "VirusScan Central" program, which should have a shortcut on your desktop. If not, it can be found through the "Start/Programs/McAfeeVirusScan" menu. This McAfee program has an "Update" mechanism. This feature requires a somewhat lengthy registration process via the Internet and as a result some employees ignore it. If you do update in this way, please continue to do so as frequently as possible.

Alternatively, IT Support has another means to update: all employees who are logged on to the network can also locate the latest "SuperDat" executable in the McAfee Folder in the Public Directory on the NT part of the network ("corporate" domain). This folder can be located via a mapped P: drive in My Computer, named "Public". The full path: X:\public\McAfee.

More information on network drives is available Here, specifically in the Section titled, "Mapping Network Drives". Another way to locate this update is via: Network Neighborhood/EntireNetwork/CorpX/Public. From there, the Public folder can be located. Open "Public" and then open the "IT" folder. Next open "IT Apps", then "Win98". Locate the McAfee folder.

This McAfee folder contains a centrally located, already downloaded, recent update for your Windows 95/98 system. Open the 'sdat40xx' (the number will vary), ignore any files with a ".log" extension, and follow the brief on-screen instructions. Please read the remainder of this page before proceeding.

It is recommended that all programs be closed beforehand. This process takes under 5 minutes. After the file is unzipped (this is done automatically assuming WinZip is installed on your PC) you MAY be asked to reboot. After finishing, run a virus Scan from within "McAfee VirusScan Central". If a virus is detected, please contact us immediately. Also, please note the "Virus definitions" in the lower right corner of the engine. The more recent the "Created on" date is, the better. If you notice no change, please alert us.

If you have any problems with these updates, do not hesitate to contact us via email.

Here is a synopsis of what McAfee says on their web site regarding "SuperDat" updates:

"1. What is the SuperDAT utility?

The SuperDAT utility lets you upgrade your entire scanning engine and your DAT files. Previous update utilities only allowed you to update DAT files.

2. What is the difference between Update and Upgrade?

Update refers to downloading and installing the virus signature (DAT) files. Upgrade refers to obtaining the latest version of the scan engine.

3. What are DAT files?

The DAT files contain the newest virus remedies. However, McAfee.com does not guarantee backwards compatibility of the DAT files with older versions of the scan engine."

 

More information from McAfee's web site.