Copyright: Copyright © 1992-96 VDS Advanced Research Group
Citation: Copyright © 1992-96 VDS Advanced Research Group


Table of Contents

What is VDS

System Requirements

How to Install VDS On a Workstation

How to Uninstall VDS

Technical Support

Why Register

How to Register VDS

VDS Italian Edition


What is VDS

VDS is a set of programs designed to contain the spread of computer viruses that target PCs running MS/PC DOS 3.0 or above.  VDS works by providing early detection and quick recovery. The operation of VDS is not virus-specific. VDS installs itself on your system using a special process which checks first for known viruses, and then creates a fingerprint of all system areas and executable files. From then on, VDS will thoroughly check the system at scheduled intervals and will notify you of any suspicious modifications detected regardless of whether the virus is a known variant or a new virus altogether.  You will have the option to restore system areas and programs to their original clean state if such recovery is possible.

Some of the features VDS offers are:

•	It is NOT virus-specific.

•	It does NOT need frequent upgrades.

•	It does NOT require much user expertise.

•	An optional TSR module is provided for on-access scanning.

•	It maintains an audit log to pinpoint how a virus entered the system.

•	It can use an external virus signature database for easy updates.

•	It works even when a stealth virus is active in memory.

•	It is compatible with DOS 3.0 and above.

•	It supports MS Windows 3.x and MS Windows 95.

•	It includes a 32-bit Windows 95 shell for easy configuration and use.

•	It can capture some memory-resident viruses to speed up diagnosis.

•	It can recover a damaged  partition table easily.

•	It can fix an infected boot sector on the fly.

•	It is blazingly fast.

•	It includes an automated boot sector recovery tool.

•	It works on Novell Netware, Banyan, and Lantastic network drives.

•	It can usually heal itself even when infected.

•	It automatically updates the baseline after additions/deletions.

•	It can identify most common viruses by name.

•	It can be set to run based on a user-defined schedule.

•	It can remove most known and unknown viruses generically.

•	It can create an emergency diskette for extra safety.

•	It sports a very intuitive object-oriented user interface.

•	It includes a robust integrity checker for ultimate defense against  viruses.


System Requirements

VDS has the following minimum requirements and limitations to operate correctly:

•	An IBM PC or compatible computer

•	MS/PC-DOS version 3.0 or higher

•	420K of available memory

•	A hard drive (necessary only for integrity checks)

•	Up to 4000 program files per integrity database (16000 if 192K of extended  memory is available)

•	Up to 32 integrity databases per catalog

In addition, VDSTSR takes up about 45K of memory when loaded. It can be loaded into upper memory area under DOS 5.0 or later. With the /Diskswap option, VDSTSR uses only 26K of memory. VDSCATCH.BIN device driver takes up about 300 bytes, and it can also be loaded high.

Some systems utilize disk compression software to increase the storage capacity of drives by compressing and decompressing data on the fly. On such systems, you must have the necessary device drivers loaded before VDS. MS-DOS 6.x now includes this optional feature by providing the DoubleSpace in terface. The operation of DoubleSpace is well-integrated into DOS, and works in a transparent manner. VDS is tested and found to work as expected on drives compressed using DoubleSpace.


How to Install VDS On a Workstation

You will need the VDS installation diskette, and  a blank diskette that matches the size of your A: drive. Although you can install VDS from drive B: or from a temporary directory, the blank diskette has to match drive A:. since this diskette may be needed to boot the computer in case of an emer gency that renders the hard disk inaccessible. The floppy restoration process requires you to use this VDS emergency diskette.

1. Put the VDS program diskette in drive A:

2. Click on the Start button located at the bottom left corner of your screen.

3. Choose Run from the menu that comes up.

4. In the Open: edit box, type A:\SETUP.EXE

5. Click on OK to start the installation.

6. VDS installation program will offer a choice of Express or Custom setup. We recommend you use the Express setup. This creates the C:\VDSPRO31 directory and keeps almost everything VDS needs in that directory. It also sets up shortcuts on the desktop, and arranges VDS to do its daily checks when you start Windows 95. Complete checks are performed once a day by default.

WARNING:

If you are installing in Windows 95 and VDS diskette is in drive A:, then you should answer NO to the emergency disk preparation question. You need to prepare the emergency diskette after the installation is completed. This is necessary since Windows 95 uses memory-mapped files to run programs, and  it won't let you format another diskette if you run a program off of a diskette in the same drive.

7. You will next see the list of files on the hard drive scroll by as VDS scans for infections and creates the baseline profile of all executable files on the disk. There should be lots of disk activity. If VDS finds that there are infected files, you will be asked if VDS should remove them.  Af ter the installation is completed, click on the Start button at the bottom left corner of your screen again. Choose Run from the menu that comes up, and in the Open edit box, type:

C:\VDSPRO30\INSTALL.EXE  -E  C:\VDSPRO30

8. Click OK to run INSTALL with the emergency diskette preparation option.

9. Answer YES when INSTALL offers to prepare an emergency diskette. Put the blank diskette in drive A:, and let VDS format it for you.

10. After the emergency diskette is prepared, you should remove it from drive A:, write protect it by opening the tab on the bottom left corner of the diskette, and label it VDS Emergency Diskette. If you have more than one computer, you should also write on the diskette the name of the computer  or something you can remember that machine by. You MUST NOT use an emergency diskette prepared for one computer on another computer. It stores information specific to each computer that will not be useful in recovery of a different computer; and it could even cause data loss if used incorrectly  in some cases.

11. Store the emergency diskette somewhere you can find it. You are done installing VDS, restart your Windows 95.


How to Uninstall VDS

VDS supports automatic uninstallation under Windows 95. You can use the Add/Remove Programs applet from the control panel under Windows 95 settings. You will see the list of programs that can be removed this way. Scroll down the list and highlight Virus Detection System. Click on OK to activate the uninstall procedure.

Under DOS, the uninstall is equally simple. You can remove VDS from your hard drive by running the INSTALL program with the -Uninstall command line option:

C:\> C:\VDSPRO31\INSTALL   -U   C:\VDSPRO31     <enter>

If you have performed a custom setup and specified a different directory name, then you should substitute that name in the line above. INSTALL checks to see if there were other files in the directory before VDS was installed. If there were not any, it removes all the files in VDSPRO31 directory,  and then the directory itself. If there were other files, it displays a warning message and aborts without removing any files. It is up to you to delete or keep any of those files. You need to perform a manual uninstall. Since VDS keeps almost all of its files in its own directory, removal is  a simple procedure. You should also edit your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to remove the lines loading VDS components. Your original CONFIG.SYS is renamed to CONFIG.VDS, and the original AUTOEXEC.BAT is renamed to AUTOEXEC.VDS during installation. You could use them as well; however, if you have  installed any other programs after VDS, then they might have modified your AUTOEXEC.BAT.  Be careful before you copy over the CONFIG.VDS and AUTOEXEC.VDS if that is the case.

There may be some log files in the root directory. If you run VDS with the debug option, it generates trace logs in the root directory. These log files help us diagnose compatibility problems and other incidents. You need to remove these files manually. They all have .LOG extension.

The quarantine directory may contain suspicious or infected files. By default, VDS keeps these items in the C:\VDS-CELL directory. You need to remove this directory manually.

Under Windows 3.x, you need to edit WIN.INI file and remove the VDSMSG.EXE from the RUN= line. Otherwise, you will get a warning message every time you start Windows about VDSTSR not being loaded.


Technical Support

If you need technical assistance or have any questions, you can call 24 hours a day our electronic bulletin board VDS-BBS at (717) 846-3873 and leave a message. Please set your communications parameters to 8,N,1. Modem speeds up to 28.8K V.34 are supported. If you are a registered user, you can also download the latest virus scan strings from the VDS-BBS. There is also an area on the BBS to upload suspected files for analysis.

On the Internet, you can contact us by sending e-mail to:

tyetiser@prolog.net

You can also send suspicious files and problem reports to this address. Please obtain our public PGP key before sending samples. If you do not use PGP, then encrypt the files using -S option in PkZip(tm) first, and then send us the password separately. If you have access to the WWW, you can find out the latest news about VDS at

http://home.prolog.net/~tyetiser.

In Italy, you can contact FINSON SRL at (02) 66987036 for help.


Why Register

There are several reasons why you should register VDS. The shareware copy is for evaluation purposes only. You are expected to either get the registered copy or stop using it after a 30-day evaluation period. Upon registration, you will receive the complete VDS package that includes an enhanced integrity checker, a low-level disk repair utility, and a memory-resident scanner. Registration also entitles you to upgrades for one year through our BBS upon request.

We also update the registered copy more often to address any problems reported to us. The shareware copy is not updated until a few days before the current release expires.

If you live in Italy or the U.K., you must purchase a localized copy of VDS from FINSON  SRL. The shareware copy may not be distributed in those countries.


How to Register VDS

VDS Advanced Research Group

740 W Princess St, 2A

York, PA 17404, U.S.A.

BBS: (717) 846-3873

http://home.prolog.net/~tyetiser

VDS 3.1d Order Form

                                                      Date: ___/___/_____

Name:_____________________________________________________________

Address:___________________________________________________________

        ________________City: ____________________ State: _____ Zip:_________

Phone:  (      )        -                	   (      )       -

E-mail address: _____________________________________________________

Contact Person:_____________________________________________________

License Type:    ( ) Personal    ( ) Academic    ( ) Business

Number of Copies:______________

Total Amount: $37.00 x Number of Copies = ________  + $3.00  = _______

                                  (shipping outside U.S.A.)  + $15.00

Where did you get VDS? ________________________________________

Name one thing you like about it: ________________________________

* Fill in the blanks, include a money order (outside the U.S.) or check for   the total amount and mail it to our address at the top. Allow 2 weeks  for delivery.

==================================================================

For us to serve you better, please answer the following questions

1. If any, which virus(es) infected your PCs so far? ________________________

2. Which antivirus software did you use to find/remove them? ______________

3. Do you use a disk compression program? ( ) No    ( ) Yes

   ( ) DoubleSpace(tm)  ( ) Stacker(tm)  ( ) Other __________________________

4. Do you use 4DOS or NDOS instead of COMMAND.COM?  ( ) No   ( ) Yes

5. Do you use either QEMM or 386MAX memory managers? ( ) No   ( ) Yes _______

6. What is the most common DOS version installed on your PCs? _______________

7. Do you have a local area network?  ( ) No   ( ) Yes

   ( ) Novell Netware(tm)  ( ) Banyan VINES(tm)  ( ) Other ________________

8. What is your Internet e-mail address (if you wish to be notified of

   new releases)?  e-mail: _____________________________ ==================================================================

 You can direct all technical questions/suggestions to  tyetiser@prolog.net


VDS Italian Edition

Il distributore esclusivo per l' Italia di  VDS PRO e':

FINSON SRL

Via Montepulciano 15

20124 Milano (ITALY)

Tel:  (02) 66.98.70.36

Fax: (02) 66.98.70.27

L' utilizzo e la distribuzione della versione shareware in Italia sono esplicitamente vietati; i trasgressori saranno perseguiti a norma di legge. Il prezzo di vendita di VDS PRO in Italia e' di Lit. 99.000 Iva compresa, e comprende:

* manuale di 80 pagine in italiano

* software in italiano

* un aggiornamento gratuito

* la possibilita' di ricevere quattro aggiornamenti a sole L. 59.000 ivate

* servizio di assistenza telefonico gratuito

VDS PRO e' distribuito in oltre 2.200 punti vendita suddivisi tra computer shop, librerie, catene e grandi magazzini.

Per ordini diretti a mezzo telefono: (02) 66987036 (orario d' ufficio) tramite fax: (02) 66987027