Introduction to F-PROT

F-PROT is a fairly large package, intended to provide almost complete
protection against computer viruses.  I admit that it is not the most
user-friendly package around, but you will not find many other packages
that are as powerful.

It is a bit difficult to say how many different viruses the programs can
handle but F-PROT recognizes 157 "families" of viruses and 250-300 "variants",
depending on the definition of the term "virus variant".

The package is free of charge for personal use - for an individual
just using it on a single computer (or two) belonging to him/her, although
I will not refuse a contribution of $20 or so, if you want to support
continued availability of the package.

You are of course permitted to try out the package without paying for it,
but I hope those who use it for an extended perion of time will pay for
its use - as I am pricing the package as low as possible.

F-PROT may be freely distributed outside of Iceland, provided it is not
changed in any way.  In Iceland it is distributed as a commercial product,
under a different name, with a printed manual and a higher level of support.
I am currently looking for companies that might be interested in producing a
translated version of this package in various other countries.

Starting with version 1.14, the pricing of F-PROT has been changed.  I do
not offer the "one-time" fee option any more but I lowered the prices and
switched to an annual fee instead.  This change will not affect those who
have already paid the "one-time" fee.

			Annual usage fees

An individual using it on his own computer :  No charge
Commercial users:                             US$ 1 per machine
Educational institutions:                     US$ 0.75 per machine

The company or organization using F-PROT is expected to provide annually a
rough estimate of the number of computers which the package will be used on,
but an exact number is not necessary.

There is a minimum fee of US$ 20.00, but the fee for organizations with more
than 5000 computers will be negotiated in each case, as the cost per machine
will be lower.

			Annual update fee

The update fee is only intended to cover the fixed costs of the distribution
of updates.  Options C, D and E just involve one disk sent by airmail.  If
you need multiple disks please contact me for further information.

		Option A: The organization obtains new versions by FTP or
			  other methods from an anti-virus archive.

			  No charge.

		Option B: Updates are sent by E-mail, to a single
			  address, in the form of a xxencoded .ZIP file.

			  Currently no charge, but this may change later.

	 	Option C: Updated versions sent by mail whenever information
			  about new viruses is added.

                          US$ 500.000

		Option D: Updates sent monthly by mail.

			  US$ 200.00

		Option E: Updates sent bimonthly by mail.

			 US$ 100.00

The fee will not change when version 2.0 of F-PROT is available, but may
change in accordance with inflation.

In addition, an "emergency service" is provided.  F-PROT may detect, but
be unable to stop or remove a previously unknown virus.  If a new virus
is found, and sent to the author of F-PROT, the relevant parts of the
package will be updated as soon as possible and an updated version sent back.
Normally the updated version would be available within 24 hours of the receipt
of the new virus.
	
Even though the prices given are in US dollars, you are free to send the
payment in any other currency - my bank is happy to accept Yens, kronor,
pounds, liras, marks etc.....Well, almost anything - not roubles, though.
(smile)

When registering, please indicate which version you have (this version is
number 1.14).  My address is

                        Fridrik Skulason
                        Box 7180
                        IS-127 Reykjavik
                        Iceland

If there are restrictions at your site that prevent you from using
shareware, just contact me - I'll be happy to sell you the package in a
more ordinary way.....

The F-PROT package includes the following files:

        AUTHOR.TXT              Name and address of the author.
        BOOTVIR.TXT             A description of known boot sector viruses.
        FILVIR-1.TXT            A description of known program viruses - part I
        FILVIR-2.TXT               ... part II
        INSTALL.TXT             How to install the package.
        READ-ME.TXT             This file.
        USAGE.TXT               How to use this package.
        VIRDOC.TXT              Information about viruses in general.

        SIGN.TXT                The virus "signatures".

        F-DRIVER.SYS            Monitors against known viruses.
        F-NET.EXE               "Fix" for users of Novell networks.
        F-OSCHK.EXE             A checksumming program for the system files,
                                the boot sector and the partition record.
        F-LOCK.EXE              Protection against unknown viruses and Trojans.
        F-SYSCHK.EXE            Checks for infection by known viruses.
        F-FCHK.EXE              Removes infections in files.
        F-DISINF.EXE            Looks for boot sector infections.
        F-XLOCK.EXE             Adds code to executable files, so they will
                                check (when run) if they have been infected.
        F-UNLOCK.EXE            Removes the code described above.
        F-XCHK.EXE              Only allows programs modified in this way
                                to be run.
        F-RUN.EXE               Used to run unmodified programs, when F-XCHK
                                is active.
        F-INOC.EXE              Inoculates diskettes against some boot
                                sector viruses.
        F-POPUP.EXE             Produces Pop-Up windows, when F-LOCK is
                                active.
        F-DLOCK.EXE             Protects the hard disk from writing or
                                formatting.
        F-EX.EXE                Removes the memory-resident programs in
                                this package from memory.
        F-DIR.EXE               Lists hidden or read-only files.
        F-MMAP.EXE              Produces a detailed memory map.
        F-HIDE.EXE              Hides files.
        F-UNHIDE.EXE            Unhides files.
        F-BOOT.EXE              Shows the boot sector.
        F-PBR.EXE               Shows the partition boot record.

The F-PROT package was written using MASM (Microsoft) and TURBO-C (Borland).

I wish to thank all those I have received information, virus samples,
encouragement and other assistance from.

Special thanks to Ralf Brown.  His list of the IBM PC-interrupt functions
saved me a lot of work on several occasions.

Finally - a disclaimer (well, sort of....)

The programs in this package have been thoroughly tested in Iceland and are
(at the time of writing) used on about 1000 computers locally, but versions
1.07 and later have also been distributed internationally, so most of
the "bugs" should have been detected and removed by now. I cannot, however,
guarantee that every program will work perfectly with every possible
combination of hardware and software.  Because many of the programs in the
F-PROT package expect a very high level of compatibility, some problems could
arise on machines not "100% IBM compatible".

As far as I know the programs are free of bugs, but they are not perfect,
and any suggestions for improvement are appreciated.