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OIT Virus Notification Program
Downloading and Installing McAfee VirusScan
for Windows ME
Step 1. Downloading the Software
Step 2. Installing the Software
Step 3. Configuring and
Updating the Software
Step 4. Signing up for Virus
Alerts
Step 1. Downloading the
Software
NOTE: This software is a licensed version that is only
available to current students, faculty and staff of the University Of
Maryland, and
is to be installed only on University-owned machines
or the personal machines of UMCP faculty, staff, and students. If your do
not have a University Of Maryland Certificate,
you will be prompted to get one. You will be asked to enter your
Directory
account ID and password. This information is only
used to check your association with the University.
There are two different installations of the McAfee VirusScan software
available for download. The only difference is how each installation
keeps your anti-virus software up-to-date, but it is important to choose
the best installation for your computer.
If the computer you are going to install the anti-virus software
on...
| Is connected to the campus network or another high-speed Internet connection
like DSL or a cable modem OR is always on / rarely turned
off |
Connects to the Internet via a phone line and modem
OR is
turned off every time you use it. |
| Then download the Network
Installation. |
Then download the Dialup/Startup
Installation. |
You will be prompted to enter your Directory ID and password in
order to download the file. The name of the file you will download
(no matter which installation you choose) is
vscan451.exe. The
file is almost 26MB in size, so it will take a long time to download over
a dialup connection.
Step 2. Installing the
Software
Note: If you already have another anti-virus program
on your computer (like a trial version of Norton AntiVirus), you should
uninstall it before
proceeding with these steps to avoid conflicts with the McAfee
software.
To install the software:
-
Double-click on the vscan451.exe file you downloaded.
-
In the window that appears, click on the Unzip button.
-
After the files are unzipped, a small box will appear saying the files
have been unzipped successfully. Click the OK button.
-
The installation will now start automatically. The first screen will
display some product information. Simply click Next.
-
NOTE: If you have a previous version of McAfee installed
on your system, then a dialog box will appear asking you if you want to
remove that version. Click Yes. The previous version
will be removed (you may see an uninstall screen in the
background). After the removal, you may be prompted to reboot. If so,
then click Yes. After
restarting, the McAfee VirusScan installation should begin (otherwise, go
back to step 1 and double-click on the vscan451.exe
file).
-
The next screen will display the license agreement. Choose I agree
to the terms of the License Agreement and then click Next.
-
If your computer is running Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP, you
will be asked to choose between selecting Maximum Security or Standard
Security. Read the options and choose the appropriate one (for most
users, Standard Security is the best choice). Click Next.
-
In the next screen, choose Typical Installation and then click Next.
-
You are now ready to start the installation. Click on the Install
button.
-
Once the installation files have been copied, you will be presented with
several options. You have the option of unchecking any of the available
settings, but it is recommended that you leave Create Emergency Disk
checked so that you can create a disk to scan for particular viruses that
cannot be removed when Windows is running. Click Next.
-
If you left Create Emergency Disk checked in the last step, you
will be taken through the process of creating an Emergency Disk.
You will need a blank floppy disk in order to create the disk, or you can
click the Cancel button to skip making the disk at this time and continue
on.
-
You will then be offered a choice about when to run the AutoUpdate service.
Since your anti-virus software will not be fully up-to-date until AutoUpdate
runs, it is recommended that you leave Run AutoUpdate Now selected
(it should be selected by default) and click on Next. Make
sure you are currently connected to the Internet before you try and run
AutoUpdate, or it will not be able to run the update and will report that
the update failed. Depending on the speed of your Internet
connection, the update could take a few minutes or could take as long as
an hour or two.
-
In the final window, click the Finish button. The installation
is now complete.
-
Reboot your computer.
Step 3. Configuring
and Updating the Software
This is the easiest step, because you don't have to do anything:
the software has been pre-configured with the optimal settings for scanning
for viruses and has been set up to automatically update itself using the
AutoUpdate feature.
The software will automatically update itself differently depending
on which installation you chose:
-
If you installed the Network Installation, your anti-virus software will
attempt to update itself every day at a random time between 9am and
5pm.
-
If you installed the Dialup/Startup Installation, your anti-virus software
will attempt to update itself 30 minutes after you start the computer.
In both cases, your computer will need to be connected to the Internet
in order for the update to take place. If the computer is not connected
to the Internet or the connection drops during the update, the update will
fail and the anti-virus software will simply try again next time.
If the software is already up-to-date and there are no new files to download,
the update will quit and try again next time. Any updates will occur
in the background and should not be noticeable on most modern computers.
Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, the update could
take a few minutes or could take as long as an hour or two.
If you want to make any configuration changes or change the way the
AutoUpdate works, consult the help files for McAfee VirusScan by opening
up the VirusScan program and choosing Help from the menu bar.
(Note: Previous versions of VirusScan made it
necessary for users to configure the AutoUpgrade feature of VirusScan
in
order to upgrade the scan engine. That is no longer necessary as
AutoUpdate is configured by default to upgrade the scan engine as
needed).
Step 4. Signing Up for
Virus Alerts
Even the best anti-virus software that is completely up-to-date can
fail to detect a brand new virus that it has not been "trained" (updated)
to recognize. For this reason, it is recommended that you sign up
to receive alerts about new and dangerous viruses via email from Office
of Information Technology Virus Notification Program. Signing up
is a quick and easy process that can save you from falling victim to a
destructive computer virus. Once you are signed up, you will only
receive email about computer viruses and related security issues, and you'll
be informed about any virus that is likely to affect members of the University
of Maryland community.
To sign up, visit the following web page: http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/virus/alert/
To learn how to sign up to receive alerts via e-mail about any new viruses
that threaten the university, click on the Virus Notification Page.
To return to the main VNP web page, click on the the Virus
Notification Program FAQ.
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