Don

There is a standard test virus file called "EICAR" that at least McAfee has
often mentioned as a standard test to check that your antivirus program is
working. Here is the website page that explains about it:

    http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm

You can make the file yourself or download it from this site. Here's a
couple of paragraphs taken from that site that explain about the test file
and the ASCII string used to generate the com file.

This test file has been provided to  for distribution as the " Standard
Anti-Virus Test File", and it satisfies all the criteria listed above. It is
safe to pass around, because it is not a virus, and does not include any
fragments of viral code. Most products react to it as if it were a virus
(though they typically report it with an obvious name, such as
"EICAR-AV-Test").

The file is a legitimate DOS program, and produces sensible results when run
(it prints the message "EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE").

It is also short and simple - in fact, it consists entirely of printable
ASCII characters, so that it can easily be created with a regular text
editor. Any anti-virus product which supports the  test file should "detect"
it in any file which starts with the following 68 characters:

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

Have fun!

Larry Stewart
Ottawa, Canada
e-mail: [log in to unmask]

----- Original Message -----
From: "don penlington" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2000 3:50 AM
Subject: [PCSOFT] Virus test


> Some people, including myself, run an antivirus program without ever
having
> encountered a virus.
>
> I run McAfee a-v, and am never quite sure whether it is properly
activated,
> or how effective it is,  ... etc . . .

> Don Penlington

             PCSOFT maintains many useful files for download
                     visit our download web page at:
                     http://nospin.com/pc/files.html