Can I run F-Prot for DOS in XP's DOS window?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Franklin
  • Start date Start date
F

Franklin

Is it possible to run the free "F-Prot for DOS" in the DOS-emulation
window of XP?

I want to use "F-Prot for DOS" as an on-demand scanner to supplement
my existing anti-virus software.
 
Franklin said:
Is it possible to run the free "F-Prot for DOS" in the DOS-emulation
window of XP?

I want to use "F-Prot for DOS" as an on-demand scanner to supplement
my existing anti-virus software.
Click to expand...

I have tried that, but it only gets so far before it quits. Your
better off using one of the other on-demand scanners available. Or you
could use one of the online scanners too.
 
Is it possible to run the free "F-Prot for DOS" in the DOS-emulation
window of XP?

I want to use "F-Prot for DOS" as an on-demand scanner to supplement
my existing anti-virus software.
Click to expand...

If you've chosen FAT 32 rather than NTFS, I've heard it can be of
limited use for scanning downloads and some folders. Otherwise, it
should only be used in connection with Windows 9X/ME and plain DOS.

Art

http://home.epix.net/~artnpeg
 
Franklin said:
Is it possible to run the free "F-Prot for DOS" in the DOS-emulation
window of XP?
Click to expand...

Yes. I do it all the time on many XP machines. But get a better
virus-checker -- one that has realtime checking. F-Prot has its
uses but I wouldn't rely on it.
 
Is it possible to run the free "F-Prot for DOS" in the DOS-emulation
window of XP?

I want to use "F-Prot for DOS" as an on-demand scanner to supplement
my existing anti-virus software.
Click to expand...


There are issues with it. It often doesn't scan all files even if you
have a fat32 filesystem. It works better when used within Tech-Protect
a third party front end. Tech-Protect tries to address some of the
issues. In particular, it creates its own list of directories/files
for f-prot to scan.
http://www.tech-pro.net/techprotect.html


Jim.
 
Is it possible to run the free "F-Prot for DOS" in the DOS-emulation
window of XP?

I want to use "F-Prot for DOS" as an on-demand scanner to supplement
my existing anti-virus software.
Click to expand...

Yes you can for FAT32 file system. There is a high probability that
your file system is NTFS in which case F-Prot for DOS will not scan
the NTFS drive. So to summerise - You can if you have FAT32 file
system.

Regards,
Ian Kenefick
http://antivirus.ik-cs.com
 
qwerty said:
News to me... I've had nothing but success with it.
Click to expand...

In a DOS box dropped from NT, W2K or XP (where the limitation exists)? I very
much doubt it.

Regards, Zvi
 
Zvi said:
In a DOS box dropped from NT, W2K or XP (where the limitation
exists)? I very much doubt it.
Click to expand...

Unless you've seen me do it, don't tell me it doesn't work.
 
Is it possible to run the free "F-Prot for DOS" in the DOS-emulation
window of XP?

I want to use "F-Prot for DOS" as an on-demand scanner to supplement
my existing anti-virus software.
Click to expand...

Frisk Software recommends against using F-Prot for DOS under Windows
XP. You should the 32 character mode scanner FPCMD.EXE which is
included with F-Prot for Windows.


Cheers-

Jeff Setaro
jasetaro@SPAM_ME_NOT_mags.net
http://people.mags.net/jasetaro/
PGP Key IDs DH/DSS: 0x5D41429D RSA: 0x599D2A99 New RSA: 0xA19EBD34
 
News to me... I've had nothing but success with it.
Click to expand...

Are you using NTFS or FAT32? If FAT32 then you must have upgraded from
a previous installation.

I wanted to use FPROT for DOS also on W2K or WXP systems, but all ours
are formatted NTFS. It begins the scan but doesn't get much past the
Documents and Settings folders. Even the DOS window shows all sorts of
scanning errors.

I'd like to know what your setup is and if you have examined the log
file carefully to see if scanning is truly being completed.
 
Unless you've seen me do it, don't tell me it doesn't work.
Click to expand...

For quite a while I thought it was an ntfs problem and was working
okay on fat32 only to find on closer inspection that it wasn't working
correctly all the time on all the machines. Look carefully at the
logs.

Jim.
 
Apparently, the file/directory skip problem isn't related to the file system but
to the operating system you are running under. On my system, it's missing the
entire "\Program files" directory and its subs, when run from XP. The file
system is FAT-32 since it's a dual boot system (Win98/XP).
Are you using NTFS or FAT32? If FAT32 then you must have upgraded from
a previous installation.

I wanted to use FPROT for DOS also on W2K or WXP systems, but all ours
are formatted NTFS. It begins the scan but doesn't get much past the
Documents and Settings folders. Even the DOS window shows all sorts of
scanning errors.
Click to expand...

The problem is the same with FAT/FAT-32, what counts is the OS you are running
under.

Regards, Zvi
 
qwerty said:
Unless you've seen me do it, don't tell me it doesn't work.
Click to expand...

I suppose you won't argue with frisk, the author of F-Prot. It depends *what*
doesn't work. Scanning a specified file will work, on condition that its short
form pathname doesn't exceed the DOS limit of 79 characters (including the
filename).

What won't work is scanning all directories on a drive. For a reason that Frisk
explained here, a few years ago, F-Prot for DOS may miss directories and skip
them when scanning from the DOS box under NT derived OS (NT / W2K / XP). Frisk
also stated in that post that he did not plan to further develop the DOS
version.

I just checked for XP on FAT-32 and the last FP version for DOS missed the
entire "Program files" directory and its subs, when ordered to scan the entire
drive.

Regards, Zvi
 
Ian Kenefick said:
Yes you can for FAT32 file system.
Click to expand...

You CAN use F-Prot for DOS on both FAT, FAT-32 and NTFS. Depending under what
OS you are running it, it may (actually will) not scan all directories if you
run it under NT, W2K or XP. The governing factor is not the file system (F-Prot
for DOS will work perfectly on NTFS, under Win9x or Me, if you use an NTFS
driver) but the operating system you are running under.
There is a high probability that
your file system is NTFS in which case F-Prot for DOS will not scan
the NTFS drive.
Click to expand...

It will, if you have the driver to mount NTFS. To make this perfectly clear:
F-Prot for DOS will scan all directories on an NTFS drive that was mounted with
the appropriate driver, when run under Windows 9x / Me. F-Prot will miss
directories when run from the DOS box, under W2K or XP, regardless of whether
the file system is FAT-32 or NTFS!
So to summerise - You can if you have FAT32 file system.
Click to expand...

To summarize, you CAN, but it won't scan all directories if you happen to work
under XP or W2k.

Regards, Zvi
 
News to me... I've had nothing but success with it.
Click to expand...
Worked for me UNTIL the March 31 file updates. Now it drops out
(taking the DOS box with it) after about a minute or so.

--Jim
 
Frisk Software recommends against using F-Prot for DOS under Windows
XP. You should the 32 character mode scanner FPCMD.EXE which is
included with F-Prot for Windows.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Technically, fpcmd.exe requires a license but in practice it
works without a hitch.
 
badgolferman said:
I'd like to know what your setup is and if you have examined the log
file carefully to see if scanning is truly being completed.
Click to expand...

It's not my setup; I've used it on other people's PCs (friends, family)
for ages. Most of them have XP with FAT32. I concede I haven't checked
logs, but there weren't any error messages during the process either.
 
It's not my setup; I've used it on other people's PCs (friends, family)
for ages. Most of them have XP with FAT32. I concede I haven't checked
logs, but there weren't any error messages during the process either.
Click to expand...

If F-Prot DOS put up error messages when it can't scan a folder or
whole set of subdirectories, people wouldn't have been fooled into
thinking it was scanning them :)

Art

http://home.epix.net/~artnpeg
 
Back
Top