UVK CPX Module
PART II
THE "ULTIMATE VIRUS KILLER" MANUAL
13 - THE CPX MODULE
Some time ago now, Atari released their extended control
panel accessory - "XCONTROL.ACC". It's one of those programs that
may be spread non-commercially but isn't actually Public
Domain. This is the reason why you won't actually find it on
the "Ultimate Virus Killer" disk, because this is what Atari
calls 'commercial distribution', which is not allowed.
This extended control panel is MODULAR, which means that you
can add bits (modules) to it, or remove them. Whereas the old
control panel ("CONTROL.ACC") could change the colours and set
the keyboard click rate and that sort of thing, the extended
control panel can do nothing at all - at least not on its
own. Separate modules, specially written program files ending
with the extension ".CPX", can be loaded in order for various
different things to be done. One can for example load a
module that allows you to change the colours, or another
module to change the keyboard click and repeat rate.
Principally, however, the modular setup of the extended
control panel is a lot more flexible than the old one.
Provided that certain criteria of CPX program structure are
met, you can principally write ANY program for it. You could
do a game which would be loaded with the extended control panel
on boot-up, for example, or just about anything else.
"VKILLER.CPX", you probably guessed it by now, is a module
written especially for the extended control panel. You can
simply have the control panel load it, after which it's present
in your computer at the click of a mouse button, just like any
other accessory you might want!
13.1 LOADING IT
The basic functions of the Atari control panel will not
be explained here. For our purposes, it suffices to tell that
the control panel will load its modules from a specific search
path (i.e. a specific directory, for example your root
directory or a specific folder, like \CPX\) whenever you
boot your machine with the extended control panel enabled
(the actual control panel will be loaded just like any other
desk accessory, with which no doubt you're already familiar),
it will load all correctly structured program files that have
the "CPX" extension in its defined directory.
Do note: This only works with CORRECTLY STRUCTURED files.
Simply renaming regular programs (".PRG") or desk accessory
files will not work!
Basically, what you need to do is copy the extended control
panel on the root directory of your boot drive (usually drive A
when you have a floppy system, or drive C when you have an auto-
booting hard disk). Copy the "VKILLER.CPX" file from the
"Ultimate Virus Killer" disk in its defined directory as well,
boot your computer, and that's all there is to it.
The "VKILLER.CPX" module can be actually activated by
selecting the extended control panel from the accessory list
(top left-hand pull-down menu in the desktop or any proper GEM
program) and then double-clicking on its entry (UVK CPX vx.x,
"VIRUS KILLER").
Please note that you need the EXTENDED control panel for this
to work! This control panel has been supplied with Atari
systems for the last two years or so, and may also be available
from your local Public Domain library. Contact your dealer or
Atari in case you have difficulty finding it.
If you have only a limited amount of free memory, or if you have
a machine with half a megabyte of memory, you might not find
sufficient space to load the "Ultimate Virus Killer" program
once you have the extended control panel installed with its
appropriate modules loaded.
13.2 WORKING WITH IT
Once you've activated the module by double-clicking on it (or
by clicking on it once and then selecting "open" from the
control panel menu), you'll have some of the basic first-aid
functions of the "Ultimate Virus Killer" at hand, without you
even having to load or having to have loaded the actual
"Ultimate Virus Killer" program. Please see figure 10.
The module offers several buttons you can press on with the
mouse pointer.
ARROW UP/DOWN:
Allows you to browse through the bootsector that was most
recently read. If no bootsector was read yet, it will display a
quick manual text and the author's regular-and Email-addresses.
PUTBOOT:
When checking for bootsector viruses on floppy disks, you
can write one of several selected special bootsectors on the
disk. This can be compared with immunization. Please refer to
the next chapter for more details on these bootsectors.
This option can only be selected if you have already read
a bootsector by clicking on the "A" or "B" buttons.
SAVEBOOT:
If you found a bootsector not known by the module, you can
write it into a small file on disk with this option. This
option can be compared with the "WRITE BOOTFILE" option from the
"Ultimate Virus Killer".
Do note that the VKILLER.CPX module recognises only preciously
few harmless bootsectors in order to save as much memory
space as possible. These "BIN" files should only be sent in
for analysis when the "Ultimate Virus Killer does not recognise
the disks they were on either! In those cases, they should also
be submitted to the "Ultimate Virus Killer" feedback address,
mentioned in the FEEDBACK chapter of the main program manual -
NOT to the VKILLER.CPX module author!
SYSCHECK:
Displays some of the more interesting system variable
contents, including possible XBRA identifiers. This option will
probably be of little interest to most users.
A:
Loads and analyses the bootsector from the floppy in drive A.
If recognised, the name will be displayed in the status box,
with a status (harmless / executable) below. "DskMsg" does not
apply to the actual bootsector but instead refers to the floppy
drive error status (i.e. is says "OK" when the bootsector was
properly read or written).
B:
Loads and analyses the bootsector from the floppy in drive B.
If recognised, the name will be displayed in the status box,
with a status (harmless / executable) below. "DskMsg" does not
apply to the actual bootsector but instead refers to the floppy
drive error status (i.e. is says "OK" when the bootsector was
properly read or written).
This button will be disabled if you don't actually have drive
B installed.
OK:
Exits the module, back to the extended control panel main menu.
Do note that the VKILLER.CPX module is not intended to replace
the actual "Ultimate Virus Killer" program. It offers only
very basic first-aid protection, by allowing you to recognise
all current bootsector viruses. Most other, harmless
bootsectors - with the exception of the "Ultimate Virus Killer"
immunization method and the bootsectors it can write with the
"PUTBOOT" option - are NOT recognised! In each of the latter
cases, you are advised to check out that particular disk with
the actual "Ultimate Virus Killer" program.
To avoid confusion, it should be mentioned that there is another
virus killer called "VKILLER". It's written by George Woodside
from the United States. Despite the similar name of the module,
they have nothing to do with each other and George Woodside
didn't program the CPX module as such.
13.3 THE PUTBOOT OPTION
When selecting the "PUTBOOT" option, an additional menu will
pop open that allows you to select one of several bootsectors.
These bootsectors can then be written to the floppy disk
that is currently being checked.
MAKEEXEC:
This makes the disk executable, as opposed to the option
"NOEXEC", below. With regular disks, making the bootsector
executable may result in a crash when booting with that disk in
the drive.
NOEXEC:
This simply makes the disk non-executable. Whatever's on the
disk will not actually be destroyed but it will no longer be
executed upon booting with the disk in the drive. Don't do this
with games or any other disks that have valid bootsector
programs - use the "Ultimate Virus Killer" to do an in-depth
check first! Should things go wrong, you can always "MAKEEXEC" it
again.
MEDWAY 4:
Writes the Medway Boys Virus Protector Boot IV. Upon booting
a disk with a bootsector containing this program, your
computer's memory will be checked for some (NOT ALL!) viruses
and a brief warning will be given if something suspicious is
found.
This is no anti-virus insofar that it does NOT copy itself
to other disks of its own accord.
POMPEY 2:
This is a bit like the "MEDWAY 4", mentioned above -
the difference being that it only checks whether or not reset-
resistant programs are resident in your computer's memory upon
booting.
This is no anti-virus either, insofar that it does NOT copy
itself to other disks of its own accord.
IMMUNE:
This immunizes the current disk according to the latest
advanced "Ultimate Virus Killer" disk immunization method.
CLEAN ST:
This zeroes the bootsector with the exception of the
BIOS Parameter Block (for explanation of what that is, check
out "The Manual" chapter 7 and/or "The Book", 2.2). A
possible program in the bootsector will be lost, whether it's
a virus or not.
CLEAN PC:
This is almost identical to the "CLEAN ST" option, above, but
has the advantage of creating a disk that can be read using
a PC. Regular Atari disks, you see, can't always be read by a
PC (IBM compatible thingy). For more information on this MS-DOS
compatibility lark, please refer to "The Book", 6.6.
