VirusScan FAQ

VirusScan 8.5 for Mac

Installation and configuration issues

Repair disk permissions after installing VirusScan 8.5

VirusScan might change file permissions on the Mac OS X file system after installation. We recommend that you run Disk Utility and repair disk permissions after installing VirusScan.

Scheduled task issues

A hibernating Macintosh won't run scheduled tasks

Scheduled tasks will not run if the machine is "asleep." To make sure scheduled tasks run, set sleep options for the computer to "Never". This is done in the Energy Saver control panel.

Multiple-user machines need task definitions for each user

The VirusScan Scheduler launches a task only if the user under whose profile the task was created is the user in the current "foreground". The task does not run if the user is in the background (through fast-user switching) or logged out. Therefore, in order to make sure that a task will run regardless of which user is logged in at a given time, an administrator will need to log in as each user on a machine and schedule update and scanning tasks for each user.

On-Access Scanner can be reconfigured to take fewer resources

If you accept the defaults during installation, the On-Access Scanner will be configured to scan files during both Read and Write operations. This is the most secure way to run VirusScan; however, it may also slow down system performance.

You may wish to change the On-Access Scanner's configuration so that it only scans during Write operations. This is less secure than scanning all operations, but reduces the impact on system performance.

eUpdate issues

Don't change default username and password in eUpdate settings

When customizing your eUpdate server to the on-campus antivirus repository, you must leave the username and password set to the default settings. Change only the server URL and the directory. For details, see "Configuring VirusScan to get updates from on campus."

If you've changed the username and password, you can correct your configuration by going to Preferences -> Customize and clicking the "Reset to Defaults" button. Once the configuration has reset to the Network Associates defaults, you can either leave the configuration as it is or change the URL and directory settings to use the campus server.

Errors when updating from off campus and not authenticated via VPN

If you have your VirusScan installation configured to use the campus antivirus server, receive error messages when trying to update from off campus, and see entries like this in the VirusScan.log file (which you can view under VirusScan's View Log item under the File menu):

eUpdate reports: Checking for an update.
eUpdate reports: There was an error of -40122 while checking for new DATs.
Core Scanner reports: Starting Core Scanner

This means that you are not authenticated through the campus VPN server at the time when your software was trying to update its definitions. To correct this, you can either connect through the campus VPN or use Network Associates' update site for updating instead. You can change your configuration to use Network Associates' site by going to Preferences -> Customize and clicking the "Reset to Defaults" button.