                               ============
                              == AVDisk 6 ==
                               ============

                      http://members.xoom.com/avdisk


AVDisk is a batch program which automates the task of getting your anti-virus
software on to floppy disks which you can use to start, scan and disinfect your
computer.


AVDisk currently supports the following anti-virus programs:

   * Frisk Software International's F-Prot (www.complex.is)
   * Kaspersky Labs AVPLite                (www.avp.ru)
   * Kaspersky Labs AVPDOS32 build 132+    (www.avp.ru)


Because of the way this program operates you require to follow a few simple
steps before you can use it. These steps are as follows:

   1. Find the folder containing one or more of the supported anti-virus
      programs and inside it create a new folder called AVDisk6

   2. UnZip all the AVDisk files into this new folder

   3. Go to http://www.pkware.com and download PKZip for DOS

   4. Move the PKZip for DOS installer into the new folder and run
      it to extract the PKZip programs

   5. Run AVDisk


You will need to have available enough floppy disks to hold your chosen anti-virus
software, you can optionaly format them using the AVDisk program if you wish.



                                =========
                               == Notes ==
                                =========


1. AVDisk requires some system files from your operating system to work.
   The program should automatically find these files itself, but if it
   can't you may need to specify the full path to your operating system
   as a command line parameter, for example:

      AVDisk C:\Windows


2. You should update your anti-virus software and startup disks regularly
   (a minimum of once every month) or your system will not be capable of
   detecting the latest viruses. This involves updating your anti-virus
   software itself as new versions are released and also its virus definition
   files which provide the information required to detect most viruses.
   Definition files are released much more frequently then new software versions.


3. You should always create your startup disks on a clean computer otherwise using
   your startup disks may further spread a virus infection. If you suspect your
   computer is infected then download all the nessecary software on to a clean
   computer and create the startup disks from there.


4. It is important to note which operating system you use to create the startup
   disks because different operating systems support different file systems. For
   example a FAT32 partition created by a Windows 98 system can not always be read
   using startup disks created on a Windows 95 system, because some versions of
   Windows 95 do not support FAT32.

   For this reason it is best to use your startup disks only in computers running
   equal or previous versions of the operating system the disks were created on.


5. PGP signatures for all AVDisk files are contained in PGPSig.Zip which you
   can use to verify you are using an unmodified version of AVDisk.

   Signing key ID : 0xC27F76A3 (DigitAl56K)
   Fingerprint    : E451 B7F9 CA52 6DDA C697 FEE2 7A9A 91BF C27F 76A3 
   Key signed by  : 0xA41413B4 (Deniz Oezmen) 

   PGP Freeware International can be downloaded from http://www.pgpi.org


6. Test your disks to make sure they work and that you know how to use them before
   you need them.



                               ===========
                              == Support ==
                               ===========


AVDisk is not supported by any anti-virus product vendor or developer and is used
entirely at your own risk.


In the intrests of maintaining a standardised version of this program
please do not modify it yourself (except for personal use as required).
Bug reports, comments and suggestions are always welcome.


If you do become infected with a virus and you would like help or information
a good place to go is the alt.comp.virus newsgroup, where you can find advice
from a number of proffesionals and other experienced users. However, please
remember when posting to this group not to post binaries or virus samples, and
to be as specific as possible when asking for help.



                               ===========
                              == Credits ==
                               ===========


AVDisk is copyright DigitAl56K 1999       (al@digital56k.free-online.co.uk)
SearchRD is copyright Deniz Oezmen 1999   (Quantensprung@gmx.net)


The official "who did what" list:

   DigitAl56K    - Wrote the batch scripts, documentation and website. Also missed
                   many e-mails and newsgroup posts, caused long delays etc. :P

   Deniz Oezmen  - Created SearchRD so AVDisk could autodetect the RAM drive and
                   put his PC on the line many times beta testing ;)

   Steven Craik  - Brought AVPDOS32 support to AVDisk in version 6 with loads of
                   beta testing and many e-mails - from a Commodore 128!



                           ====================
                          == Revision History ==
                           ====================


v6 - AVDisk can now detect the AV software available and allow you to select which
     one you want to use on your startup disks, making AVPDisk redundant. Basic
     help files are included for each software package and AVDisk can now be easily
     modified to support other AV software.

     AVDisk now supports AVPDOS32 thanks to Steven Craik.

     The Temp directory is used during operation to keep things nice and neat.

     Due to various requests the RAM drive capacity has been increased from
     2MB to 4MB. This adds a degree of future proofing to the progam as virus
     definitions are constantly approaching the previous 2MB limit. Users who do
     not have enough RAM to support this configuration should use an ASCII editor
     (such as NOTEPAD for Windows or EDIT for DOS) to modify the Config.Sys file
     after creating the startup disks, changing the RAM drive size from 4096 to 2048.

     Users of MS-DOS may notice that AVDisk now exits in the root directory.
     This is to ensure a known exit path for the program.

     This document is now much similar to the website, and a "Credits" section has
     been added.

v5 - Updated to be similar in operation to AVPDisk for AVPLite.
     Things are a little more organised in this version thanks to the
     introduction of zip files.

v4 - Updated to work with F-Prot 3.06 which includes a new definition file and
     files are now stored differently on the floppies so that free space is
     better balanced.

     Also included is a new revision of SearchRD by Deniz to fix a bug which
     reported the RAM drive volume incorrectly under certain circumstances.

v3 - Automatic RAM drive detection is back thanks to the excellent SearchRD
     created by Deniz Oezmen. AVDisk will now only prompt you for the RAM drive
     volume letter in the unlikely event that it can not be auto-detected.

v2 - Users must now type the letter of the RAM drive during startup. This
     is a simple process which should not cause any problems but that will
     make sure startup disks will work on all systems. The AVDisk program
     now uses only commands supplied with all versions of Microsoft operating
     systems supporting MSDOS for better compatibility.

     This readme file now has version information so you know what you have got
     and I have also updated the Notes and Support sections.

     To prevent altered versions of this software being distributed I have also
     included PGP signatures for all files in this release which you can use to
     verify that the files have not been altered since I made them if you want.
     You can download PGP freeware from www.pgpi.org

v1 - Original launch version.