Virex is anti-virus software that can only be installed on PowerPC-based Macintosh computers.

Texas State has a license that allows current faculty, staff and students to install Virex anti-virus software for Macintosh users. In order to download this software, you will need to have an active Texas State NetID.

This software is for use by current TxState users only! It is illegal to distribute this software to Non-TxState users!

NOTE: When you download a file from this page, you will be prompted for your Texas State NetID and password.

Any files you download to your computer should automatically be decoded and decompressed.

To install the Virex 7.7 software:

•  Download Virex 7.7 (18.3MB, ZIP)
• Download the latest Virex Definitions (3MB, GZ) (or directly from McAfee)
  
  
• Quit any programs that you are running and close all open windows.
  
  
• Double-click on the Virex 7.7.pkg icon to install the software. You will need to enter the password for an administrator account to proceed with the installation. After the installation is complete, you WILL be prompted to restart.

Clean up after the installation

You now can delete any intermediate files on the desktop that end in ".gz" or ".zip" and the plain file Virex7-definitions. If you have a zip drive or can burn a CD, you can copy the Virex 7.7.pkg and the Virex Definitions update file V7yymmdd.pkg to a zip disk/CD. You can then install Virex 7.7 on other Macs from the zip disk or CD. You can now choose to delete the Virex 7.7.pkg and V7yymmdd.pkg files on your desktop since they are only needed for installation.

Virex Documentation:

• For detail info, see the Virex 7.7 Guide (996K, PDF)
  
• Read the Virex readme for system requirements.
• If needed, you can uninstall Virex 7.x using this uninstall Virex 7.x command script.

Updating the virus definitions

After installing the Virex 7.7 software and restarting, double-click on the V7yymmdd.pkg icon on your desktop to begin the update definitions installation program. Note: You will need to enter the password for an Administrator account in order to update the virus definitions.

Scheduling automatic tasks in Virex 7.7

Virex 7.7 has the ability to be scheduled to check for the latest virus definitions and/or to schedule a scan of your hard drive or a portion of it on a regular basis.

HotFixes for Virex 7.7

Mac OS X 10.4 users may apply the Virex HF302815 HotFix to fix the problem of the definitions update date not being updated properly in the Virex console window. The date will be displayed properly the next time new definitions are downloaded and applied. In order to apply the HotFix, you will need to be logged into an account with Administrator rights. You will get an "Installation Check" error if using a standard account.

Changing Virex 7.7 Preferences

It is recommended that you configure Virex 7.7 to only notify you rather than to immediately attempt to clean a file know to contain a virus or other malicious type of code. If an infected file is detected, a VirexReporter dialog box will appear and you will have the option to Move to Trash, Clean or Delete.

Follow these instructions to change the default behavior of Virex 7.7 from Clean to Notify:

Run the Virex 7.7 application

Click the Preferences toolbar button (looks like a light switch)

The Preferences window will appear

You should see a small window with only four choices and a button named More Options.

If you see a longer window, click on the Fewer Options button to switch to simple view.

Next to When a virus is found:, change the pop-up button from Clean to Notify.

Close the Preferences window

Virex 7.7 will be configured to notify you if a known virus/malware is contained in information that is being written to a file on your hard drive and Virex 7.7 will check for virus updates each time it is run.

These major settings determine what main functions of Virex 7.7 you want active:

1. Automatically check for virus definition updates
   when Virex 7.7 is run
2. Scan local volumes when mounted
   - proactively scan external media (floppies, CD, DVD, etc.)
3. Background virus detection
   - proactively scan hard drive continuiously in background (could still impact the response time of active applications)
4. Active virus detection
   - scan when data is being written to the hard drive.

You can make a determination if you need further proactive protection provided by scanning mounted devices and in the background. By default these functions are turned off because they add to system overhead. Infected files WILL still be detected if they are being written to your hard drive because the Active virus detection function is checked.

If you click the More Options button while in the Virex Preferences window, you can set in more detail how Virex will scan your hard drive and other devices. Consult the Virex 7.7 Guide (996K, PDF) for further details.