McAfee DR SOLOMON S ANTI-VIRUS 8.5 User Manual page 132

Using the WinGuard Scanner
132 Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus
To do this, the module looks for certain "virus-like" characteristics in the
files you've asked it to scan. The presence of a sufficient number of these
characteristics in a file leads the module to identify the file as potentially
infected with a new or previously unidentified virus.
Because the E-Mail Scan module looks simultaneously for file
characteristics that rule out the possibility of virus infection, it will rarely
give you a false indication of a virus infection. Therefore, unless you
know that the file does not contain a virus, you should treat "potential"
infections with the same caution you would confirmed infections.
The E-Mail Scan module starts out without any heuristic scan options
active. To activate heuristics scanning, follow these substeps:
a. Select the Enable heuristics scanning checkbox. The remaining
options in the dialog box activate.
b. Select the types of heuristics scanning you want theE-Mail Scan
module to use. Your choices are:
– Enable macro heuristics scanning. Choose this option to
have the E-Mail Scan module identify all Microsoft Word,
Microsoft Excel, and other Microsoft Office files that contain
embedded macros, then compare the macro code to its virus
definitions database. The module will identify exact matches
with the virus name; code signatures that resemble existing
viruses cause the module to tell you it has found a potential
macro virus.
– Enable program file heuristics scanning. Choose this option
to have the E-Mail Scan module locate new viruses in program
files by examining file characteristics and comparing them
against a list of known virus characteristics. The module will
identify files with a sufficient number of these characteristics as
potential viruses.
– Enable macro and program file heuristics scanning.
Choose this option to have the module use both types of
heuristics scanning. Dr Solomon's Software recommends that
you use this option for complete anti-virus protection.
NOTE: The module will use heuristic scanning
techniques only on the file types you designate in the
Program File Extensions dialog box. If you choose to scan
All files, the module will use heuristic scanning for all file
types.