Appendix E. Understanding Idat Technology; Understanding Incremental .Dat Files - McAfee VIRUSSCAN 5.1 User Manual

Understanding iDAT
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Technology

Understanding incremental .DAT files

To function at peak efficiency, VirusScan software needs regular updates for
its virus definition (.DAT) files. Without them, the software might not detect
new viruses or respond effectively to remove threats from your system. Prior
versions of the AutoUpdate utility required you to download and install the
entire virus definition package each week. That package has grown steadily in
size with each new virus definition addition and now includes more than
50,000 virus definitions.
With this VirusScan release, McAfee VirusScan Software introduced a new
incremental virus definition (.DAT or iDAT) technology that consists of small
parcels that contain only the virus definitions that have changed between
weekly .DAT file releases—not the entire .DAT file set. You can now download
iDAT files that range in size from 100
virus definitions come included. This development means that you can
download .DAT file updates much faster, and at a far lower cost in bandwidth,
than ever before.
Better still, the AutoUpdate utility makes this process completely transparent
—it will download as many incremental .DAT files as it needs to bring your
software up to date. If your .DAT files are older than the backward range of
iDAT packages available, or if an iDAT download fails for any reason, the
utility will download the entire current .DAT file package. In either case, the
AutoUpdate utility ensures that you have absolutely current .DAT files to
protect your system, without the need to worry about which files to download.
Simply point the utility to an update source, schedule a time for the
AutoUpdate task to run, and let the utility do its work.
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Product requirements
To download and install iDAT parcels, you must have VirusScan v4.5 or later
anti-virus software along with the corresponding AutoUpdate utility, and you
must have already upgraded your Olympus scan engine to v4.0.50 or later.
Incremental .DAT files do not work with earlier product or engine versions.
IMPORTANT: Incremental updates apply only to .DAT files. McAfee
VirusScan Software does not provide incremental updates for scan
engine files. To update your engine files, use the SuperDAT utility. The
SuperDAT utility will download and install only full .DAT file updates.
to 110 , depending on how many
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