What is Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh 4.x?

Computer viruses aren't nearly as vexing for Macintosh users as for PC users. In fact, most Mac viruses are relatively benign; it’s a rare one that trashes a hard disk or corrupts data. Still it’s best to be prepared, and Symantec Anti Virus for Macintosh (SAM) is a good first line of defense.

Like previous versions, SAM 4.0.8 consists of an easy-to-use application that scans disks for viruses (either on demand or according to a schedule), and an extension, SAM Intercept, that monitors disks for viruses and suspicious activities. Intercept flashes a warning whenever it detects a possible problem, such as an attempt to create an extension. You can set Intercept to scan floppies and removable cartridges on insertion, or even to prohibit the insertion of floppies altogether. The SAM application scans your hard drive more closely, searching every file’s code for viruses. The comprehensive manual walks you through the process of decontaminating infected drives and preventing clean drives from contracting a virus.

SAM 4.0.8, a compatibility release for use with System 7.5.3 and earlier, has been updated to detect and remove five strains of Microsoft Word macro viruses. Until recently, we assumed that Mac viruses couldn’t infect PCs and vice versa. The Word 6.0 macro viruses changed all that; they use the program's macro language to infect Word documents and can tag along when those documents are converted from one platform to another. The fouler Word macro viruses, such as the one known as FormatC, can reformat a PC’s hard disk, but on a Mac they merely display an error message.

Earlier versions of Word documents aren’t affected; if you don't use Word 6 on your Mac, you don’t have to worry. When I unexpectedly received an infected Word 6 document during my testing, SAM detected the virus and removed it from the file. It also found and deleted the other viruses I've kept around on floppy disks for testing purposes.

I did find a bug in SAM’s automatic updating of virus definitions: when dialing the Symantec BBS, the application unexpectedly quit. Turning off my Faxstf software solved the problem. Because virus definitions need ro be updated only once or twice a year, this is a minor problem.

The Last Word SAM is the gold standard against which Macintosh virus killers are judged. If you rarely share files, all you need is an occasional scan with the freeware program Disinfectant... But if you’re on a network or regularly download files from dubious sources, SAM will keep the nasties from creeping into your Mac.

Negrino, Tom. (July 1996). SAM 4.0.8. Macworld. (pg. 72).

Download Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh 4.x for Mac

Architecture

68K + PPC (FAT)

System Requirements

From Mac OS 6.0

Compatibility notes

Minimum Requirements

• 1 MB RAM (2 MB for System 7)
• System 6.0.5

Emulating this? It could probably run under: Basilisk II