Anti Virus software

[softlad]

I'm back into gaming after 15 years, I've gone all retro, just buying a A1200 off ebay, where can I get a virus checking disc from??? I remember there was loads of problems with virus's back in the 90s, is there still problems. Oh I'm not computer minded so please be gentle with me. Also will the 1200 kickstart 3, play most of my 1.3 kickstart games??/

Many thanks, cheers Dave

[Buleste]

One of the fortunate things about the Amiga being a Minor platform is that Viruses are not really a problem anymore. If you want AV software then i think the latest is VirusZ and that can be found on Aminet. As for 1.3 games working under 3.0 under normal circumstances if you enter the Early startup and fiddle with the settings if a game doesn't work then that usually helps, Alternativly if you have a HDD you can get a WHDload install package for most games and install the gam,e onto your HDD

[Harrison]

Hi softlad and welcome

It is always great to see another getting back into the Amiga.

As Buleste said, virus infections were never really that big a problem on the Amiga. When the Amiga was really popular in the 80's and 90's no one was connected to the internet, so the only way a virus could be distributed was via public domain disks, so some did end up on magazine cover disks and very rarely on a commercial game disk, but that was very very rare. I only remember two viruses ending up on magazine coverdisks in the whole lifetime of the Amiga and I bought a lot of magazines at the time.

But you can get one of the virus checkers from Aminet if you are really concerned about getting a virus on your Amiga. But if you are mainly only going to be playing games on your A1200 then you have very little to worry about and I wouldn't be concerned about virus infections.

Running older A500 kickstart 1.3 games on your kickstart 3 based A1200 isn't quite so simple. Again as already mentioned, if you try a game on the A1200 and it doesn't work then you can try the Early Startup feature of the A1200. To do this hold down both mouse buttons as you turn on the Amiga and keep them held down. You should
enter a screen with some settings. For many older games go into the "boot options" section and tick the "disable cpu caches" box at the bottom and then click "use". Many games will then work perfectly.

If they still fail to load then you have other options that will degrade the A1200 down to a spec closer to the older A500 and then most games will work perfectly. A disk called relokick 1.3 is one of the best to use for this. If you find you need this then just PM me or one of the other main members or staff on the forum and we can help you out.

[AlexJ]

My virus protection back in the day was write protecting the disks (slide the tab in the corner so there's a hole).

[Buleste]

This has got me thinking. Does OS4 come with any Firewall? Is there any Firewalls for the Amiga at all? I'm assuming that OS4 has been made with connectivity in mind (bloody stupid if it hasn't). If no Firewall then what security software is there?

[Harrison]

Well it has a browser included doesn't it? And that is a very good point. In this day and age all internet connected computers really do need a working firewall installed and running.

[Buleste]

If we look at past efforts by Hyoperion of Os3.5 and 3.9 then there will be no security at all. What morons. Great you can go on the web but just don't store any personal information or passwords else you're fcuked.

[J T]

My virus protection back in the day was write protecting the disks (slide the tab in the corner so there's a hole).

Yep, me too! And power off for 30 seconds between changing games.

[Stephen Coates]

If we look at past efforts by Hyoperion of Os3.5 and 3.9 then there will be no security at all. What morons. Great you can go on the web but just don't store any personal information or passwords else you're fcuked.

But do all those hackers out there actually know how to, or even care about hacking os4 os 3.9?

I have used internet quite a lot of 3.9, and the last thing I would want slowing the already very slow web browser down would be security software. In fact, I think that woul be more of a problem on the Amiga than it would be on the PC, which continues to have no security software installed and continues to work flawlessly.

[Harrison]

As usual you fail to see the point in security software Steve. But I am guessing that you actually don't yet use that many sites where you give sensitive data, do you? If you were buying things online using a credit card, doing online banking, buying or selling on ebay or logging into many forums than all of this data is easy for a hacker to obtain from your PC and connection if you have no security software installed. A firewall and malware scanner are essential these days, even more so than a virus checker.