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Norton's New Software:

It gets the bugs out

by Leigh Ann Giles

Norton AntiVirus Agreement

Norton 2000 Corporate Edition

Are You a Wareforce Customer?

This month, we bring you two products by Symantec Corporation, a provider of utility software for business and personal computing. These products are designed to keep two "evils" at bay, ensuring that your computer remains safe and reliable. What are those creepy evils, you ask? Plainly put: unforgiving viruses and the Millenium Bug.

Norton AntiVirus Agreement

We have finalized an agreement with Symantec for Norton AntiVirus Solution Suite. The decision to acquire 14,000 licenses of this product was based on an evaluation of anti-virus software conducted by the CAIT (Center for Advanced Information Technology). The results of this evaluation will be published in the form of a Recommended Solution document by the end of the month. One of the key features that distinguishes Norton AntiVirus from the other products evaluated is "Live Update." With LiveUpdate, you can keep your anti-virus software up to date by connecting directly to Symantec's Web site and downloading the newest virus definitions. The agreement also provides access to the Norton System Center, which includes administrative tools for deploying Norton AntiVirus across a network.

The products included in the Norton AntiVirus Solution Suite are:

Upgrades/updates are included for one year.

The graphic above demonstrates how Norton's complete solution suite protects valuable data from unforgiving viruses.

The software suite is designed to protect desktop computers, laptops, network servers, Internet email gateways, and firewalls against all sources of potential virus threats.

At the desktop level, Norton AntiVirus Solution protects against potential virus corruptions from Internet downloads, floppy disks, email attachments, shared files, compressed files, CD-ROMs and networked hard disks. It operates at all times, as a background application, without slowing other applications.

At the server level, the software suite:

Provides "real-time, scheduled and on-demand scanning to protect against virus transmissions within servers and workgroups running Novell NetWare, Windows NT Server, Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes."

Affords the ability, through a centralized and flexible reporting system, to send alert messages to network administrators using a variety of alerting methods.

Includes access to the Norton System Center (http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nsc/index.html), which allows network administrators to easily and automatically distribute, configure, monitor, update, and centrally manage Symantec software. It also makes it possible to quickly identify non-compliant machines and launch remote virus scans.

Norton AntiVirus Administrator for the Macintosh can be used to install, track, and update virus protection for all Macintoshes on a network.

CDs Available for Home Use
Norton AntiVirus CDs are available for home use by faculty and staff. They can be purchased at the UCD Bookstore Computer Shop. (We are negotiating an add-on agreement to include student use for Norton AntiVirus Desktop software.)

Each CD is priced at $3.50 (to cover CD duplication costs) and includes one license. Departments can also purchase these CDs, but system administrators should email the Site License Coordinator (itslc@ucdavis.edu) the number of computers on which they will install the software (if they haven't done so already).

Before You Install
We recommend you uninstall any other anti-virus program(s) before you install Norton AntiVirus software. This will lower the possibilities of conflicts between the programs.

And the Good News Is. . .
The software is available to campus departments, staff, and faculty free of charge. For specific instructions on how to obtain the software, see the Site License Web page at http://irlinux.ucdavis.edu/SLC/software/nortonav/nav.html

Norton 2000 Corporate Edition

If you're like most people these days, you're trying to protect your laptops and desktop computers from Year 2000 problems. To help Year 2000 Coordinators address century-date issues -- including data, applications, and BIOS vulnerabilities -- the Division of Information Technology has recently purchased a set of Norton 2000 licenses.

Key Features
Norton 2000, available for Windows 95, 98 and NT, checks a computer's BIOS and applications for Y2K compliance problems. According to specifications provided by Symantec, Norton 2000:

Identifies, prioritizes, and reports on two-digit date calculation anomalies in spreadsheet cells and formulas, database fields and forms, and text
Scans all installed applications on a PC and audits them against a database of known Year 2000 problems
Indicates where and how to obtain any known fixes or patches
Tests the PC's BIOS and reports on its Year 2000 readiness
Fixes the BIOS in many cases to bring it up to Year 2000 requirements.

Departmental Licenses
Five Norton 2000 licenses will be distributed at no charge to campus departments through their Year 2000 Coordinators. If a department requires more than the initial five free licenses, IT will coordinate an additional license purchase. However, there will be a charge of $12.99 for each license beyond the initial five, and we will need to purchase a minimum of 1,000 additional licenses. This information has been forwarded by email to campus Y2K Coordinators and Technology Support Coordinators (TSCs). Please contact your Y2K Coordinator or TSC if you have questions. You may also email the Site License Coordinator at itslc@ucddavis.edu.

Home Use
This agreement does not make provisions for home use. Faculty, staff and students can purchase Norton 2000 at the UCD Bookstore Computer Shop for $39.99.

For more information on Norton 2000, see http://www.symantec.com/sabu/n2000/index.html. For information on the Year 2000 Problem, see http://y2k.ucdavis.edu/.

Are You a Wareforce Customer?

Wareforce has been the UC outside software reseller, distributing Microsoft, Lotus, Timbuktu, Apple, Filemaker Pro and Homepage products, for almost 3 years. Based on input from UC customers, the Office of the President has decided to conduct a search for a new outside reseller/distributor. Requests for Proposals have been sent to more than 15 distributors, including Wareforce, and we are waiting for the responses.

While changing to a new outside distributor may cause transition problems, these will be weighed against the problems many Wareforce customers have experienced. Some customers, for example, have reported receiving inaccurate information from Wareforce employees, sometimes taking weeks to get back to a caller. In addition, sketchy as well as lengthy, product delivery dates have been reported.

If you have an opinion or comment, either positive or negative, about Wareforce services, please email them to me at itslc@ucddavis.edu. Wareforce's Web site can be found at http://www.wareforce.com/.

Leigh Ann Giles is the Campus Site License Coordinator. She can be reached at itslc@ucddavis.edu.