THD ProScan History
-------------------
Aug 20, 1992 - Ver 1.00 - First official release
- a command.com compatible counterpart to
the THDscan series of upload testers.
Sept 28, 1992 - Ver 2.00 -
Bugfix - Insert current directory for some "found" utilities
during install.
Bugfix - Fixed error when extensions not supplied during
installation.
Bugfix - Added conditional delay to the program, to allow the
ansi screen to complete on fast systems.
Bugfix - Stopped upper imbedded indicator from flashing during
the entire embedded archive testing process.
Bugfix - Fixed some errors in the "move" routines which could
cause runtime errors.
Bugfix - Redirected Scan.exe's output as it seems to find gateway
if it is installed.
Bugfix - The tester now requires a drive and path before it will
begin operation.
Added - Errorlevel 5 to retain compatibility with BBS programs which
use this as an indicator that a file is to be resumed.
Added - Support for NON-ansi users.
Added - Removed any attempt to send user output when a fossil is
not found.
Added - Internal archive identification by ID codes rather than
the previous use of extension . (also allows testing of
self-extracting archives)
Added - The ability to preserve the AV in protected ZIP files.
Added - The ability to fail files based on date.
Added - Reporting of the BBS-name through the user-side ansi.
Oct 27, 1992 - Ver 3.0 -No additions (Streamlined code and bugfixes)
Bugfix - Internal archives which were not configured for, caused
the system to choke with a runtime error. Fixed.
Bugfix - A runtime error #6 was reported by a limited number of
systems (using Share.exe). Repaired.
Bugfix - A file failing the scan operation was still being
reported as having failed scanning by "VER 1" (whoops).
Bugfix - Some optimizing of code resulting in a smaller exe file.
Nov 15, 1992 - Ver 4.0 - Emergency release to fix a problem with Scan
Bugfix - The redirection of SCAN.EXE's output introduced in Version
2 was removed due to problems with detection errorlevels
not being returned to the tester correctly under MS-DOS's
command.com.
Bugfix - The ansi screen now correctly identifies the version.
Version 3 reported version 2 on the ansi screen.
Feb 1, 1993 - Ver 5.0 - Standard update
Added - Installation can now read settings from the previous
version of THDPRO.EXE and incorporate them into the present
version. (only version 4 is supported for this feature)
Added - Support for the new PKZIP 204e self extracting files.
As a result Version 5 absolutely requires PKZIP version
204e for the testing of "ZIP" archives.
Added - A hack list can now be used (such as the "HACK REPORT")
to avoid testing files with filenames that you do not want
sent to your system. (files will fail but be saved)
Added - The ability to supply a comport from the command line to
override the default when being used on a multi-node system.
Added - The use of comport "0" to suppress remote output.
Added - THD ProScan now displays the name of the file being tested
before testing begins as well as informing the sysop when
testing has been completed.
Bugfix - Internal delays were lengthened for those systems with fast
computers and slow communications.
Bugfix - Previous versions would choke on illegal filenames (fixed).
Feb 12, 1993 - Ver 5.1 - Upgrade
- Issued an upgrade which repaired an incorrect version
number for version 5 as well as restoring the "syntax
report".
- Included THD ProScan's Terminal Assistant Version 2.
Upgraded to avoid choking on directories and read only
files.
May 2, 1993 - Ver 6.0 - Standard update
Bugfix - An old problem for RA sysops has been found and removed.
In some very odd circumstances, RA users had a problem with
THD ProScan deleting the wrong directory. Due to the rarity
of the occurrence and the inability to reproduce the
effect, it was assumed to be a strange conflict between the
tester and RA. I did however manage to find a way to
duplicate the occurrence and have removed the problem code.
Bugfix - A change was made to allow simultaneous operation on two
or more nodes. Previously this would cause problems with
the testing and the logs.
Bugfix - A problem with previous versions, whereby certain directory
structures could cause a runtime error 5 while testing
archives has been repaired.
Bugfix - A user reported a Runtime error 103 when running THDPRO.EXE
It was found that this error was caused by his deleting
the directory in which THD expected to create his log
files. When THD could not find the directory, it choked. It
now tests for this condition and exits if unable to
initialize the log file.
Bugfix - Reportedly, Version 5 failed "Gif-lited" files during the
GIFTEST run. Unconfirmed, but version 6 properly recognizes
an errorlevel 10 exit from Giftest.
Bugfix - Previous versions would fail valid archives if they did not
have a proper file extension. Fixed.
Added - Memory swapping while running the more "intense" tasks.
Memory overhead will be reduced by about 48k during SQZ
functions and SCAN functions. Memory reductions are
compliments of TurboPower Software's EXECSWAP program.
Added - Improved internal error checking to detect changes from
original configuration.
Added - Heuristic testing for viruses through the use of TBSCAN.EXE
or F-PROT.EXE.
Added - Installation can read settings from the previous
version of THDPRO.EXE and incorporate them into the present
version. (only versions 4 and 5 are supported for this
feature). All future versions will support this feature for
the two versions prior to itself.
Added - Support for the new PKZIP 204g self extracting files.
As a result Version 6 absolutely requires PKZIP version
204g for the testing of "ZIP" archives. (All versions
between 1.10 and 2.04g are supported)
Added - Support for the SQZ archive type.
Added - "Move/Rename" suppression for those BBS programs that
choke when files are renamed or moved.
Added - The ability to substitute a non-zero comport for the local
comport. Sysops who use a local logon to test files can now
do so by telling THDPRO.EXE to substitute "0" when testing
on a different comport, thereby avoiding remote output during
logons to a specific node.
Upgrade- Major code optimization and the introduction of encryption
into the tester code resulting in a significantly smaller
executable file.
Change - The method used to identify the archives has been improved
to increase the speed.
Change - Previously, it was recommended to compress the executable
file after installation. Due to the introduction of
encryption into this release, that recommendation no longer
holds. The tester will not work if the file is changed.
Change - Included THD ProScan's Terminal Assistant Version 3
in the archive. Contains a fix for a problem when source
and destination directories were the same as well as the
ability to test directories other than the source
configured internally. See THDTERM.DOC for details.
May 9, 1993 - Ver 6.1 (Patch)
Bugfix - The release of TBSCAN version 6 meant that the parameters
needed to interact with it would need to be revised. This
upgrade changed the parameters so that TBSCAN would not
exit with an error on every run.
Jun 9, 1993 - Ver 7.0 - Standard Update
Bugfix - "GIF" and "TD0" files found internally to a valid archive type
could cause version 6 to run forever. (fixed)
Bugfix - PkZip 204 "AV" codes are now properly recognized.
Bugfix - In some odd circumstances, version 6 could inadvertently
remove the "current" directory instead of the temporary
directory. (fixed)
Change - PkZip's "AV" protection is no longer optional.
Change - The parameters for TBSCAN version 6+ have been optimized.
Support for earlier versions is no longer available.
Added - The ability to supply a "list" of files to be removed from
the archives.
Added - Preservation of the Archive's original date and time.
Change - MAJOR coding changes have resulted in reduced memory usage,
increased speed, and the ability to search much farther
than previous versions.
Change - The order of drives selected for use can now be reversed
or "rotated". (During the installation)
Change - A change in the way TurboSoft's EXECSWAP program was
utilized has resulted in the release of all but about 5 k
of THDPRO.EXE's memory when running external tasks. All
calls to external programs are now done through EXECSWAP.
The Program itself uses about 75k of memory.
Jun 12, 1993 - Patch to version 7.1
Released both an upgrade (patch) and a full release.
Bugfix - Version 7 deleted all "GIF" and "TD0" files. fixed.
Bugfix - Previous version would not run if they were made
"read only". Fixed.
Jul 1, 1993 - Ver 8.0 - standard update
Bugfix - The ability to remove files from a "list" was rendered
inoperable for "ZIP" and "ARJ" files. Fixed.
Bugfix - Version 7 could leave orphaned log entries under some
normal circumstances. This has been repaired.
Bugfix - Some of the newer ARJ SFX files were not properly
recognized. Fixed.
Bugfix - Version 7 could, under some circumstances, become unable
to remove it's temporary directory. Fixed.
Bugfix - The add option of SQZ was including the paths to the added
file. Fixed. SQZ files are now "updated" rather than
"added" to avoid duplicates. Also the SQZ comment is now
stripped before processing.
Added - Version 8.0 now supports the HACKLIST "IDX" files directly
as a list to be used for "hack checking". The "COL" file is
still supported, as is the method described in the
"THDPRO.DOC".
Added - THD ProScan now supports the self extracting form of "HYP"
files. Previously all Self extract data starting codes were
hard coded into the EXE file. I have since found out how to
read the executable header and now get the appropriate
address from there.
Change - TBSCAN command line parameters needed to be changed again
to remain compatible with TBSCAN version 6.03.
Change - The ARJ strip comment line was modified for compatibility
with ARJ241.
Change - The PKZIP "add" line has been modified to use maximum
compression when adding loaders to archives.
Change - Testing of SQZ archives will now be done on the same drive
as the original archive whenever possible, due to SQZ.EXE
experiencing difficulty when running across drives.
Change - Memory swapping has been fully optimized. THD ProScan
Version 8 leaves barely over 2k in memory when performing
external tasks.
Nov 1, 1993 - Ver 9.0 - standard update
Bugfix - A rare error caused a few systems to hang (and/or report
unwarranted errors) when testing some very specific files.
Fixed.
Bugfix - The name of the main archive was not included in the
heuristic log if one of its imbedded archives contained
suspicious code. Fixed.
Bugfix - An error in the command line sent to TDCHECK caused valid
TD0 files to fail the CRC test. Fixed.
Added - Major addition of file conversions. 5 levels of conversions
to choose from, as well as on-the-fly conversion for RG, TG
and RA. (possibly the most complete file convertor
available in ANY utility - dedicated or otherwise).
Added - Description files can be imported into RemoteAccess 2.00,
Telegard 2.7 File Data Bases directly by THDPRO.EXE
(FILE_ID.DIZ, DESC.SDI, and DESC.SDN). In the case of viral
detection, if this option is selected a message regarding
the failure will be inserted instead (RA only).
Added - Online help during installation.
Added - Dos shell from installation.
Added - Ability to put random and/or area-specific comments in
archives as selected from a list.
Added - Ability to put current date and/or time in user supplied
file comments.
Added - Ability for the sysop to customize the remote output
through the use of ansi files (THDPRO.AN? and
PAINSOFT.AN?). Providing an entire array of 21 possible
output screens to be chosen from at random.
Added - The ability to FORCE a single ansi output (PAINSOFT.ANS).
Added - The ability to remove files from archives based on their
CRC value.
Added - The sysop may select to not automatically test files over a
given size. If asked to test a file over the supplied size
THDPRO will prompt the sysop for 5 seconds to press a key.
If no key is pressed the file is not tested. Files skipped
by this process will return the same errorlevel as a
successful test.
Change - SHARE is now detected and files opened in shared mode if
found. If access to a file is denied, THDPRO.EXE will wait
for up to 30 seconds for the other process to release the
file before aborting.
Change - THD ProScan will now finish in the same directory in which
it started.
Change - SCAN.EXE is no longer mandatory.
Change - Heuristic failures can be considered virus infected.
(optional if SCAN.EXE is used, mandatory if not)
Change - Option to use any or all of the supported virus scanners.
Change - Files original timestamp is optional (It can be kept or
updated).
Change - Output during virus scanning with F-Prot or TBScan now
shows the remote what tester is being used.
Change - Temporary directories are now chosen in a way which
prohibits use of a directory that already exists.
Change - Orphaned temp directories will be removed on the
second day following their creation.
Change - THDTERM4 is released with added support for users of
FileDoor.
Change - THDDEMO.COM has been modified to support testing of the
sysop supplied ansi screens/interfaces.
Dec 14, 1993 - Ver 9.1 - Bugfix release
Bugfix - THD ProScan 9.0 had trouble with indexing some RemoteAccess
2.00 and 2.01 FDB's. Fixed. THD should now update the FDB
correctly.
Bugfix - Version 9.0 refused to add comments on "some" bbs setups.
The problem was eventually traced to Share.exe and
repaired.
Bugfix - Version 9.0 would lock some systems when attempting to
strip the comments from PAK and/or ARC packets. Fixed.
Bugfix - A similar problem to that above was encountered by some
systems with ARJ archives. This too has been fixed.
Bugfix - THDPRO.EXE from version 9.0 ignored the AV when removing
files by CRC value in ZIP files. Fixed.
Bugfix - During the installation THDINSTL had severe difficulty
dealing with "SCAN.EXE" when it was not in the dos path.
Fixed.
Bugfix - During installation, if the sysop were to use the new dos
shell and change directories and/or drives, THDINSTL would
experience a runtime error #2. Fixed.
Bugfix - The settings as stated in the documents did not actually
default to failing of heuristic tests when SCAN.EXE was not
used. Fixed.
Bugfix - Persons running Share.exe experienced a runtime error when
attempting to use CRC mode. Fixed.
Added - The /KO parameter which will cause THDPRO.EXE to not delete
the original file in conversion mode.
Added - Support for FILE_ID.DIZ importation into TG via an external
file called THDPRO.DIZ. (See TG-RG.TXT for details)
Added - The THDOPT environment variable which allows "some" minor
aspects of the tester to be modified. (See newin9-1.txt)
Added - "/C" option to THDDEMO. Use of this option when testing
PAINSOFT.AN? files will allow you to scroll through the
various colour schemes available for the header. (See
THDFILES.TXT)
Change - The colour of the identification lines (header) used during
the display of PAINSOFT.AN? files are now configurable. See
THDFILES.TXT for an explanation.
Change - The identification line used during the display of
PAINSOFT.AN? files now reads "CUSTOM ANSI INTERFACE"
instead of "USER SUPPLIED ANSI INTERFACE".
Change - Numerous minor changes have been made to the program in an
effort to ease the potential problems running THD under a
network environment.
Change - The detection process for ARC and PAK has been modified to
lessen the false detections.
Change - The F-PROT command line has been modified for compatibility
with F-PROT version 2.10.
Change - TBSCAN uses the TBSCAN.LNG and TBSCAN.SIG files from it's
current directory (if they are present). THD now changes
directories before running TBSCAN. (TBAV609 fixed this)
Change - TBSCAN version 6.08 also introduced a date checking
procedure. If the files are older than 6 months, TBSCAN
will prompt the sysop to press a key. Version 9.1 supplies
the necessary switch to avoid this prompt.
Change - Running "THDDOC.EXE X" will cause THDDOC to extract the
document to a text file called THDDOC.TXT (overwriting any
file by the same name) in the current directory. (For those
of you who prefer text files to the executable supplied.)
Apr 21, 1994 - Ver 10m beta - Public Beta (Interim release to tide the
usership over until 10.0 can be released).
Bugfix - The planned add-on support did not function correctly.
(No add-ons were ever released.)
Bugfix - Rejections of files by "date" has been corrected from
version 9.1.
Bugfix - Adding of archive comments has been repaired to add on
every run. 9.1 experienced problem in some very specific
circumstances.
Added - Additional self checking to help ensure the integrity
of the program.
Added - Support for McAfee's VirusScan version 2.?.? via the
THDOPT environment variable.
Added - Best guess and newest file date options.
Added - Three user definable conversion levels.
Added - "Default" command line options. The ability to have
THDPRO.EXE always process as if certain options had
been supplied on the command line.
Change - The internal configuration format was overhauled in the
interest of speed.
Change - The search routines were re-written to avoid detection of
the volume label on systems running the OS/2 service pack.
Change - The filemodes used by THD were changed so that THDPRO.EXE
would run under RAMGR (which leaves file open when it
shells out).
Change - After loss of carrier, THDPRO.EXE now stops sending remote
output.
Change - A major overhaul of LHA handling. "Cloning" to be
used in special circumstances.
Change - THDTERM 5a beta. Avoids duplicate testing inherent with
older versions and introduced the option to supply a
comport other than "0".
Aug 20, 1994 - Ver 10.0 - Major Upgrade (from 9.1)
***
Note that changes made from the 10m beta are not listed here.
All changes in that beta are considered to be part of 10.0
***
Added - Secure Mode - A mode in which THDPRO.EXE attempts to
verify that changes to utilities it uses do not go
unnoticed. A "breach" during secure mode will abort
the test without attempting to use the modified file.
Added - Support for UC2 and RAR archive formats. Conversions to
these formats are also supported.
Added - Third party programmer support through the use of
TESTINFO.DAT, a new data file containing much
information about the file tested.
Added - Comment keywords for descriptions, newest/oldest file,
newest/oldest date and author/product information.
Added - The "/LA" (Log All) switch to THDPRO.EXE.
Change - Major change to the testing/converting process. When
space is available, all files will be expanded prior to
virus scanning and conversions will take place without
re-expanding all files. If this method fails, then
THDPRO.EXE will revert to the old (one at a time) method
at the cost of speed.
Change - The SCAN.EXE command line is now compatible with the SCAN
2.x.x series. To use the 1.x.x series you must set the
environment variable THDOPT=SC1.
Change - BBS updates are no longer done by THDPRO.EXE. They are done
by a new utility called THDPLUS.EXE.
Change - The log directory "requirement". If THDPRO.EXE cannot
locate the configured log directory, it will create its
log in another directory (which is dependant on the users
configuration).
Change - Fossil routines have been optimized to avoid overrun with
faster systems.
Change - Ansi detection to not be "fooled" by "AVATAR" systems.
Change - File descriptions have been modified to reflect reasons
for failure in cases where THDPRO.EXE fails a file.
Change - CRC failures are now subject to "Failed File Moving" if
this option is set to normal. (previously these were left
untouched.)
Change - The "Waiting" message will now only be displayed as a
result of a "share" related violation. Also the name of
the file in conflict will be reported by this message.
Change - Zip comments are now stripped internally by THDPRO.EXE.
Change - The option to limit by date or age now ignores the dates
of directories and uses only actual file dates.
Change - Imbedded scanning is no longer reported due to its speed.
The space it had previously occupied is replaced by
Re-Archiving.
Change - The method of drive detection in THDINSTL has been modified
to be faster and avoid some access problems with some CD-ROM
changers.
Change - THDINSTL.EXE can be renamed to simplify installation on a
network (or run THDINSTL.EXE /NET). See THDDOC for details.
Mar 7, 1995 - Ver 11.0 - Emergency Release / bugfix
Bugfix - The file failing by age and/or date was rendered inoperable
in version 10.0. Fixed.
Bugfix - Version 10.0 would initialize the comport if a fossil was
detected (even if running in local mode). Fixed
Bugfix - Files were not properly added during conversions.
Bugfix - Conversion had difficulty with some files due to their names.
This version now looks for these files and does not convert
them.
Bugfix - Conversion will fall back to the old method when
non-convertible internal archives are found.
Bugfix - The removal by list feature has been completely reworked for
better performance.
Bugfix - The /NFL (/NOFLOPPY) switch has been repaired and should
now operate correctly.
Bugfix - Logging of failed scans of non archive types has been
corrected.
Bugfix - Remote delays have been shortened. This should fix the
output on many faster systems which previously may have
"appeared" to be sending at 1200 BPS.
Bugfix - THDPLUS has been completely reworked in reference to
FILES.BBS.
Bugfix - THDINSTL /NET (or NETINSTL) was adding "C:\" to all paths
without drive letters. Fixed.
Bugfix - The names of THDPRO.EXE's temporary subdirectories have
been changed to avoid problems for those who utilize a
country code other than 437.
Bugfix - Removed the error I've come to know as
THD ERROR=59. File not found.
Bugfix - Fixed a share error which could occur when a file's size
was over your maximum test size.
Change - The program has been modified to avoid the "allfiles" warning
given by TBSCAN.EXE version 6.32+. These newer versions will
not work with THDPRO.EXE prior to version 11.0.
Change - The ARJ security envelope is no longer allowed to verify
itself except during the "CRC test" portion of testing.
Change - Added the "/NOEMS" switch to the SCAN.EXE parameters for
the 2 series of SCAN. This will was necessary to avoid window
closures in Windows dos sessions.
Added - CHGINFO.EXE which can change the path information in
TESTINFO.DAT records to match the file's current location.
Use is very specific, please see the documentation for
details.
Added - THDPRO.EXE and THDINSTL.EXE now reports the absence of
SCAN's *.DAT files.
Added - Support for RAR "AV"ed archives. THD now recognizes them
and has the ability to create them via THDRAR=TRUE.
Added - THDPLUS can now also extract the description for a file
to an external text file. (THDPLUS /EXTRACT) As well,
initial support has been added for T.A.G. 2.7, Telegard
version 3.0 (working name) and for RemoteAccess version 2.5+
and for PCBoard 15+. many of the features in this version of
THDPLUS are untested. It should be treated as a BETA for
other than previously supported features.
Nov 25, 1995 - Ver 12.0 -
Standard upgrade / Introduction of the OS/2 native version.
Bugfix - THDPLUS.EXE was modified to properly account for T.A.G.
multinode setups.
Bugfix - Fixed an error in the fossil routines which could cause
some systems to lock up if carrier was dropped during
the test process.
Bugfix - Fixed the "adding" of files to AV'ed zip files during
conversion. (Version 11.0 would corrupt the newly AV'ed
archive.)
Bugfix - GIF files could fail a virus scan due to an error in the
SCAN.EXE command line. Valid GIF's are no longer scanned.
Bugfix - CHGINFO could "miss" some directories when looking for
FILES.BBS (Fixed).
Bugfix - The four file dating options were inoperable in version 11.0
(fixed).
Bugfix - The THD ERROR CODE = 58 which occurred on OS/2 systems
"should" be repaired. If this is not the case, try the new
OS/2 native version.
Bugfix - Fixed the problem with Telegard 3.0 (2.99 Gamma) which
resulted in duplicate entries when the "add" option was not
specifically invoked. Entries may still be added to the TG3
FDB by using /ADD on the THDPRO.EXE command line or by
SET THDOPT=ADD, however without one of these switches,
THDPRO.EXE will only update existing entries.
Change - Dropped internal support for SCAN version 1.?.?
Change - The Hacklist feature will now recognize the BADFILES.CTL
format.
Change - Further improvements to the LHA cloning.
Change - Archive diagnosis is more complete which allows for avoiding
problems with multivolume archives as well as avoiding the
password prompt on protected RAR archives. This change allow
for some other minor improvements as well.
Change - Files on drive "A" or drive "B" will always be treated as
"read-only" allowing no changes to files resident on those
drives. (This was in fact active in version 11.0 but not
documented.)
Change - "add" Gifspecs to the description. [RA only]
Added - THDEXARC, which allows for addition of virus scanners and
archive types not supported internally by THDPRO.EXE. This
feature adds considerable functionality to the program.
Added - Secure mode is now reported in the log and on the screen.
Added - The ability to "envelope" non supported file types in an
archive (convert specific non-archives to one of the
supported archive types).
Added - The ability to hit "P" during a dos process to cause that
process to pause before returning to THDPRO.EXE (to view dos
output before it disappears). When "P" is used to pause the
screen, press any key to return control to THDPRO.EXE.
Added - "/RO" to treat the test file as "read-only" (no changes
what-so-ever to the original file).
Added - "Deep" removal. (removal of files from subdirs and
imbedded archives). This feature is available ONLY during
conversion, and ONLY for those archive types which will
actually be converted.
Added - Support for UNP. If configured UNP will be run on every file.
UNP expands compressed executable files to improve the
chances of viral detection. This feature is NOT active during
conversion since it will change the original files.
Added - The ability for the user to limit the amount of disk space
used during a test. Two such options exist. The ability to
configure a minimum amount of free space or a maximum amount
of space to be used for expansion. (See "Limits" note)
Added - The ability for the user to limit the amount of time allowed
for expansion of files. (See "Limits" note)
Added - "/OV" switch to over-ride the new time and space limits.
* Limits - The new limits are checked "only" after expansion of the
archives and may not have any effect on archives which
contain no imbedded archives. Space limits during testing of
specific archive types (RAR - ARJ - LHA - ZIP) may be
"calculated" prior to any expansion resulting in no expansion
taking place if limits are "expected" to be exceeded.
These limits can be ignored by us the the new "/OV" switch on
the command line for manual testing.