Microsoft KB Archive/99148

= Microsoft Anti-Virus CHKLIST.MS Files Explained =

Article ID: 99148

Article Last Modified on 2/20/2002

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.2 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.21 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.22 Standard Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q99148



SUMMARY
Microsoft Anti-Virus for MS-DOS (MSAV.EXE) and Microsoft Anti-Virus for Windows (MWAV.EXE) create CHKLIST.MS files in most, if not all, of your directories.



MORE INFORMATION
CHKLIST.MS is a &quot;checksum&quot; file. A checksum is an error-detection scheme that involves creating a sum of the bits in a set of bytes of data and using that sum to later check for a change in the data. Checksums are commonly used in communications software to check for data transmission errors.

In the case of Microsoft Anti-Virus, the CHKLIST file contains checksums for certain files in the directory containing the CHKLIST file. The checksums are based on the data contained in each file. The checksum is stored along with each file's size, attributes, date, and time. This information is used by Microsoft Anti-Virus during the Detect phase to check for changes to the files in the directory.

The files are created (and updated) by Microsoft Anti-Virus during the Detect or Detect And Clean scanning process if the Create New Checksums option is selected in the Options dialog box.

Checksums are created for files with the following extensions:

386

APP

BIN

CMD

COM

DLL

DRV

EXE

FON

OV*

PGM

PRG

SYS

Deleting the CHKLIST.MS Files
The CHKLIST files can be deleted. To do this, press F7 in Microsoft Anti-Virus for MS-DOS or choose Delete CHKLIST Files from the Scan menu in Microsoft Anti-Virus for Windows.

If you disable the use of the CHKLIST.MS files, Microsoft Anti-Virus does not check for unexpected changes in files. (It can scan files for known virus signatures only.)

Additional query words: 6.22 6.00 subdirectory sub-directory 6.20

Keywords: KB99148

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.